Mashin KS-1210 Intelligent Battery Charger

For the whole last one week, we been having problems with our vehicle stater battery. The vehicle was left too long not running and the battery was totally discharged. Checked the battery it was 11.9V, managed to jump start and drove around for 2 hours. Next day, it was not able to start again the battery reading was 12.1V.

Just the other day when our friends from Singapore came to visit us, the battery was dead again. Decided to use the Aux Battery through Joeypa Battery Isolator to boost the starter battery and it started the engine. After travelling in the vehicle for 4 to 5 hours. The next day the battery reading was 12.38V.

Suspected the battery was not able to hold the charge well, the sulphuric acid might have coated the battery plating inside causing the battery failing to hold charge. From many information on the internet, they would recommend to change the battery if it falls below 11.9V.

Found new information on rescuing battery, apparently they claimed they can resurrect a dead battery provided there is no internal plating damage. This new technology is called Pulse Charging. A Taiwanese company Mashin Electric Corp, they manufacture Battery Chargers and they have the Pulse Battery Charger. I contacted the supplier and they recommended to use their latest product just released in 2012 to try it out. So I did

Before going further reviewing on the product, here are some need to know info

• 11.9V below battery needs new method of charging or renew battery
• 12.1V ~ 12.6V battery requires charging
• 12.6V above battery is fully charged

To know your battery condition, travel in your vehicle for sometime and check the voltage the next day. If it is around 12.1V ~ 12.6V, the battery is not holding charge well. That means some of the battery platings might have some problems and need to carry out Desulphation, just like mine.

Product Overview

The product came in a box consist of a User Manual in Chinese but you can download the English version, the charger itself and alligator clips. Overall the construction is very well made. The alligator clips are clamped to a male female connectors which makes connecting work a brief. The charger can be used either 110V or 240V, 47~63Hz which makes it usable in many countries. 

The Charger itself have couple of modes to choose from. There are few different types of battery mode to select, motorbike, car and lorry. This is to identify the charging amps for different battery size.

• Lorry - 10amp for battery 60-150AH
• Car - 5amp for battery 30-75AH
• Bike - 2amp for battery 7-20AH

They have another selection modes, Normal, Boost, Snow and Direct DC.  This will determine how you want the battery to be charged. The Charger can only be used with 12V batteries of all types except dry cell.

• Normal Mode - simply connect everything and the charging lamp will flash.
• Snow Mode - use in cold environment battery charging
• Boost Mode - to rescue dead battery, it will constantly boost the battery for 2hours and after 2hours, if the battery is able to salvage, it will start Normal charging otherwise the battery is wasted. What it actually does is desulphation process. 
• Direct DC Mode - is used with the cigarette connector (not included in the package) and supply 12V supply, might be able to use this method to jump start the vehicle. Have not try it yet.

To know the charging is completed, the green lamp will stay lighted and not flashing

The charger itself have 4 built in functions, Battery Tester, Charger, DC Supply and Boost. Also it has an Error Indicator which let you know if the battery is damage beyond hope or your cable connections are wrong. 

Battery in Boost Charge Mode

They do have different types of connection for different application, for our use the supplied clamps are sufficient. 

Specification

ITEMS	KS-1210
INPUT POWER	AC100V ~ AC240V / 47~63HZ
OUTPUT NORMAL VOLATG	NORMAL DC12V
CHARGING VOLTAGE	STANDARD CHARGING MODE = max.DC14.7V SNOW MODE = max.DC15.7V BATTERY BOST MODE = max.DC18V (80%CURRENT OUTPUT)
CHARGING CURRENT	2A / 5A / 10A  (CURRENT SELECT)
CHARGING METHOD	SOFT START / DESULPHATION / BULK (CONSTANT CURRENT) / ABSORPTION CHARGING (CONSTANT VOLTAGE) / AFTER CHARGING / TESTING (ANALYSIS) / MAINTENANCE / CYCLE RECHARGE
POWER SUPPLY VOLTAGE	CONSTANT VOLTAGE @ DC13.5V
POWER SUPPLY CURRENT	2A / 5A / 10A  (CURRENT SELECT)
Min/Max Battery Size (Ah)	7AH ~120AH @20HR , up to 150AH for maintenance
PROTECTION	1. Reverse polarity protection: If the battery clamp are incorrectly connected, the reverse polarity protection will ensures that the battery and charger are not damage. 2. AC power over-load protect ：AC fuse break when the AC power was over-load. 3. Microprocessor automatically detected the battery voltage and charging current to avoid over-temperature, over-charged. 4. Anti-Are protection：The clips will not spar if touched together. 5. Short circuit protection
Operating Temperature / Humidity	0~45℃  /   90％
Dimensions ( L* W * H )	190 x 116 x 62 mm
WEIGHT	0.89 kgs

Testing

Before charging the battery, the battery was properly cleaned, battery water level checked and topped up. You can topped up with distilled or boiled water. How to connect the battery polarity and here is a simple trick to it, if you disconnect terminals always the negative (-) first and to clip the the terminals positive (+) first. Easy way to remember Add (+) first, Remove (-) first, it's just like mathematics addition and subtraction. Get it??!!

The day before this battery was running and charged for 4hours from the vehicle alternator. The next day the reading was 12.38V 

Started Normal car mode charging, after half hour the charging voltage slowly increases

4 hours later, the charging voltage increases to 14.13V and still rising. Removed the battery cap for better venting. During this time hydrogen is released and it is high flammable. 

After a night, the charge was completed. The charger maintained a float charge of 12.61V and the battery was rescued

This battery is more than 4 years old. It was the original cranking battery from our BOV. Charging the battery using Normal Lorry mode as this is a 90AH battery. Before charge it was at 12.58V. For 10 days this battery was under solar charging and it never rose above 12.6V

second battery complete charging in 9hrs and the final voltage 12.88V. 

Conclusion

I made a mistake in charging the first battery because I have selected car mode while the battery is 80AH should be charged using the Lorry mode. It was not stated in the instruction manual but later found the info on the box itself. Anyway the final voltage is above 12.6V and that should be alright. The second battery was much delighted with a final reading of 12.88V. 
Using Normal mode setting did see the charger uses soft charging which helps the battery to wake up slowly. Normal charger do not use soft charging but instead a hard charge at the set voltage and ampere which can damage the battery. The Mashin KS01210 Charger is unique because it uses an 8-stage charging. One of the stage Desulphation was the reason I was interested in the charger. 

I bought this battery charger to maintain the battery life span. In total I have 3 12V batteries, 2 in our BOV and one on the scooter. If this charger can assist to prolong all the batteries life span up to 5 ~ 6 years or more, would have save plenty $$ and keep our planet greener. The next project will try on a dead battery and know the truth. If it does resurrect a dead battery, this will be a very worthy investment. A technology that will help keep the planet Eco-Friendly. Wait for my next posting.    

As for now 2 batteries are rescued, will keep monitoring the battery health for the next few days. 

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