Is it possible to overcharge a battery with this unit?
863027
This charger is fully automatic on the 12 volt positions and will not overcharge a battery although on the 6 volt setting it is not automatic and it will overcharge! So on the 6volt setting, the battery MUST monitored!
440393
It may overcharge your battery though not likely.It does have a bypass diode which is only useful when connecting multiple panel in series. The diode has nothing to do with overcharge protection.You should consider adding a diode in series with the + lead to prevent leakage at night. Again this will have no effect on overcharge.It may be easier to add a charge controller.
1825403
It would ruin your 36 volt batteries by overcharging them .go toSave A Battery 2365-36 36-Volt Battery Charger and Maintainer
2149585
No. The unit is powered from a permanently sealed battery with 10 year life and cannot use external power, so there would be no point in doing so.
340761
As far as I can tell, the charging controller is NOT built in to the panel. At only 6 watts, I don't see over-charging a battery unless it is not used from day to day or as late as week to week. However, a small, low cost controller might be a wise investment if you plan to leave the panel charging indefinitely.
247971
No, its a trickle charger and the current isn't enough to cause an overcharge. I have left it connected for long periods with out ill effect
1227545
You need a charge-controller device (not cheap) that has 3-phase input. It will rectify the AC and regulate the amount of juice going to the batteries so they don't overcharge.
312151
sorry - cant. I returned unit becuse battery started smoking - would have lead to a fire.
129176
This is a battery maintainer, your batt. should be charged before you use this.
340762
Its probably not a bad idea to avoid an overcharge however we do not have one on ours yet. We do not keep ours hooked up all the time for that reason and have not had a problem.
1135079
I have for the last two years. I only recharge the battery 2 or 3 times a year. I don't overcharge it. so far so good.
844616
There is a controller in the device that supposedly prevents overcharging. That being the case I would guess that you shouldn't but I would suggest you contact Coleman with the question.
2271424
I would NOT recommend that you do this.. It can probably be done but this charger monitors a battery for the level of discharge as well as the level of charge. If it were the exact same battery with the exact level of discharge maybe but I don't see that happening.. I would NOT recommend you do this..
1424739
I've had my since February 2013 and haven't had to do anything to it. I don't think the battery is being overcharged- I think it turns that function off once it has full capacity. There is one side with half the plugs that is battery and surge protected and the other side with the other half of the plugs with surge protection. I am very happy with this item- it's plugged in under my desk and I've never had to touch it.
1590414
Don't think so. The unit is in either charge or discharge mode. I never tried both. There's a led indicates the unit is charging or discharging, it cannot show both modes same time.
2180951
I had the same concerns about potentially overcharging the battery. Even though this model charges at a very low rate, nevertheless, Schmacher recommends also purchasing their "Solar Charge Controller" #SPC-7A. When time allows, I may give Schmacher a call and quiz their techs on whether or not a controller is really necessary on this lower output solar unit.
371774
I don't know what you mean by "over charge" but this thing is just an inverter with a variable regulator. If you give it too much input voltage, it probably fries...so put a Zener diode in front of it or have an actual regulator on the input side. On the output side, the caps are its maximum output voltage. You might want them to be higher, but the inverter won't let you...