5
display. Generally a battery is about 80 to 90% charged at this point. During this phase the
Xtrema holds the terminating voltage constant. As the battery charges up, it naturally begins to
draw less and less current as it "fills up". The Xtrema simply maintains a constant voltage on the
battery while watching the current go down. When the charge current drops to 1/10 of the initial
charge current, the Xtrema considers the battery fully charged. This is indicated by the word
"
COMPLETE
" on the display accompanied by repetitive beeps (unless beeps have been
disabled in Setup)
Connect the Xtrema to charge a battery
1
. Connect the red (+) and black (-) Xtrema inputs directly to a 12Volt automobile battery
or regulated power supply. Be careful to observe polarity.
Note:
Make sure that the input voltage does not go below 10.5 Volts while charging or the
Xtrema will stop the charging process. Also charging will terminate if the voltage is above 15.0
Volts. When either of these conditions occurs the charge will terminate with a
BAD INPT
message in the upper right status area of the display.
Note:
Upon power up you will see the Xtrema welcome screen. This will display the
firmware and hardware revision and then beep. You will also notice that the fan will momentarily
come on and then shut off performing a power up fan test.
WARNING!
DO NOT CONTINUE USING THE CHARGER if you do NOT hear or feel
the fan come on during power up. Also if you hear any unusual fan noise such as a bad bearing,
please return the unit for service. For long fan life, the fan is designed to only come on during high
power charging. The cooling it provides is an integral part of the Xtrema's power to charge large
packs.
WARNING!
Your charger comes with factory default settings of 4.2 volts per cell. These settings
are ideal for obtaining the maximum charge from Lithium Polymer type cells. These settings must
be changed to 3.6 volts per cell when
charging M1 High Power Hypersonic
TM
Lithium Ion
cells manufactured by A123 Systems.
(See
Li Settings
section below before proceeding.)
2
. Connect the Li battery to the connector labeled
“
BATTERY
”
. CAUTION: Insure that
there is nothing connected to the
“
MOTOR
”
connector because the battery voltage will be present
there regardless of mode.
WARNING! USE POLARIZED CONNECTORS on the motor and battery to
prevent reversal of leads.
Although we have circuitry to protect the Xtrema in case of reverse
battery, in certain situations serious damage to Motor, speed controller, battery and the Xtrema
may result if polarity is not observed. Therefore please use polarized connectors that match you
largest battery connector and use polarized adapters for smaller packs.
3
. You may optionally connect the temperature probe to the battery using the hook and
loop strap. We recommend always using the temperature probe for maximum safety during charge.
TIP! FOR MAXIMUM EFFECTIVENESS
you will want to set the temperature cutoff to a
few degrees above the starting pack temperature. The factory default is 104°F. (To do this see
the instructions under the SETUP MENU.) For example if the pack temperature is 80°F then you
may want to set the temperature cutoff to 85°F. (You can determine the pack temperature by
attaching the thermometer to the battery with the supplied hook/loop band and temporarily
entering the Wattmeter function,)