Victron Energy Blue Smart IP67 Waterproof Charger 12V/25 120V NEMA 5-15

Blue Smart version

Set-up, monitor and update the charger (add new features when they become available) using Apple and Android smartphones, tablets or other devices.

Ultra high efficiency “green” battery charger

With up to 95 % efficiency, these chargers generate up to four times less heat when compared to the industry standard. And once the battery is fully charged, power consumption reduces to 0.5 Watt, some five to ten times better than the industry standard.

Durable, safe and silent

• Low thermal stress on the electronic components.
• Protection against ingress of dust, water and chemicals.
• Protection against overheating: the output current will reduce as temperature increases up to 60 °C (140 °F), but the charger will not fail.
• The chargers are totally silent: no cooling fan or any other moving parts.
  

Reverse polarity protected

Once the battery is connected, the charger immediately detects voltage and polarity. If the battery is connected incorrectly, all status-LEDs will start blinking. No sparks will occur.

Recovery function for fully discharged batteries

Most reverse polarity protected chargers will not recognize, and therefore not recharge a battery which has been discharged to zero or nearly zero Volts. The Blue Smart Charger however will
attempt to recharge a fully discharged battery with low current and resume normal charging once sufficient voltage has developed across the battery terminals.

Temperature compensated charging

The optimal charge voltage of a lead-acid battery varies inversely with temperature. The Blue Smart Charger measures ambient temperature during the test phase and compensates for temperature during the charge process. The temperature is measured again when the charger is in low current mode during float or storage. Special settings for a cold or hot environment are therefore not needed.

Adaptive Battery Management

Lead-acid batteries should be charged in three stages, which are

1. Bulk or constant-current charge
2. Absorption or topping charge
3. Float charge.

Several hours of absorption charge are needed to fully charge the battery and prevent early failure to sulfation¹.
The relatively high voltage during absorption does however accelerate aging due to grid corrosion on the positive plates.

Adaptive Battery Management limits corrosion by reducing
absorption time when possible, that is: when charging a battery that is already (nearly) fully charged.

Storage mode: less corrosion of the positive plates

Even the lower float charge voltage that follows the absorption period will cause grid corrosion. It is therefore essential to reduce the charge voltage even further when the battery remains connected to the charger during more than 48 hours.

Reconditioning

A lead-acid battery that has been insufficiently charged or has been left discharged during days or weeks will deteriorate due to sulfation¹. If caught in time, sulfation can sometimes be partially
reversed by charging the battery with low current up to a higher voltage.

Remarks:

a) Reconditioning should be applied only occasionally to flat plate VRLA (gel and AGM) batteries because the resulting gassing will dry out the electrolyte.

b) Cylindrical cell VRLA batteries build more internal pressure before gassing and will therefore lose less water when subjected to reconditioning. Some manufacturers of cylindrical cell batteries therefore recommend the reconditioning setting in case of cyclic application.

c) Reconditioning can be applied to flooded batteries to “equalise” the cells and to prevent acid stratification.

d) Some battery charger manufactures recommend pulse charging to reverse sulfation. However, most battery experts agree that there is no conclusive proof that pulse charging works any better than constant voltage charging. This is confirmed by our own tests.

Lithium-ion (LiFePO₄) batteries

Li-ion batteries do not suffer from sulfation. But Li-ion batteries are very sensitive to under voltage or over voltage². Li-ion batteries therefore often have integrated cell balancing and under voltage protection (UVP) circuitry. Some reverse polarity protected chargers will not recognize a battery when the UVP has tripped.

The Blue Smart Charger will however automatically reset the UVP and start charging.

Important note: NEVER attempt to charge a Li-ion battery when its temperature is below 0 °C (32 °F).

Low current mode

Some lead acid batteries can overheat if charged with a current exceeding 0.3C (C Is the capacity in Ah. A 12 Ah battery for example should not be charged with a current exceeding 0.3 x 12 = 4 A). The low current mode (charge current limited to 4 A or less, see technical specifications) should therefore be used
to charge low capacity lead-acid batteries.