Radient RC Ascend User Manual page 6

SAFE START MENU SYSTEM AND SOFTWARE FEATURES CONTINUED
Confirm the Settings:
After deciding and setting either the charge current or battery capacity and pressing enter, you are asked to confirm the settings that you have just
entered. It is most important to confirm the following items:
• Battery Type/Chemistry is accurate
• Charge rate does not exceed 1C (unless done intentionally, see Index at the back of this manual for charge rate calculations)
Starting a Charge:
Once you have visually confirmed the settings for charging your battery, press and hold the Enter button for 3 seconds. The charger will display
a message as it checks for any errors in the connections, battery voltage etc., you may then release the button and the charge will start if all the
checks are succesful and determined OK.
Charge Data:
Your charger will now display the charge status and current charge data including the Time, Voltage, Charge Current, and mAh (in). You will also no-
tice a very unique feature displayed in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Here are the letters you will see and their corresponding definitions.
• CC: Constant Current mode used for the initial charge phase when charging LiPo/Fe batteries and the entire charge cycle for NiXX batteries
• CV: Constant Voltage mode used for the final charge phase when charging LiPo/Fe batteries. You will see this displayed for approximately
the last 20% of the charge cycle indicating the battery is approximately 80% charged
• DV: Delta-Peak mode is used to detect the voltage drop during the charge cycle for NiXX type batteries. This setting is used to monitor the
voltage drop of the battery pack and it is what determines when the battery is fully charged. The D-Peak setting is adjustable for both NiMH
and NiCD separately from 5-20mV in the Options menu. We recommend only changing these values if your an advanced user; otherwise
leaving the default settings for each battery type as they come from the factory will give you good and consistent power form your batteries
Advanced Charge Data:
During any charge cycle, you can press the Enter button to view more information about the current charge. For Li/XX batteries, you will be shown a
table of the individual cell voltages. For NiXX batteries, you will be shown the current Peak Voltage and DV value as it is monitored in real time.
Charge Summary:
Upon charge completion the charger will sound an audible alert indicating the charge cycle is done. Pressing the Enter button will silence the alert.
At this time you can disconnect the battery from the charger, but do not press the Back/Cancel button yet! There's more information waiting for you.
By pressing the Up/Down buttons you can scroll through the charge summary screens displaying more vital information about your battery's charge
cycle. Here you will find:
• Done T: Shows the amount of time since the battery charge has been completed
• Final V: Shows the final voltage that the battery peaked at. It is common for the battery voltage to fluctuate after a charge is complete, this
just shows what the charger read as the charge completed
• Peak V: Shows the highest voltage of the battery that was read during the charge cycle
• mAh (in): Shows the approximate capacity that was charged back into the battery
• Charge T: Shows the length of time the battery was charging
Pressing the Back/Cancel button at anytime will return you to the beginning of the Menu system at LiFe Charge mode for safety reasons described
earlier in this manual. Note this will STOP the charge cycle if one is in process.
Believe it or not, your Ascend charger does more than just charge batteries. If you continue past the charge functions in the beginning of the menu
you will see a Tools and Options menu that provide some advanced features never before seen in a product like this.
Tools:
There are times when knowing the voltage of your battery is handy, either when checking the charge state or just to see if there is a bad connection
somewhere. For this reason we have included two different Volt meters for you to use. They are described below.
• Volt Meter: Displays both the charger input voltage (DC only) and the output voltage. This feature is helpful if you are using your real car 12V
battery as a power source so that you can monitor the input voltage and not accidentally drain your real car battery. While the most useful
case for monitoring the input voltage, it is not the only since you can also use it to adjust the output of your power supply and know where to
stop so that you don't exceed the input voltage limit of 15V. This is also useful for checking the voltage of a standard NiXX battery pack.
• Balance Meter: Displays the overall voltage and the individual cell voltages for a LiXX battery so that you can see the state of the balance
of your battery. Given that the Ascend is a balance charger, if the cells are a little off you shouldn't need to worry as they will be balanced
within close tolerance on their next charge.
› NOTE: the voltages displayed here are more accurate than those displayed on the Volt Meter menu so you will notice a slight discrep-
ancy if you are comparing numbers
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MULTI-CHEMISTRY AC/DC PEAK DETECTION BALANCE CHARGER