•
Use the UP/DOWN buttons to select to the CHARGE MODE screen. Attach your battery pack to the
charger outputs using proper connector and cable assembly. Cable to charger, then Battery to Cable.
•
Press the ENTER button to start charging. You can press the UP/DOWN buttons during charging to
increase/decrease the charge rate.
•
When charging is complete, the charger will issue the tone you selected (if not OFF) and flash display.
•
HOLD DOWN the ENTER button (0.5 sec+) to stop charging early, if desired.
USE of DISCHARGE or CYCLE MODE Functions follows the same button procedures as CHARGE.
DATA VIEW for Battery & Charger Conditions
During or after charge/discharge, there is much information available within the DATA VIEW screens.
*During Charging: Press SETUP once, then ENTER to scroll through the various Data Screens.
*After charging: From any top menu, press UP/DOWN to reach DATAVIEW, then ENTER to see each sub-screen:
*INPUT / OUTPUT voltage at the charger
*TEMPERATURE
SET: Temp Cutoff Setting
PEAK: Peak temperature recorded
TEMP: Current temperature
*CHARGE
PEAK: Voltage
CHARGE TIME in minutes and seconds
mAh accepted by the pack during charge
*DISCHARGE
Avg. Voltage, discharge time, mAh from pack
*CYCLE DATA
(UP/DOWN to cycle the 5 previous data sets)
mAh input and output for each charge/discharge cycle
*
CELL BALANCER VOLTAGE
(with LBA10 Cell Balancer connected via DataCable)
Average and Current Voltage
*INDIVIDUAL LIPO CELL VOLTAGE
Screen #1, Cells 1~6
(single LBA with compatible 1~6S battery pack)
Screen #2, Cells 7~12
(two Networked LBA with two compatible 1~6S battery packs in series)
Additional Information - Addendum
TCS Feature:
(Terminal Capacity Selection for Lithium Batteries)
This feature is selected at the CHARGE MODE screen. Estimated Capacity (EP) can be set from 50% to 100%. The charger uses
your setting for Battery Capacity in addition to sophisticated measurements and calculations to make a close estimate for the
currently charged capacity in the pack during charging.
There are two good reasons why you might want to charge a Lithium Battery to something less than full capacity. The first is for
long-term storage. Lithium batteries are best stored after charging to 55%~60% of nominal capacity. So this use is easy to
understand.
The second aim is to get more flight time in during a typical day at the field, by stopping the charge when the battery is 85% to
95% full, for example. But, reasonably, one might ask: “Wouldn’t that only speed the charge process by about 5~15%? Actually,
no. Charging to 90% (for example), rather than 100%, pays a much larger bonus in saved charge time….
Lithium Polymer batteries are a bit special, in that they must use a “Constant Current - Constant Voltage” charging system.
Initially, a fully depleted battery (i.e. ~3.0V/cell) will be charged at constant “full current”, according to your setting for Current
at the CHARGE MODE screen. However, as the voltage of the pack rises, current must be steadily reduced. Toward the end of
the charge, voltage becomes nearly constant as 4.2V per cell is approached, and current is reduced to a trickle. This means that
charging the last few mAh back into the pack takes a LOT more time than the first few mAh did…
But Lithium Batteries are very light considering the large capacity they hold; so, if you want to charge quickly and get back in
the air, charging to less than full capacity may be a good strategy. For example, the EOS 1210i requires roughly 39 minutes to
fully charge a Hyperion lithium battery, when set to the max rate of 2C. At the same 2C rate, but with TCS set to 90%, the
same battery can be charged in as little as 27 minutes, saving 30% of the original charge time for a sacrifice of 10% capacity.
And for many pilots - who may usually land with 20% or more capacity remaining in the pack anyway - there is essentially no
sacrifice at all…
We suggest that you start by flying fully charged packs, and measure how much remains in the pack after a flight, by checking
data after a flight to see what percentage you actually use on average (mAh put back IN to the pack during charges, compared
to total pack capacity, several times). That will give you a good idea how much you can reduce Charged Capacity, and still leave
a little margin extra.
Note and keep in mind that the rolling TCS estimation of charged capacity is better as the pack nears full charge. That is, at the
90% mark the estimation is very accurate, but at 50% mark is likely less accurate.
Note also that the EOS 1210i will NOT automatically terminate the charge when your pre-set percentage is reached. Instead,
it sounds a unique double-tone repeatedly, for an interval of 10 seconds. It is up to the user to manually terminate the charge
at that point, or to do nothing and allow the charge to continue until 100% is reached. This is a safety feature to insure that
packs are not inadvertently undercharged. And since the point of speed charging is that you want to fly NOW, it is unlikely that
you would miss the double tones when they do sound, as you are waiting nearby to fly….
Charging in Excess of 1C Rate:
Every Hyperion lithium polymer battery ever produced is capable of reliable charging in excess of 2C. Yet, until this document,
Hyperion has only ever specified 1C charge rates. Why? Because extensive test and our experience have shown the following:
