La Crosse Technology BC-900 User Manual

BATTERY CHARGER BC-900

Instruction Manual

INTRODUCTION:

Congratulations on purchasing this intelligent charging unit which enables quick and optimum charging to “AA” and “AAA” rechargeable batteries. With charging, discharging, refreshing and capacity test functions as well as individual LCD displays for charging compartments; this charging unit is reliable, user-friendly and ideal for use in the home, office or on a journey.

The Charging unit

CAUTIONS:

1. The charger is restricted to charging NiCd and NiMH rechargeable batteries only. Never use this charger for other types of batteries such as alkaline, lithium, carbon zinc or other types that are not specified.

2. The charging unit shall only be used at normal indoor room conditions.

3. Always follow the charging instructions for the rechargeable battery. Observe the recommended charging current of the rechargeable batteries. Never use a charging current higher than recommended in the charging process.

4. Never use any power cable and transformer other than those originally supplied with the charging unit.

5. The rechargeable batteries may become hot during charging (especially when a high charging current is chosen). User shall take extra care when taking out the batteries after charging.

6. Unplug the charging unit from the power source when not in use.

FEATURES: The Charging unit

Charging rechargeable battery in various current (200, 500, 700 or 1000 mA). The charging current can be set up to 1500 or 1800 mAh when two batteries are charged.

Fast charging – 70 mins to charge up 2000 mAh batteries

Individual LCD display for all compartments

Charging both “AA” and “AAA” rechargeable batteries simultaneously

Overheat detection to protect rechargeable batteries from over-charging

Minus delta voltage (-dV) detection for charge termination

Damaged batteries detection

Discharge mode (first discharging and then charging) to remove memory effect of rechargeable batteries

Refreshing old rechargeable batteries by discharging/ charging cycles

Test function to check the capacities of rechargeable batteries

Charging/ Discharging functions can be launched independently and simultaneously to each rechargeable battery in the compartments

Various display modes during charging/ discharging – the charging current (in mA), time elapsed (in hh:mm), the terminal voltage (in V) and accumulated capacities (in mAh or Ah)

INVENTORY OF CONTENTS

1. Charging unit

2. Transformer

3. Size “C” battery adapter (4) & Size “D” battery adapter (4)

4. Holding Bag

5. “AA” rechargeable battery (4) & “AAA” rechargeable battery (4)

6. Instruction Manual

FUNCTION KEYS:

There are three easy-to-use function keys and four number keys on the charging unit:

Compartment Number keys

CURRENT key

MODE key

DISPLAY

Compartment Number key

Press and release the Number key to select a particular battery compartment for charge modes and/or display mode adjustment.

MODE key

The mode key shall first be pressed and held for 1 second to activate the mode change. The subsequent pressing of the mode key will toggle between the “Charge”, “Discharge”, “Test” and “Refresh” mode. To change the operating mode for an individual rechargeable battery, first press the corresponding NUMBER key then press the MODE key.

DISPLAY key

Press and release to select the displays of the charging current (in mA), time elapsed (in hh:mm), the terminal voltage (in V) and accumulated capacities (in mAh or Ah) during the charging or discharging process. To change the display content of a particular rechargeable battery, first press the corresponding NUMBER key then press the DISPLAY key.

CURRENT key

Press to select the amount of current to be applied (within the first 8 seconds after batteries are inserted) in different operating modes (also see “Start charging the rechargeable batteries” below).

OPERATING MODES OF THE CHARGING UNIT

This powerful charging unit provides the following operating modes: a. Charge the rechargeable battery (CHARGE) – to charge the rechargeable battery, automatically switches to trickle charge after the rechargeable

battery is full.

b. Discharge then charge the rechargeable battery (DISCHARGE) – to discharge the rechargeable battery then charge it to minimize the memory

effect.

c. Refresh the rechargeable battery (REFRESH) – to refresh the rechargeable battery to its maximum capacity by charging and discharging the

rechargeable battery repeatedly until no further increase in the capacity is estimated. For old rechargeable batteries or those have not been used for a long times, refreshing may bring the rechargeable battery back to the optimum condition.

d. Check the rechargeable battery capacity in mAh/ Ah (TEST)

CHARGE MODE

Charging at 200 mA is the default-operating mode of the charging unit. When only one or two rechargeable batteries are charged, provided that only compartment 1 and compartment 4 are used, a charging current up to 1500 or 1800 mA may be set by the pressing the CURRENT key. On the other hand, when charging three or four rechargeable batteries at the same time, user may select a charging current of 200, 500, 700 or 1000 mA.

When charging two batteries at compartment 1 & 4 – max. charging current: 1800 mA

When charging two batteries at compartment 1 & 2 – max. charging current: 1000 mA

When charging two batteries at compartment 2 & 3 – max. charging current: 1000 mA

When charging four batteries – max. charging current: 1000 mA

The estimated time of charging by various charging current is tabulated in Table 1.

