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III. OPERATION
A. CHARGING NICKEL CADMIUM (NICD) AND NICKEL METAL HYDRIDE (NIMH)
BATTERIES ONLY Never leave charger unattended when in use.
The unit has two channels and can handle two batteries at the same
time. However the LCD only displays one channel at a time.
1. Always connect the power source (120V AC adapter or 12V DC) to the
charger first. The AC adapter has thermal and overload protection.
When the adapter is overheated or overloaded, it will cutoff its output.
RB977 power supply is equipped with a tempreature controlled
cooling fan. It only operates under heavy load.
2. Attach the battery to one of the outputs on the charger. The battery’s
voltage will appear on the screen.
If the battery voltage reading is zero, check the polarity of the
battery connection. The 977 will not charge or discharge a battery
having zero reading in voltage.
At this point, if you are operating on channel A, you can select charge
or discharge by pressing charge or discharge button.
You can select charge or discharge only when the voltage is
displayed during setting.
3. If you want to use both channels, you should finish both channel’s
settings before starting either channel. This will make the setting
process faster. Once one channel is running, the charger will only take
one setting command per second for the other channel. This is slow if
you are making many setting changes.
4.
Select the appropriate channel/output you wish to operate by pressing
the “A/B select” button.
5. The charge current can be changed by pressing the “Display Select”
button to select the Amp display, and then pressing the “+” or “-” button
to select the Amps setting.
WARNING: Consult battery manufacturer’s instructions or included
section “Notes on Charging Batteries” before selecting charge rate.
6.
The 977 can determine the number of cells in the pack you are
charging. This is based on the voltage and time curve of the battery
when connected to the output leads. The initial cell number displayed
may be incorrect. However the final cell number reading will be
correct. To speed up the test procedure, you can simply input the
number of cells instead of letting the 977 measure it.
7.
The 977 will select a peak setting based on the number of cells in the
pack (5mV per cell). While this setting may be appropriate for NiMH
batteries, it may be too conservative for NiCd batteries. Press the
“Display Select” button until “mV” setting appears on the screen, then
press the “+” or “-” button to select the appropriate peak voltage
threshold. Please refer to the “Notes on Charging Batteries” section
for the appropriate settings.
