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Unlike many units, this battery charger continuously charges at maximum current, tapering off only near full battery voltage. In this unit, the full load
current of the supply transformer/rectifier section was 4.4A. It tapers off to 4A at 13.5V, 3A at 14.0V, 2A at 14.5V and 0A at 15.0V.
Transistor Q1, diodes D1-D3 and resistor R1 form a simple constant current source. R1 effectively sets the current through Q1 - the voltage across this
resistor plus Q1's emitter-base voltage is equal to the voltage across D1-D3. Assuming 0.7V across each diode and across Q1's base-emitter junction,
the current through R1 is approximately 1.4/0.34 = 4.1A.
REG1 ensures that Q1 (and thus the constant current source) is turned on. When the battery has fully charged, the current through REG1 drops to a very
low value and so Q1 turns off (since there is no longer any base-emitter current).
R2 limits the current through REG1. It allows enough current to flow through the regulator so that Q1 is fully on for battery voltages up to about 13.5V.
Decreasing the value of R2 effectively increases the final battery voltage by raising the current cutoff point. Conversely, a diode in series with one of the
battery leads will reduce the fully-charged voltage by about 0.7V.
Finally, the MJ1504 requires a good heatsink. The 7815 is mounted on the same heatsink and will throttle the circuit back if Q1 gets too hot.