CORPORATE STANDARDS

GLOBAL ENGINEERING
RECOMMENDED PRACTICE

SUBJECT: Battery Conditioning for Cold Start / Cold Cranking Tests

1. Introduction
1.1 Objective
It is intended to provide a recommended practice delineating a standard means for conditioning batteries for
component and machine cold temperature tests performed after the issue date on this document.

1.2 Scope
This recommended practice applies to all cold start and cold cranking tests performed on AGCO products.

2. Procedures
2.1 General
The battery(s) shall be conditioned at normal room temperature (15 to 25 C [59 to 77 F]).
A conditioned battery must be used for testing within 24 hours of being conditioned.

2.2 Charging Conditions

2.2.1 Charged to 100%
To prepare the battery(s) to 100% fully charged condition, complete a) through c) as follows:
a) Charge the battery(s) for at least 24 hours @ 5% of capacity (e.g. for a 70 Ah. Battery - charge for 24
hours @ 3.5 Amps).
b) Discharge the battery(s) at 5% of capacity down to a voltage of 10.5 (e.g. for a 70 Ah battery
discharge @ 3.5 Amps).
c) Repeat the above steps (a) and (b) for 3 further charge / discharge cycles ensuring that each time the
battery is fully charged.
2.2.2 Charged to 80%
To prepare the battery(s) to 80% of fully charged condition, complete Section 2.2.1 and one of the following
alternatives:
2.2.2.1 Discharge the battery @ 5% of capacity so that 20% of charge is used up (e.g. For a 70 Ah battery,
14 Ah of the battery's capacity must be "used up"). Discharge the battery @ 3.5 Amps for 4 hours.

ORIGINAL ISSUE DATE

7 February 2006

RE-ISSUE DATE

REVISION

NUMBER

PAGE

GE10700001

1 OF 4

Battery Conditioning for Cold Start / Cold Cranking Tests

AGCO Corporation 2005. Copyright in this document belongs to AGCO Corporation. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any
material form without the written permission of the copyright owner. Uncontrolled copy latest revision only on-line @ myAGCO.com.
CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENT Printed 23-Jan-15 valid for 1 day

CORPORATE STANDARDS
GLOBAL ENGINEERING
RECOMMENDED PRACTICE
However, in practice, the discharge current will vary as the battery voltage falls. It will be necessary to
have some means of adjusting the discharge load (e.g. a variable resistance) to maintain a constant
discharge current.
2.2.2.2 Use the battery manufacturers battery charge capacity versus open circuit voltage data.
Two typical battery manufacturers discharge graphs, in this case for TAB L3 and L5 batteries, are shown
below. Other battery types or different manufacturers data may or will be different. It is important to use
the correct data for the particular battery(ies) under test.
If discharging using this or similar data, care shall be exercised to ensure that the discharge current does
not exceed 5% of capacity (e.g. for a 70 Ah battery the maximum discharge current shall not exceed 3.5
Amps).

12-70/L3 AGCO
13.00
12.80
12.60

UOT (V)

12.40
12.20
12.00
11.80
11.60
11.40
11.20
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Discharge (%)

ORIGINAL ISSUE DATE

7 February 2006

RE-ISSUE DATE

REVISION

NUMBER

PAGE

GE10700001

2 OF 4

Battery Conditioning for Cold Start / Cold Cranking Tests

AGCO Corporation 2005. Copyright in this document belongs to AGCO Corporation. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any
material form without the written permission of the copyright owner. Uncontrolled copy latest revision only on-line @ myAGCO.com.
CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENT Printed 23-Jan-15 valid for 1 day

CORPORATE STANDARDS
GLOBAL ENGINEERING
RECOMMENDED PRACTICE

12-105/L5 AGCO
13.00
12.80
12.60

UOT (V)

12.40
12.20
12.00
11.80
11.60
11.40
11.20
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Discharge (%)

2.2.2.2.1 Battery Ready Status

When it is considered that the desired open circuit voltage has been achieved which coincides with the
required battery capacity, the discharge load shall be removed. The battery shall be left for a further 24
hour period and the open circuit voltage rechecked. It may be that the open circuit voltage is higher
than first thought and a further period of discharge may be necessary. Again the battery shall have the
discharge load removed and the open circuit voltage checked after a further 24 hour time period.

ORIGINAL ISSUE DATE

7 February 2006

RE-ISSUE DATE

REVISION

NUMBER

PAGE

GE10700001

3 OF 4

Battery Conditioning for Cold Start / Cold Cranking Tests

AGCO Corporation 2005. Copyright in this document belongs to AGCO Corporation. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any
material form without the written permission of the copyright owner. Uncontrolled copy latest revision only on-line @ myAGCO.com.
CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENT Printed 23-Jan-15 valid for 1 day

CORPORATE STANDARDS
GLOBAL ENGINEERING
RECOMMENDED PRACTICE

3. Revision History
DOCUMENT CHANGE CONTROL
REV.

CHANGE DATE

REVISED BY

CHANGE DESCRIPTION

7-Feb-2006

GARY MARCHI

INITIAL RELEASE

DOCUMENT OWNERSHIP
DATE

OWNED BY / SITE

AUTHOR

7-Feb-05 Global Components Engineering / Hesston

Dave Parnell

4. Leadership / Approvers
Document approvals shall be solicited from the Senior Vice-President of Engineering and his direct reports, as
he directs, along with other affected departments and functions. Refer to GOP0010002, Creation and
Approval of Global Documents, for the document approval procedure.

ORIGINAL ISSUE DATE

7 February 2006

RE-ISSUE DATE

REVISION

NUMBER

PAGE

GE10700001

4 OF 4

Battery Conditioning for Cold Start / Cold Cranking Tests

AGCO Corporation 2005. Copyright in this document belongs to AGCO Corporation. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any
material form without the written permission of the copyright owner. Uncontrolled copy latest revision only on-line @ myAGCO.com.
CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENT Printed 23-Jan-15 valid for 1 day