Section 3: Charging Battery Pack
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Section 3: Charging Battery Pack
This section describes charging the battery pack. Sea-Bird recommends
discharging the battery pack first, and then recharging it.
• The charge cycle display shows the total energy added to the battery pack
during the charge. If you charge a partially charged battery pack, you
know only the amount of energy added to the pack, not the total energy in
the pack. By first discharging the battery pack, the amount of energy
added to the pack is the total energy in the pack, since the discharge
leaves the pack at nominally 0 KJ.
• Discharging the battery pack prevents voltage droop, which can affect
battery capacity in the long term. See Battery Conditioning and Voltage
Droop in Section 5: Battery Characteristics and Handling.
1. Connect the charger to the power supply and turn on power to the charger.
A. The charger displays SELF TEST REQUIRED, and then SELF
TEST COMPLETED. It then displays DETECT BATTERY, and
then NO BATTERY.
B. Connect the charger cable to the charger and battery pack.
C. The charger displays DETECT BATTERY, and then it displays
READY and the battery type (for example, NIMH14.4).
The battery type should match the label on the top of the battery pack.
2. Press the Discharge button. The Charger Active lamp comes on. The top
line of the display shows DISCHARGE during the discharge cycle. When
the discharge is complete, the top line of the display shows EMPTY and
the Charger Active lamp turns off.
• Discharge time varies, depending on the number of batteries and
amount of remaining charge in the battery pack. For a fully charged
battery pack, discharge time is approximately 75 minutes for 12-cells,
110 minutes for 9 cells, and 140 minutes for 6-cells.
3. Press the Charge button. The Charger Active lamp comes on. The top line
of the display shows the charging mode; it should display FAST CHARGE
for all or most of the charging cycle. When charging is complete, the top
line of the display shows BATTERY FULL and the Charger Active lamp
turns off.
• Charge time is approximately 2 hours for a fully discharged battery
pack, regardless of the number of cells in the pack.
• Depending on battery pack conditions – temperature and existing
battery voltage at beginning of charge – you may see WARM-UP
CHARGE or REFILL CHARGE momentarily or for several minutes
before FAST CHARGE appears.
• You may see TOP OFF towards the end of the charging cycle,
indicating a reduction in the charge rate, before BATTERY FULL
appears.
4. Turn off power to the charger. Disconnect the charger cable from the
charger and the battery pack.
Note:
The battery pack can remain in
the instrument housing while
being charged. See the instrument
manual for details on accessing
the battery pack.
WARNING!
Do not disconnect the battery
pack from the charger while the
Charger Active lamp is on.
Disconnecting the battery pack
while the lamp is on may cause a
small spark. The user may feel a
small shock, especially if the
connector is damp.
• If you need to interrupt the
battery charger, press the
Reset button. The Charger
Active lamp should turn off;
it is now safe to disconnect the
battery pack.
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