Cell Charger
Cell Charger
Cell Charger
Charge rate
Charge rate is often denoted as C or C-rate and signifies a charge or discharge
rate equal to the capacity of a battery in one hour. For a 1.6Ah battery, C =
1.6A. A charge rate of C/2 = 0.8A would need two hours, and a charge rate of
2C = 3.2A would need 30 minutes to fully charge the battery from an empty
state, if supported by the battery. This also assumes that the battery is 100%
efficient at absorbing the charge.
A battery charger may be specified in terms of the battery capacity or C rate; a
charger rated C/10 would return the battery capacity in 10 hours, a charger rated
at 4C would charge the battery in 15 minutes. Very rapid charging rates, 1 hour
or less, generally require the charger to carefully monitor battery parameters
such as terminal voltage and temperature to prevent overcharging and damage
to the cells.
Types of battery chargers
Simple
A simple charger works by supplying a constant DC or pulsed DC power source
to a battery being charged. The simple charger does not alter its output based on
time or the charge on the battery. This simplicity means that a simple charger is
inexpensive, but there is a tradeoff in quality. Typically, a simple charger takes
longer to charge a battery to prevent severe over-charging. Even so, a battery
left in a simple charger for too long will be weakened or destroyed due to over-
charging. These chargers can supply either a constant voltage or a constant
current to the battery.
Simple AC-powered battery chargers have much higher ripple current and
ripple voltage than other kinds of battery supplies. When the ripple current is
within the battery-manufacturer-recommended level, the ripple voltage will also
be well within the recommended level. The maximum ripple current for a
typical 12 V 100 Ah VRLA battery is 5 amps. As long as the ripple current is
not excessive (more than 3 to 4 times the battery-manufacturer-recommended
level), the expected life of a ripple-charged VRLA battery is within 3% of the
life of a constant DC-charged battery.
Trickle
A trickle charger is typically a low-current (5–1,500 mA) battery charger. A
trickle charger is generally used to charge small capacity batteries (2–30 Ah).
These types of battery chargers are also used to maintain larger capacity
batteries (> 30 Ah) that are typically found on cars, boats, RVs and other related
vehicles. In larger applications, the current of the battery charger is sufficient
only to provide a maintenance or trickle current (trickle is commonly the last
charging stage of most battery chargers). Depending on the technology of the
trickle charger, it can be left connected to the battery indefinitely. Some battery
chargers that can be left connected to the battery without causing the battery
damage are also referred to as smart or intelligent chargers.
Timer-based
The output of a timer charger is terminated after a pre-determined time. Timer
chargers were the most common type for high-capacityNi-Cd cells in the late
1990s for example (low-capacity consumer Ni-Cd cells were typically charged
with a simple charger).
Often a timer charger and set of batteries could be bought as a bundle and the
charger time was set to suit those batteries. If batteries of lower capacity were
charged then they would be overcharged, and if batteries of higher capacity
were charged they would be only partly charged. With the trend for battery
technology to increase capacity year on year, an old timer charger would only
partly charge the newer batteries.
Timer based chargers also had the drawback that charging batteries that were
not fully discharged, even if those batteries were of the correct capacity for the
particular timed charger, would result in over-charging.
Intelligent
Solar chargers
Solar chargers convert light energy into DC current. They are
generally portable, but can also be fixed mount. Fixed mount solar chargers are
also known as solar panels. Solar panels are often connected to the electrical
grid, whereas portable solar chargers are used off-the-grid (i.e. cars, boats,
or RVs).
Although portable solar chargers obtain energy from the sun only, they still can
(depending on the technology) be used in low light (i.e. cloudy) applications.
Portable solar chargers are typically used for trickle charging, although some
solar chargers (depending on thewattage), can completely recharge batteries.
Other devices may exist, which combine this with other sources of energy for
added recharging efficacy.
Motion-powered charger
Several companies have begun making devices that charge batteries based on
regular human motion. One example, made by Tremont Electric, consists of a
magnet held between two springs that can charge a battery as the device is
moved up and down, such as when walking. Such products have not yet
achieved significant commercial success.
Applications
Since a battery charger is intended to be connected to a battery, it may not have
voltage regulation or filtering of the DC voltage output. Battery chargers
equipped with both voltage regulation and filtering may be identified as battery
eliminators.
A brightbox charging station for various brands of mobile phones with locking chambers.
Use in experiments
A battery charger can work as a DC power adapter for experimentation. It may,
however, require an external capacitor to be connected across its output
terminals in order to "smooth" the voltage sufficiently, which may be thought of
as a DC voltage plus a "ripple" voltage added to it. Note that there may be
an internal resistance connected to limit the short circuit current, and the value
of that internal resistance may have to be taken into consideration in
experiments.
Circuit Description
In this model step down down transformer convert 220 volt
ac into 9 volt ac current then we make 9 volt dc using 2
diodes and capacitor through full wave rectifier method and
then we connect 6 volt battery (1.5 x4 cells) to it.
In brief
Here you can read how to make a simple charger or adapter
for charging 6 volt rechargable battery. This charger works
with a full wave rectifier circuit and a step down transformer.
You can use this device as a AC adapter or charger for
batteries. By selecting proper transformers and rectifier circuit
it is possible to change the output of the charger. Thus you
can design a charger circuit according to your purpose.
What is a Step Down Transformer?
Transformer is a device used to step up or step down the
input voltage. A step down transformer reduces the input
voltage and provide a lower voltage at output. A transformer
works on the principle of mutual induction.