BATTERY CHARGER Instruction Manual BEFORE USING OUR BATTERY CHARGER, READ IN DETAILS ALL INSTRUCTIONS CONTAINED IN THIS MANUAL. KEEP THIS MANUAL IN A SAFE PLACE AS YOU MAY NEED TO USE IT AT A LATER DATE. We draw the attention of all users of this device: please follow the safety and maintenance instructions which are part of this manual. Also read the caution markings on the charger, the manual, and the gift box. 27 INTRODUCTION: Congratulations on purchasing this intelligent charging unit which enables definitely quick and optimum charging to "AA" and "AAA" rechargeable batteries. With charging, discharging, refreshing and capacity test functions as well as individual LCD displays for charging compartments; this charging unit is reliable, user-friendly and ideal for use in the home, office or on journey. The Charging unit 28 CAUTIONS: 1. The charger is restricted to charging NiCd and NiMH rechargeable batteries only. Never adopt this charger to other types of batteries such as alkaline, lithium, carbon zinc or other types that are not specified. The charging unit shall only be used only at normal indoor room conditions. Always follow the charging instructions for the rechargeable battery. Observe the recommended charging current of the rechargeable batteries. Never adopt a charging current higher than recommended in the charging process. Never use any power cable and transformer other than those originally supplied with the charging unit. The rechargeable batteries may become hot during charging (especially when high charging current is chosen). User shall take extra care when taking out the batteries after charging. Unplug the charging unit from the power source when not in use. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. FEATURES: The Charging unit Charging the rechargeable battery in various current value (200, 500 or 700 mA) Individual LCD display for compartments Charging both "AA" and "AAA" rechargeable batteries simultaneously Overheat detection to protect rechargeable batteries from over-charging 29 Minus delta voltage (-dV) detection for charge termination Damaged batteries detection Discharge mode (first discharging and then charging) to remove memory effect of rechargeable batteries Refreshing old rechargeable batteries by discharging/ charging cycles Test function to check the capacities of rechargeable batteries Different Charging/ Discharging functions can be launched independently and simultaneously to each rechargeable battery in the compartments Various display modes during charging/ discharging ­ the charging current (in mA), time elapsed (in hh:mm), the terminal voltage (in V) and accumulated capacities (in mAh or Ah) INVENTORY OF CONTENTS 1. Charging unit 2. Transformer 3. Instruction Manual FUNCTION KEYS: There are three easy-to-use function keys and four number keys in the charging unit: 30 Compartment Number keys CURRENT key MODE key DISPLAY Compartment Number key Press and release the Number key to select a particular battery compartment for charge modes and/or display mode adjustment. MODE key The mode key shall first be pressed and held for about 1 second to activate the mode change. The subsequent pressing of the mode key will enable to toggle between the "Charge", "Discharge", "Test" and "Refresh" mode. To change the operating mode for individual rechargeable battery, first press corresponding NUMBER key then press the MODE key. 31 DISPLAY key Press and release to select the displays of the charging current (in mA), time elapsed (in hh:mm), the terminal voltage (in V) and accumulated capacities (in mAh or Ah) during the charging or discharging process. To change the display content of a particular rechargeable battery, first press corresponding NUMBER key then press the DISPLAY key. CURRENT key Press to select the amount of current to be applied (within the first 8 seconds after batteries are inserted) in different operating modes (also see "Start charging the rechargeable batteries" below). OPERATING MODES OF THE CHARGING UNIT This powerful charging unit provides the following operating modes: a. Charge up the rechargeable battery (CHARGE) ­ to charge up the rechargeable battery, automatically switch to trickle charge after rechargeable battery is full. b. Discharge then charge up the rechargeable battery (DISCHARGE) ­ to discharge the rechargeable battery then charge it for minimizing the memory effect. c. Refresh the rechargeable battery (REFRESH) ­ to refresh the rechargeable battery to its maximum capacity by charging and discharging the rechargeable battery repeatedly until no further increase in the capacity is estimated. For old rechargeable batteries or 32 d. those have not been used for a long times, refreshing may bring the rechargeable battery back to the optimum condition. Check the rechargeable battery capacity in mAh/ Ah (TEST) CHARGE MODE Charging at 200 mA is the default-operating mode of the charging unit. User may select a charging current of 200, 500 or 700 mA. The estimated time of charging by various charging current is tabulated in Table 1. Table 1. Charging Time with various charging current Size of battery Battery Capacity Charging current selected (mA) Estimated charging time 700 ~3 hr 35 min AA 2500 mAh 500 ~5 hr 200 ~13 hr 700 ~60 min AAA 700 mAh 500 ~84 min 200 ~3 hr 30 min 33 Note: User shall always observe the recommended maximum charging current of the rechargeable batteries. In general, 200 mA is a recommended charging current if rapid charging is not necessary. It is definitely safe and optimum to the rechargeable batteries. It may be necessary to charge and discharge the new rechargeable batteries for several times in the beginning before the optimum capacity of the rechargeable batteries can be obtained. And user is recommended to adopt once the "Refresh" mode to the new rechargeable batteries in order to achieve the optimum battery capacity. When the transformer has been plugged to the power source, the version number of the charger (for example "29" ) will be displayed first. Then all the segments will light up momentarily and the "null" sign will be shown before batteries are placed. If damaged batteries are placed to the charging unit, the charger will also show "null" on LCD. "null" displayed - No battery or damaged battery is placed to the charging unit 34 START CHARGING THE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES Once a rechargeable battery is inserted after the transformer has been