If a LiPo battery of this nature is charged without the use of a balancer, large differ-
ences in the cell voltages will occur very rapidly. This not only shortens the operating
time (as one cell may give in under the voltage), but also damages the battery as a
result of deep discharge.
Furthermore, there is a risk of overcharging an individual cell when charging a lithi-
um battery with different cell voltages without a balancer.
Example:
A dual-cell LiPo battery pack charged without the use of a balancer appears to have a voltage
of 8.4 V and thus appears to be fully charged. However, the two cells have a respective voltage
of 4.5 V and 3.9 V (one cell is dangerously overcharged, the other is half empty).
Overcharged cells may leak, expand or even catch fire or explode.
If this LiPo battery were to be inserted into a model aeroplane, the flying time would be very
short because the voltage of the half empty cell would drop very quickly and the battery would
stop delivering a current.
If the lithium battery has a balancer connection, it must always be connected to the
charger in addition to the normal two battery connections (po and negative/-).
In that case, always use a balancer cable and charge in ‘BALANCE’ balance mode.
If the balancer connector of the battery does not match the shape of the socket, you
must use a suitable connection cable with adapter. You can obtain the cable from an
accessories retailer.
Charging a lithium battery without balancer ‘CHARGE’
You can charge multi-cell lithium batteries without connecting the balancer with the
‘CHARGE’ battery programme. In this mode, however, the individual cell voltages
are not balanced and one or more cells may overcharge. This may cause a fire or
explosion!
For this reason, always charge multi-cell lithium batteries with a balancer connection
using the ‘BALANCE’ programme. Do not use the ‘CHARGE’ programme.
This charging mode is used to charge LiPo/LiFe/Li-ion/LiHV batteries.
Only use balancer cables when charging lithium batteries in balancer mode.
-
-
+
+
>3 s
Stop
Enter
Select the desired battery programme for the battery
type (LiPo/LiFe/Li-ion/LiHV) – ‘CHARGE’.
The battery type is displayed in the first row on the left,
the charging programme is displayed on the right.
The value in the second row on the left is the set
charging current, the value on the right is the current
voltage and the number of cells in brackets. After
setting the current and voltage, press and hold the
ENTER START
button
(6)
for more than 3 seconds
to start the charging process.
Start
Enter
Charged
capacity
Number
of
cells
Charging
time
Charging
current
Battery
voltage
Charged
capacity
Charging
current
Charging
time
Number
of cells
Battery
voltage
Enter
This following display shows the number of cells that
you have set. The charger detects the number of cells
in the connected battery and displays them.
R = Number of cells detected by the charger
S = Number of cells that you have set
If both entries are identical, you can start charging.
If this does not apply, press the
STOP BATT/PROG
button
(9)
to return to the previous menu. Check the
set number of cells again and correct it, if necessary.
This display shows the status during the charging
process in real time. Press the
STOP BATT/PROG
button
(9)
once to stop an ongoing charging process.
Fast charging of lithium batteries ‘FAST CHG’
When you charge a lithium battery, the charging process causes the charging current to falls
continuously the fuller the battery becomes (if the battery has reached its maximum charging
voltage and the charger switches from constant current to the constant voltage charging
process). Of course, this also increases the charging time.
Fast charging reduces the charging time of a battery by using higher charging currents. The
charging current itself falls towards the end of the charging process. Fast charging delivers
a higher charging current. However, this reduces the charging capacity, as the charging cycle
is stopped earlier by the charger's integrated safety mechanism.
This means that, for example, a LiPo battery cannot be fully charged using the fast charge
function. Only approx. 90% of the capacity achievable with the normal charging process will
be available.
Fast charge mode should only be used when you need to charge a battery as quick-
ly as possible.
The charging current and voltage/number of cells can be set in the same way as for the
‘CHARGE’ battery programme.
-
-
+
+
Stop
Enter >3 s
Select the desired battery programme for the battery type
(LiPo/LiFe/Li-ion/LiHV) – ‘FAST CHG’.
The battery type is displayed in the first row on the left,
the discharging/charging programme is displayed on
the right. The value in the second row on the left is the
set current, the value on the right is the current voltage
(number of cells). After setting the current and voltage,
press and hold the
ENTER
button
(6)
for more than
3 seconds to start the charging process.
This display shows the number of cells that you have set.
The charger detects the number of cells in the connected
battery and displays them.
R = Number of cells detected by the charger
S = Number of cells that you have set
Enter
Charged
capacity
Time
passed
Charging
current
Number
of cells
Current
battery
voltage
If both entries are identical, you can start charging.
If this does not apply, press the
STOP BATT/PROG
button
(9)
to return to the previous menu. Check the set
number of cells again and correct it, if necessary.
This display shows the status during the charging process
in real time. Press the
STOP BATT/PROG button (9)
once to stop an ongoing charging process.
Charging lithium batteries for storage ‘STORAGE’
This battery programme can be used if the battery is not intended to be used immediately but
at a later point in time and thus needs to be stored for a longer period of time. The battery is
charged or discharged to a certain voltage depending on the selected battery type.
Depending on the cell voltage, the battery is either charged or discharged. With a multi-cell
battery pack, this only makes sense if a balancer connection is available and connected to
the charger.
When storing a lithium battery for an extended period (e.g. when storing a model aeroplane
battery during the winter), the battery must be checked every 3 months and the ‘STORAGE’
programme used to charge to storage voltage to avoid damaging the battery due to deep
discharge. When batteries are charged or discharged, they are returned to a precisely defined,
original state. They are discharged according to their characteristics as follows: 3.7 V Li-ion, 3.8
V LiPo, 3.3 V LiFe and 3.9 V LiHV. The programme discharges them when the original state of
the battery exceeds the required storage voltage. The voltage is brought to the correct level for
storage by charging and discharging the battery pack.
-
+
-
+
>3 s
Stop
Enter
Select the desired battery programme for the battery
type (LiPo/LiFe/Li-ion/LiHV) – ‘STORAGE’.
Set the storage voltage and the charging/discharging
current here. This display shows the number of cells
that you have set. The charger detects the number of
cells in the connected battery and displays them.
R = Number of cells detected by the charger
S = Number of cells that you have set.
Enter
Charged
capacity
Duration
Discharging/
charging
current
Number
of cells
Battery
voltage
If both entries are identical, you can start charging. If
this does not apply, press the
STOP BATT/PROG
button
(9)
to return to the previous menu. Check the
set number of cells again and correct it, if necessary.
This display shows the status during the charging
process in real time. Press the
STOP BATT/PROG
button
(9)
once to stop an ongoing charging process.
Discharging lithium batteries (DISCHARGE)
It is not usually necessary to discharge lithium batteries (unlike NiCd batteries) before charging
(contrary to the procedure for NiCd batteries). The battery can be charged immediately,
independent of its current state. However, if you do wish to discharge the battery, you can
configure the discharging current accordingly.
