Electrical system, general information

Charging totally discharged battery with battery charger -VAS 5903-

~3min read
WARNING

Danger of injury! Observe warning notices and safety regulations → Chapter!

WARNING It is not permissible to test or charge batteries whose magic eye shows light yellow. Do not slave/jump start the vehicle!

Danger of explosion when checking and charging or slave/jump starting.

These batteries must be renewed.

Caution The terminal polarity protection in operating mode “charging totally discharged batteries/support mode” is not active. Connect battery charger terminal clamps correctly to battery terminals. When charging always set the battery charger to the correct type of battery → operating instructions for battery chargerVAS 5903!

Totally discharged battery is not recognised by battery charger → Chapter.

Do not press START / STOP button when charger unit cables are connected incorrectly. The charger unit may be damaged.
Batteries with a voltage of less than 2 volts will not be recognised automatically by battery charger -VAS 5903-.

Special tools and workshop equipment required

Battery charger -VAS 5903-

Note

Observe notes in chapter → Chapter.

Totally discharged batteries in vehicles before registration must be exchanged prior to delivery. Preliminary damage cannot be excluded.

The battery must have a temperature of at least 10 °C.

  • Switch off ignition and all electrical consumers.
  • Connect charger plug to battery charger. The last selected operating mode will appear on display → Chapter.
Charging totally discharged battery with battery charger -VAS 5903-
  • Set battery to respective operating mode with INFO.
In the display, the symbol -1- for “Service charge for wet batteries” or symbol -2- for “Service charge for gel/absorbent glass mat batteries” will appear.
  • Set battery capacity (Ah) of battery for charging using respective button “Up”↑ or “Down”↓.
  • Connect red terminal clamp “+” to positive terminal on battery.
Note In vehicles with start/stop function and battery monitor control unit -J367- fitted, black terminal clamp must be connected to body earth. Connecting it to battery negative terminal will cause start/stop system to malfunction.
  • Connect black terminal clamp “-” to negative terminal.
  • Press START / STOP for approx. 5 seconds. The menu “charging totally discharged batteries/support mode” will be activated.
  • Press respective button “Up”↑ or “Down”↓ to set respective battery voltage (6 V, 12 V or 24 V).
Note If a button is not pressed within 5 seconds the charger will return to the main menu (select operating mode).
  • Confirm the selected battery voltage with START / STOP.

Then follows the enquiry for "is charger cable terminal polarity correct".

  • Check polarity of charger unit cables.
  • Confirm polarity of charger unit cables with START / STOP.

Charger will start charging sequence for totally discharged battery.

Ending battery charging sequence:

  • Press START / STOP.
  • Disconnect black terminal clamp “-” of charger from negative terminal.
  • Disconnect red terminal clamp “+” of charger from positive terminal on battery.
  • Pull charger plug out of battery charger.
Charging totally discharged battery with battery charger -VAS 5903-

Test yourself

A quick Volkswagen Golf quiz: every answer comes with an explanation and a link to the manual page.