plugged to the power source, the battery voltage (for example, "1.39V") will be displayed for 4 seconds. Then "200 mA Charge" (default mode) will be shown on LCD for another 4 seconds, indicating that charging with 200 mA is to be started if no alternation in setting is made. Within this 8-second time from inserting the batteries the user may first select the operating mode by the MODE key. Then within 8 seconds from the last key pressing, user may select the charging/ discharging current by pressing the CURRENT key. Note: · · The mode key shall first be pressed and held for about 1 second to activate the mode change. The subsequent pressing of the mode key will enable to toggle between the "Charge", "Discharge", "Test" and "Refresh" mode. There is a 8-second time allowed for choosing further functions after each key pressing. If no more key is pressed, the LCD will blink one time to indicate the end of setting. Afterward, the current can no longer be changed during the process and the selected mode will be undergone. 35 After 8 seconds from no more keys pressing, the LCD will blink once to indicate the setting is confirmed and the selected mode activated Charging current: 200 mA Charge Mode During charging, the different displays- Charging current (in mA), Time elapsed (in hh:mm), Terminal voltage (in V) and Accumulated capacities (in mAh or Ah) may be toggled and selected by pressing the DISPLAY key (refer Table 4). After the rechargeable battery is fully charged, "Full" sign will be shown on the display and the user may take out them at this time. Or if the rechargeable batteries are kept placing at the compartments, trickle charging will start. The trickle charging current is around 5% of the selected charging current to keep the rechargeable batteries being full. 36 "Full" sign is shown -The battery is fully charged Note : The current cannot be altered once the setting has been confirmed in the initial stage. This can avoid the user changing the current setting accidentally while doing setting on other rechargeable batteries. If one wants to change the applied current afterward, the rechargeable batteries must be taken out and inserted again. The maximum charging current of other rechargeable batteries are restricted by the current setting of the first inserted rechargeable battery. For instance, if the first inserted rechargeable battery is set to charge at 500 mA, then the second, third and fourth rechargeable batteries can be only set to charging at a maximum current of 500 mA. Therefore, user is recommend to place the battery with the highest expected charging current at Compartment 1 first. To release the restriction of setting charging current, user shall take out all four rechargeable batteries from the charging unit. To change the operating mode during charging, one can press the MODE key (for 37 selecting all rechargeable batteries) or NUMBER key then MODE key (for selecting individual rechargeable battery). 8 seconds after the last key press the LCD will blink one time to indicate the end of changing. When overheating condition occurs (over about 53°C, usually due to too high a charging current selected), the charging will be stopped immediately and the display will shown "000 mA", the charging process will only resume once the temperature of the rechargeable batteries drops to a safe level. If overheat conditions continue to occur, the rechargeable batteries shall be taken out to cool down and then charged at a lower current. When the battery is overheated the charging will ceases automatically. "000 mA" will be displayed. For new rechargeable battery it is recommended to charge it with 200 mA current for reconditioning it from the long storage status. DISCHARGE MODE Discharge mode will first discharge the rechargeable battery then charge it. It is for removing 38 the memory effects of rechargeable batteries. By pressing the MODE key within 8 seconds after inserting the rechargeable batteries, the Discharge mode can be selected. (The mode key shall first be pressed and held for about 1 second to activate the mode change. The subsequent pressing of the mode key will enable to toggle between the "Charge", "Discharge", "Test" and "Refresh" mode.) Then user may also select different discharging current (see Table 2) by pressing the CURRENT key, within 8 seconds after inserting the batteries. (The display will blink once to indicate the setting has been confirmed and the current cannot be changed afterward.) Discharging current: 250 mA Discharge Mode Note: The discharging current is always set to be half of the coming charging current whose upper limit is 700 mA (see Table 2). Therefore user is recommended to carefully select the discharging current so that the charging current afterward will not be too high. 39 Table 2. DISCHARGE MODE Current User-selected Discharging 100 mA current Thereafter Charging 200 mA current 250 mA 500 mA 350 mA 700 mA Finally batteries will be fully charged in discharge mode and "Full" will be displayed. If user presses DISPLAY key at this time, "charge" icon instead of "discharge" icon will be displayed. REFRESH MODE Old rechargeable batteries and those have not been used for a long time require refreshing. This process will recover the optimum capacity of the rechargeable batteries. By pressing the MODE key within 8 seconds after inserting the rechargeable batteries, the Refresh mode can be selected. Refresh mode will start with discharging the rechargeable battery, then charging it. The repeated discharging and charging cycles will be launched until no further increase in the measured capacities is estimated. 40 Discharging current: 250 mA Refresh mode (the battery is being discharged) Note: By pressing the MODE key within 8 seconds after inserting the rechargeable batteries, the Refresh mode can be selected. (The mode key shall first be pressed and held for about 1 second to activate the mode change. The subsequent pressing of the mode key will enable to toggle between the "Charge", "Discharge", "Test" and "Refresh" mode.) Then user may also select different discharging current by pressing the CURRENT key (see "Note" in Discharge mode and Table 2), within 8 seconds after inserting the batteries. (Or the display will blink once to indicate the end of setting and the current cannot be changed afterward.) It may take up to several days to finish the refreshing process, depending on the selected discharging current. The maximum refresh current ...