GRAUPNER ULTRAMAT 25 Operating Manual page 15

10. NiCd programs
NiCd NiCd
MODE MODE
AUTOMATIC- MANUAL- discharge
program program program
A set of convenient charge programs for recharging the Nickel-Cadmium batteries commonly used for
modelling applications. When the charge / discharge program is finished, the screen displays the name
of the charge program alternating with the message "completed", together with the charge time, the last
(dis-) charge current, the charged-in (discharged) capacity and the battery voltage, and continues to do
so until you disconnect the battery. This information can often give you a useful indication about the Ni-
Cd pack's charge characteristics and capacity, or warn you if the charger has incorrectly assessed the
pack as being "full".
NiCd automatic charge program
In this program the charger detects the types of battery
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
N i C d a u t o m a t i c connected and adjusts the charge current accordingly, to
avoid overcharging the pack.
C : 2 . 5 A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ l i m i t e d
+
-
The maximum charge current can be set using the INC /
INC DEC
DEC buttons before you connect the battery to be
charged.
The charge process is terminated according to the values
set by the user for „NiCd Delta-Peak Termination Voltage",
„Charge Termination Delay" and „Safety Timer".
NiCd manual charge program
This program is selected when you simply wish to recharge a
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
N i C d m a n u a l
battery using the set charge current.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
C : 2 . 5 A
You can adjust the charge current using the INC / DEC but-
tons, but only before you connect the pack for charging.
+
-
INC DEC
The charge process is terminated automatically, in accordan-
ce with the values entered in the user settings for "NiCd - Delta
Peak - termination voltage", "Charge termination delay" and
"Safety timer".
NiCd discharge program
The typical purpose of this program is to determine the resi-
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
N i C d d i s c h a r g e
dual capacity of a transmitter, receiver or drive battery, or to
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2 . 5 A 4 . 8 V
discharge the pack to a defined level.
In this program the charger discharges the pack using the
+ - + -
set discharge current (0.1 ... 3.0 A or automatic, left of screen)
INC DEC INC DEC
until its voltage falls to the set final discharge voltage (0.5 ...
37.0 V or automatic, right of screen). The set final discharge
voltage should be a value of around 0.5 ... 0.9 V per cell, in
ENTER
order to avoid the pack becoming deep-discharged. Deep-
discharging a pack runs a risk of individual cells suffering
reversed polarity.
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NiCd NiCd NiCd
MODE MODE
conditioning- capacity test-
program program
NiCd NiCd
MODE
MODE
cycle count balancing-
program
MODE _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
N i C d c o n d i t i o n
D : 2 . 5 A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
+ -
INC DEC
ENTER
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
N i C d c a p a c i t y
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ C : 2 . 5 A
+ -
INC DEC
ENTER
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
N i C d b a l a n c e
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
D : 2 . 5 A
+ -
INC DEC
ENTER
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
n u m b e r o f
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1 c y c l e s
+ -
INC DEC
NiCd conditioning program
This program is designed for refreshing a battery shortly before
use, and can also be used to reduce the so-called memory
C : 2 . 5 A effect. The program discharges the battery using the set di-
scharge current stated on the left of the screen (0.1 ... 3.0 A or
+ -
automatic), and then recharges it using the charge current (0.1
INC DEC
... 5.0 A or automatic) shown on the right of the screen.
The charge process is terminated automatically, in accordance
with the values entered in the user settings for "NiCd - Delta
Peak - termination voltage", "Charge termination delay" and "Safe-
ty timer".
NiCd capacity test program
The purpose of this program is to determine the capacity of a
battery. The program first charges the battery using the set
charge current stated on the left of the screen (0.1 ... 5.0 A or
D : 2 . 5 A
automatic), and then discharges it again using the set dischar-
+ -
ge current stated on the right of the screen. At the end of the
INC DEC
process the screen displays the battery's capacity.
The charge process is terminated automatically, in accordance
with the values entered in the user settings for "NiCd - Delta
Peak - termination voltage", "Charge termination delay" and "Safe-
ty timer". The safety timer is only active during charge.
NiCd balancing program
This program is designed to even up, or balance, the condition
of a battery's cells, and thereby optimise the pack's capacity. It is
particularly useful with brand-new packs, as they do not attain
C : 2 . 5 A
their full nominal capacity until they have been subjected to 10
+ - or more charge cycles in any case. The program discharges the
INC DEC pack using the set discharge current (0.1... 3.0 A or automatic)
stated on the left of the screen, then recharges it using the set
charge current (0.1 ... 5.0 A or automatic) stated on the right of
the screen.
The charge process is terminated automatically, in accordance
with the values entered in the user settings for "NiCd - Delta
Peak - termination voltage", "Charge termination delay" and "Safe-
ty timer". The safety timer restarts at the beginning of each
charge cycle, and is only active during the charge phase.
The method of accessing the values for the individual cycles is
described in the section "Screen messages".
No. of NiCd balancing cycles
In this program you can select the number of charge / discharge
c y c l e s
processes to be used in the NiCd balancing program.
The available range is 1 ... 10 cycles.
In practice, no more than 2 or 3 cycles are required.
You should only set a higher number of cycles for a battery
which is particularly reluctant to accept charge, as frequent ba-
lancing reduces the useful life of the battery.
For safety reasons the number of cycles is reset to "1" every time
you connect the charger to the car battery. You must therefore
set the value to your requirements each time you use the char-
ger.
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