Table 1. Charging Time with various charging current

Size of battery

Battery

Capacity

Charging current

selected

Estimated charging

time 1800 ~75 min 1500 ~90 min

AA 2300 mAh

1000 ~2 hr 15 min

700 ~3 hr 15 min 500 ~4 hr 30 min

200 ~11 hr 30 min 1800 ~70 min 1500 ~80 min

AA 2000 mAh

1000 ~2 hr

700 ~3 hr

500 ~4 hr

200 ~10 hr

700 ~60 min

AAA 700 mAh

500 ~84 min

200 ~3 hr 30 min

Note:

User shall always observe the recommended maximum charging current of the rechargeable batteries. In general, 200 mA is a recommended charging current if rapid charging is not necessary. It is definitely safe and optimum to the rechargeable batteries.

When the transformer has been plugged to the power source, the version number of the charger (for example “29” ) will be displayed first. Then all the segments will light up momentarily and the “null” sign will be shown before batteries are placed. If damaged batteries are placed to the charging unit, the charger will also show “null” on LCD.

“null” displayed - No battery or damaged battery is

laced to the charging unit

START CHARGING THE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES

Once a rechargeable battery is inserted after the transformer has been plugged to the power source, the battery voltage (for example, “1.39V”) will be displayed for 4 seconds. Then “200 mA Charge” (default mode) will be shown on LCD for another 4 seconds, indicating that charging with 200 mA is to be started if no alternation in setting is made.

Within this 8-second time from inserting the batteries the user may first select the operating mode by the MODE key. “Charge”, “Discharge”, “Refresh” and “Test” mode may be chosen. Then within 4 seconds from the last key pressing, user may select the charging/ discharging current by pressing the CURRENT key.

Note:

•

There is a 4-second time allowed for choosing further functions after each key pressing. If no more keys are pressed, the LCD will blink one time to indicate the end of setting. Afterward, the current can no longer be changed during the process and the selected mode will begin.

fter 4 seconds from the last key

ress, the LCD will blink once to indicate the setting is confirmed and the selected mode is activated

Charging current: 200 mA

Charge Mode

During charging, the different displays- Charging current (in mA), Time elapsed (in hh:mm), Terminal voltage (in V) and Accumulated capacities (in mAh or Ah) may be toggled and selected by pressing the DISPLAY key (refer Table 4). After the rechargeable battery is fully charged, “Full” will be shown on the display and the user may take out them at this time. If the rechargeable batteries are left in place in the compartments, trickle charging will start. The trickle charging current is around 5% of the selected charging current to keep the rechargeable batteries full.

“Full” sign is shown -The battery is fully charged

Note :

The current cannot be altered once the setting has been confirmed in the initial stage. This prevents the user from changing the current setting accidentally while doing setting on other rechargeable batteries. If one wants to change the applied current afterward, the rechargeable batteries must be taken out and inserted again.

The maximum charging current of the other rechargeable batteries are restricted by the current setting of the first inserted rechargeable battery. For instance, if the first inserted rechargeable battery is set to charge at 700 mA, then the second, third and fourth rechargeable batteries can be only set to charging at a maximum current of 700 mA. Therefore, the user is advised to place the battery with the highest expected charging current in Compartment 1 first. To release the restriction of setting charging current, user must take out all four rechargeable batteries from the charging unit.

To change the operating mode during charging, one can press the MODE key (for selecting all rechargeable batteries) or NUMBER ke y then MODE key (for selecting individual rechargeable battery). Four (4) seconds after the last key press the LCD will blink one time to indicate the end of changing.

When overheating conditions occur (over about 127°F (53°C), usually due to too high a charging current selected), the charging will be stopped immediately and the display will shown “000 mA”, the charging process will only resume once the temperature of the rechargeable batteries drops to a safe level. If overheat conditions continue to occur, the rechargeable batteries must be taken out to cool down and then charged at a lower current.

When the battery is overheated the charging will ceases automatically. “000 mA” will be displayed.

For a new rechargeable battery it is recommended to charge it with 200 mA current to re-condition it from the long storage status.

DISCHARGE MODE

Discharge mode will first discharge the rechargeable battery then charge it. It is for removing the memory effects of rechargeable batteries. By pressing the MODE key within 8 seconds after inserting the rechargeable batteries, the Discharge mode can be selected. Then the user may also select different discharging current (see Table 2) by pressing the CURRENT key, within 8 seconds after inserting the batteries. (The display will blink once to indicate the setting has been confirmed and the current cannot be changed afterward.)

Discharging current: 250 mA

Discharge Mode

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