Great Planes Triton Jr. Charger - GPMM3152 - Manual (Page 11)

1. At the default “NiCd CHARGE” screen, to discharge a NiCd battery press the down arrow to find the “NiCd
DISCHARGE” screen and skip to step 3.
2. To discharge a NiMH battery, press BATT TYPE twice to find the “NiMH CHARGE” screen. Then press the down
arrow to find the “NiMH DISCHARGE” screen.
3. Two values can be adjusted in the discharge screen. Press ENTER to cause the discharge current value to flash.
Press INC+ or DEC- to change this value (0.1 – 1.0 amps). See the chart on page 9 for recommended discharge
current settings. Note that “0.4A” is the same as 400mA…”0.9A” is the same as 900mA, etc. Press ENTER to cause
the voltage value to flash, which is the voltage of the entire pack (not per cell) where discharge will end. Press INC+
or DEC- to adjust this value as desired. NiCd and NiMH cell manufacturers recommend discharging batteries down
to 1.0-1.1V per cell. See the “Discharge Cutoff Settings” chart at right to determine the discharge cutoff point for
your battery. Once set, press ENTER, or wait 5 seconds and Triton Jr. will automatically confirm both settings.
4. To START DISCHARGE, press and hold START for 2 seconds. The “BATTERY CHECK, PLEASE WAIT…”
display will show briefly as Triton Jr. evaluates the condition of the battery. If the battery is ready, discharge will
start automatically at which time you’ll see a screen like the one on the right.
5. When discharge is finished, the screen will show “END”
and tones will sound for 10 seconds. The battery can now
be re-charged, or disconnected from Triton Jr. Other data
measured during discharge can be viewed in the DATA
VIEW screens, as shown on page 20.
DISCHARGING NiCd & NiMH BATTERIES
11
# cells Rated *Cutoff
in the Pack Voltage
pack Voltage
1 1.2 1.1
2 2.4 2.2
3 3.6 3.3
4 4.8 4.4
5 6.0 5.5
6 7.2 6.6
7 8.4 7.7
8 9.6 8.8
9 10.8 9.9
10 12.0 11.0
11 13.2 12.1
12 14.4 13.2
13 15.6 14.3
14 16.8 15.4
* Cutoff volts based on
1.1V/cell for NiCd/MH
Discharge Cutoff Settings
NiCd and NiMH
NiCd DSCH 760
BATTERY
TYPE
DSCH =
DISCHARGING
OUTPUT
VOLTAGE
DISCHARGE
CURRENT
8.1V 0.8A 057m
DISCHARGE CAPACITY: This how much energy (capacity in
“mAh”) that has been taken from the battery during discharge.
For a battery which previously had little charge, this number
could be low. For a battery which previously had been fully
charged, this number should be high (ideally within 10% of
the battery’s own mAh rating).
ELAPSED DISCHARGE TIME: This is the number of minutes
the battery has been on discharge. For a battery which
previously had little charge, this number should be low. For
batteries which previously had been fully charged, this number
should be larger.
NOTES FOR DISCHARGING NiCd & NiMH BATTERIES
• Some transmitters might contain a diode in their charge circuit which could prevent the Tx battery
from being discharged through the radio’s charge jack. In such case, a “No battery” error will show.
It’s best to remove the battery from the Tx and connect it directly to Triton Jr. for discharging. (see
page 6 for a list of adapters).
• For more accurate discharge readings, it’s better to use a current which can discharge the pack in
1 or 2 hours.
• The maximum discharge current is 1 amp. Maximum power dissipation during discharge is 5 watts,
which might cause discharge currents to automatically be limited for packs having high voltage.
• Sub-C and some “A” size cells are often used for high current/power applications such as driving
electric motors (not for radio system uses). These applications typically result in cells being
discharged to voltages below 1.1V per cell. To determine the condition of these cells, it may be
desirable to set the discharge cutoff voltage to 0.9V per cell (multiply number of cells in the pack
by 0.9). Do NOT attempt to discharge cells to voltages lower than recommended.
• To determine the condition of a battery, compare the final capacity measurement the battery
delivered during discharge to the capacity rating listed on the battery’s label. If a battery provides
less than 70% of its rated capacity it may need to be replaced. Additional cycles can be attempted
to try and revive the battery, but if capacity measurements fail to improve the battery should be
replaced.
• Discharge can be stopped manually by pressing ENTER, or disconnecting the pack.