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8.3. PowEr SUPPLy
Power supply to the instrument is from two rechargeable 9.6V, 4Ah NiMH battery packs.
Charging is carried out by connecting the instrument to mains, at a voltage of 90 to 260V and a frequency of 50-60Hz, with an
ambient temperature of 0 to 30°C.
8.3.1. NIMH tECHNoLoGy
The NiMH technology has many advantages, such as:
long life between charges with limited bulk and weight,
the possibility of recharging your battery rapidly,
a very small memory effect: you can recharge your battery even if it is not fully discharged, without reducing its capacity,
protection of the environment through the absence of polluting materials such as lead and cadmium.
The NiMH technology allows a limited number of charging/discharging cycles that depends on the conditions of use and the
charging conditions. Under optimum conditions, this number of cycles is 200.
8.3.2. bAttEry CHArGING
The built-in charger manages the charging current, the battery voltage, and the internal temperature of the battery simultaneously.
This optimizes the charging, while ensuring a long battery life.
The day before you use your device, check its charge condition. If the battery level indicator shows less than three bars, charge
the device overnight (see §1.3).
The charging time varies between 6h and 10h.
A half-hour charge restores 10% of the capacity of the battery, enough to make a few measurements.
It is possible to recharge the batteries while making insulation measurements, provided that the voltages used are not too high and
the measured values are greater than 20M
W
.
In this case, the recharging time will exceed 6 hours; it will depend on the frequency
of the measurements made. Otherwise, the battery will be discharged faster than it is charged.
In order to extend the life of your battery
:
Charge your device only between 10 and 30°C
.
Observe the conditions of use and storage stated in this data sheet
.
A new battery becomes fully effective only after several complete charging/discharging cycles. This will not however prevent you
from using your device when it has been charged for the first time. However, we recommend making the first charge a full charge
(at least 10 hours).
If the instrument indicates that charging is over, do not hesitate to disconnect the charger for a few seconds, then reconnect it
to top up the charge.
The battery in your instrument, like any rechargeable battery, is subject to significant residual discharging, even when the instrument
is off. If your device has not been used for several weeks, it is probable that the battery will be partially discharged, even if it had
been fully recharged just before going into storage.
In this case, before using it again, you should fully recharge the battery (at least 10 hours).
The longer your battery is stored, the more it is discharged. After three months’ storage of the battery without periodic recharging,
the battery is probably fully discharged.
Possible consequences are:
Failure of the instrument to switch on, as long as the mains cord is not connected.
A loss of the instrument’s date and time (it reverts to 1 January 1998).
8.3.3. oPtIMIzE bAttEry CHArGING
During charging, the temperature of the battery rises substantially, especially towards the end. A safety device, built into the
battery, checks constantly that the battery temperature does not exceed an acceptable maximum. If this maximum is exceeded,
the charger switches off automatically, even if charging is not complete
.
Above 30°C, it is not possible to charge the battery fully because the charging will cause overheating.
