Once you are satisfied that all the settings in the current memory position are correct for your battery, you are
ready to charge, discharge, or cycle your pack!
Note: When an LBA10 or compatible balancer is
not
connected to the 1210i
via DataPort, the initial screen after charge is started will recommend use of the LBA, for best safety.
•
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:
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.
c
harging 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
hold
large capacity
, considering their light weight
; 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…
S
tart by flying fully charged packs, and measure how much remains in the pack after a flight, by checking
mAh-IN and
Percentage Charge
data
during next charges
to see what percentage you actually use
during an
average
flight
. That will give
you a good idea how much you can reduce Charged Capacity, and still leave a little margin extra.
T
he 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
:
Case 1 -
When TCS is set for 50% to 60% (for battery storage): When the selected charge percentage is reached, the charger
stops and sounds the
‘
finished
’
tones.
Case 2 -
When TCS is set for 61% or higher (for quick charge): T
he 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….
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