TrakPower VR-1 Dual Racing Charger - Manual (Page 16)

16
Determining Battery Type and Specifi cations
IMPORTANT: What is your battery’s CHEMISTRY
TYPE, RATED CAPACITY, AND RATED VOLTAGE?
To avoid causing permanent damage to your
battery, carefully read your battery’s label and/or
instruction sheet or consult your battery supplier
and determine:
1. TYPE: Is the battery a nickel-metal hydride
(NiMH), nickel-cadmium (NiCd), lithium-polymer
(LiPo), lithium-ion (Li-Ion), or lithium-ferrite
phosphate (LiFe, such as LiFeSource brand)?
2. RATED CAPACITY: The amount of charge energy
the battery can store should be listed on the
battery’s label in “mAh” (“milli-amp hours”).
3. RATED VOLTAGE: If not printed on the battery’s
label, consult your battery supplier or determine
the proper pack voltage as follows (refer to the
charts at right):
A. NiMH and NiCd: number of cells x 1.20.
B. LiPo batteries: number of cells x 3.70.
C. Li-Ion batteries: number of cells x 3.60.
D. LiFe batteries: number of cells x 3.30.
NiCd and NiMH Batteries
CARE AND HANDLING OF NICD AND NIMH BATTERIES
• Do not allow NiMH batteries to overheat! Disconnect overheated batteries from the charger
immediately and allow to cool.
• Do not attempt to use the charger’s lithium functions with NiMH batteries.
• Store NiMH packs with some voltage remaining on the cells (refer to battery supplier).
• It is important to recharge NiMH batteries immediately prior to use, as they have a high self-
discharge rate.
•
“AAA”, “AA” and “A” size radio batteries can safely be peak charged at currents up to 1.5C to
2C (battery capacity x 1.5 or 2.0). High charge currents can overheat batteries and thus reduce
service life, especially for smaller size cells.
CHARGING NICD OR NIMH BATTERIES
1. Plug the adapter into the charger FIRST. Then connect the battery to the adapter ONLY after it
has been connected to the charger.
2. Be sure that the correct model number that matches your battery specifi cations is selected
or the appropriate settings have been made in the CHARGE SETUP screen as noted on page 7.
Charge current, cutoff voltage, cutoff temperature and maximum capacity can be adjusted within
the Charge setup screen.
3. To begin charge, press the jog dial. A CHARGE START screen will appear displaying all of the
settings at the bottom of the screen. If these settings do not match that of your battery, press
the ESC button to back out and make the necessary adjustments. There are 6 different charge
methods that can be selected from the delay screen. Below is a description of each. In most
cases, the NORMAL charge mode will be used. The charge will initiate once the timer expires.
A. NORMAL CHARGE MODE: Linear current is delivered to the battery in normal mode. The
charge process will shut off every one minute to measure the charge voltage to check the
condition of the battery. The charge will fi nish by delta peak. This charge mode is good to
charge old batteries.
NUMBER OF CELLS NOMINAL VOLTAGE
4.8V
6.0V
7.2V
8.4V
9.6V
10.8V
12.0V
13.2V
14.4V
15.6V
16.8V
4 cells
5 cells
6 cells
7 cells
8 cells
9 cells
10 cells
11 cells
12 cells
13 cells
14 cells
NICD AND NIMH BATTERY PACK VOLTAGES
NUMBER OF NOMINAL VOLTAGE
CELLS LiFe Li-Ion LiPo
3.6V
7.2V
10.8V
14.4V
18.0V
21.6V
3.7V
7.4V
11.1V
14.8V
18.5V
22.2V
3.3V
6.6V
9.9V
13.2V
16.5V
19.8V
1 cell
2 cells
3 cells
4 cells
5 cells
6 cells
LIPO, LI-ION AND LIFE PACK VOLTAGES