10
Battery Care
Your tug has a smart charger with trickle charge and battery maintenance cycles.
To charge, plug the charger cord into the tug, then the power cord into a standard
power outlet. You cannot overcharge when using the included charger.
Always turn off the master switch when charging.
We suggest charging your tug when the battery falls below around 70% (at rest)
for optimal battery life (for sure before 30% at rest). Note: The tug continuously
and instantaneously calculates the state of charge, which is why the percentage
fluctuates while moving your plane. We have seen as low as a 10% charge
displayed when using a fresh battery and moving a heavy plane. To read the
resting battery’s charge, leave the tug at rest for at least 60 seconds. We have seen
a 10% drop from freshly charged just by moving the tug in and out of the hanger.
The discharge rate is non-linear.
If you notice shorter times needed between charges, your batteries are beginning
to wear out.
Lead Acid batteries are surprisingly delicate—damaged by direct and indirect
effects: environmental, user induced, misapplication, and on and on. For instance,
charging with a voltage above 14.4 volts or allowing the battery to discharge
completely are the two most common ways to damage a lead-acid battery.
Even new batteries can be ruined in just a few weeks by being discharged too
much or left uncharged for too long; for this reason, Best Tugs cannot warranty the
batteries as we have no control over the end-users’ actions.
Modern microprocessor-based smart chargers use switching circuits; they
are lightweight and designed to protect themselves against reverse polarity
connection. They also have an annoying feature of not charging if the battery’s
voltage is below some arbitrary value. If you left the tug on and it no longer
charges, a cheap 12-volt car charger with a volt-meter is your best option to try and
restore the battery. Note: Most local battery/automotive stores carry replacement
batteries.
To recover the battery pack or diagnose their condition:
•
Connect a twelve (12) Volt charger with a meter across the terminals of each
battery, one battery at a time.
•
If you get a reading of zero (0) volts, a short circuit has occurred, replace the
battery.
•
If your battery reads less than 10.5VDC when charging, then the battery has a
dead cell, replace the battery
•
The battery charger indicates fully charged, but the voltage is below 12.4VDC?
The battery is sulfated, replace the battery soon.
Are all batteries fully Charged? The tug should be able to resume normal functions.
If not, call us.
