Charging
As long as no batteries are inserted the display indicates “nob“ (no battery). This means there is no battery in the
charging compartment.
For gentle charging of NiMH batteries set charging current to ”M“ or ”S“.
After having inserted a battery the charging process will start automatically and will be indicated by rising
segments in the battery symbol of the display. The charged capacity will be indicated during charging.
After the completion of charging the full battery symbol will be displayed (all segments indicated) and the display
automatically changes between charged capacity and charging time.
Measuring the capacity
Shortly pressing the “Discharge“ button will activate the discharging process. Descending segments in the battery
symbols and the simultaneous numerical display (Ah) informs you about the discharging progress.
The discharged capacity corresponds to the battery capacity. After reaching the final discharge voltage the
measured capacity (Ah) is stored in the memory. Now the charging process will start automatically.
Reading the capacity
The last measured capacity (last discharging process) can simultaneously be read for all batteries in the display
using the "Capacity [Ah]" button.
Cycling/Conditioning
After prolonged pressing (approx. 2 seconds) the “Discharge“
button the cycling symbol will appear and the
battery will be discharged and charged again and again until no more increase in capacity can be measured. This
conditioning of the batteries should be performed from time to time. The cycling process may take several hours.
Forming
Damaged batteries (cell short circuit) will be recognized when inserted. The forming process (repairing batteries)
will start automatically and the display indicates "For”.
After successful forming, the device switches automatically to charging. Forming may take up to 30 minutes.
If
forming has not been successful, the display indicates "Err" and the battery should be disposed of properly.
Overvoltage
If batteries are drained off, their internal materials will dry out resulting in a high degree of natural voltage. This
condition will be recognized and indicated in the display by "bAd". The battery is useless and should be disposed
of properly.
Selecting the charging compartment
Every battery can be selected and treated individually by pressing the "Select Cell" button. Each selected battery
will be indicated by the flashing battery symbol. The charging compartments are independent from one another.
Other special features of the AV4
with display
Full battery criteria
The batteries are charged according to the PVD (Peak-Voltage-Detection) procedure. This guarantees that the
batteries are charged 100 %. During the charging process the battery characteristics are continuously “monitored“
by a microprocessor and the charging current is switched off as soon as the batteries are charged 100 %. Not too
early and not too late.
Additionally, the temperature of each individual charging compartment is monitored to avoid potential overheating
of the batteries.
Other charging procedures, e.g. using a timer, often cause overcharging of the batteries. If batteries are
overcharged, they heat up strongly after only a few minutes – this heating, which is caused by overcharging, is
the most frequent cause for premature failure of the batteries.
Optimum charging conditions
Many chargers contain power components near the battery compartments causing so-called hot spots. These
"Hot Spots" often cause premature disconnection of the charging current and thus premature and wrong full
battery recognition.
This device is equipped with an intelligent microcontroller for perfect charging. Developers focused on not locating
power components near the battery compartments.
