Ramsey Electronics LEAD ACID BATTERY CHARGER KIT manual

LABC1 • 1 LEAD ACID BA TTER Y CHARGER KIT Ramsey Electronics Model No. LABC1 An educational kit th at will come in handy around the shop and garage. Build your ow n charger instead o f shelling out big bucks for a “store bought” unit. You migh t learn more than you ever wanted to know about batteries and battery charging. Ama z e your friends[...]

LABC1 • 2 RA MSEY TRA NSM ITT ER K ITS • FM100B Professional FM Stereo Transmitter • FM25B S ynthesized Stereo FM Transmi tter • MR6 Model Rocket Track ing Transmitter • TV6 Tel evision Transmi tter • Cube Tele vision Tr ansmitters RAMSE Y RECEI VER KI TS • FR1 FM Broa dcast Receiver • AR1 A ircraft Band Rec ei ver • SR2 Shortwa v[...]

LABC1 • 3 LEAD ACID BA TTER Y CHARGER KIT Ramsey Pu blication No. MLABC1 Price $5.00 Quick Battery Theory .................. 4 Circuit Description ....................... 6 Schemati c Diag ram .................... 8 Parts La yo ut Dia gram ................. 9 Parts Li st .................................... 10 Kit As sembly ......................[...]

LABC1 • 4 Quick Batt ery Theor y To begin, w e should cover a few facts about lead acid batteries in general. Most traditio nal histor ians date the invention of batt eries to the e arly 1800’s when experiments by Alessandro Volt a generated electrical current f rom chemical reactions betw een dissimilar me tals. Volta’s original ‘voltaic p[...]

LABC1 • 5 solution. As more energy is drained from th e battery, the ratio of sulfuric acid to water decreases and the created lead sulfate byproduct begins forming on the electrode plates. A low hydrometer reading means the chemical makeup that generates the free electrons is diminished so not as much energy is stored f or use. The term ‘speci[...]

LABC1 • 6 plates on a regular basis or over an extended period of time, the charging process will not be able to restore the batter y to its former f ull potential. Time to mak e a costly battery r eplacem ent! Circuit Description The LABC1 has been designed as a dependable wo rkhorse to charge and hold your 12 Volt lead ac id batte ries at th ei[...]

LABC1 • 7 batteries. Granted, that might take a wh ile. The other support components on the board help VR1 to know when to adjust its output voltage up or down to ensure the proper charging rate of the battery. These other components are grouped into two major sections, the SOC feedb ack loop and the am bient t emperatur e compensation use d duri[...]

LABC1 • 8[...]

LABC1 • 9 LA BC1 PA RTS LAYOUT DIA GRA M[...]

LABC1 • 10 PARTS SUPPLIED WITH YOUR LABC1 KIT Capacitors  1 10 µF electrolytic capacitor [C2]  1 1000 µF electrolytic capacitor [C1] Resistors and Potentiometers  1 0.47 ohm, 1 watt (yellow-violet-silver) [R6]  1 270 ohm (red-violet-brow n) [R1]  3 820 ohm (gray -red-brown) [R3,7,9]  1 10K ohm (brown-black-orange) [R8 ]  1 [...]

LABC1 • 11 RAMSEY "Learn-As-You-Build KIT ASSEMBLY There are numerous solder connections on the LABC1 printed circuit board. Therefore, PLEASE take us seriously wh en we say that good soldering is essential to the proper operatio n of your batter y charge r kit! • Use a 25-watt soldering pencil with a clean, sharp tip. • Use only rosin-c[...]

LABC1 • 12 LABC1 BATTERY CHARGER KIT ASSEMBL Y Although we know t hat you are anxious to complete the assembly of your battery charger kit it is best to f ollow t he step-by-step instructions. Try to avoid the urge to jump ahead installing components. Since you may appreci ate some warm-up soldering practice a s well as a chance to put some landm[...]

LABC1 • 13  5. Install C1, 1000 µF electrolytic capacito r. This part also must be installed properly to f unction. In fact , this capacitor has the potential to explode if installed in reverse polari ty. T he PC board silkscreen shows the positive hole an d the band on the capacitor sho ws the negativ e side. You’ll also note that the lead[...]

LABC1 • 14 Take a moment now to check your previous solder joints for “opens” w here the solder did not completely flow aro und the connection, or solder bridges between close ly spaced pads. It seems the best time to identify these problems is now when you’re focused on this section of the board, saving you time try ing to retrace your ste[...]

LABC1 • 15 right, you can do it with the rest. These will all be mounted in stan d-up f ashion, just like D17 wa s a fe w steps ago. Again, the body of the part is placed in the hole with the circle around it and the other lead is bent up and around to fit into the other hole. The b anded end should be facing up. If yo u don’t want to spend tim[...]

LABC1 • 16 ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS FOR CUSTOM CASE The enclosure is a key element to th e overall pride you will have upon completing your Ramsey kit. The encl osure will show how yo u were able to “build f rom scrat ch” a comme rcial piece of high-tech elect ronics. For some of us, the enclosure will also hide a number of “not-so-prett y” [...]

LABC1 • 17 ADJUSTING YOUR LABC1 B ATTERY CHARGER Now th at you have finished the assembly stage there is only one more step before you start ch arging your batteries. The necessary alignment is to adjust R2 for the proper ‘Float’ voltage w ith reference to t he current air temperature around diodes D5 to D14. In order for the temperature comp[...]

LABC1 • 18 SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS All lead-acid batteries produce Hydroge n and Oxygen gas durin g the electro- chem ical recha rging pr ocess. The pr o duction of these gases is increased if overcharging occurs, commonly caused by too high of a charge voltage. Sealed battery designs pl an on the recombination of Oxygen at the same rate it is pro [...]

LABC1 • 19 that R4 is use d in the SO C fe edback loop th at varies th e charging te rminal voltage in accordance with the battery’s present state. Lowering the value of R4 to 15K or less w ill have the eff ect of increasing the mode differential voltage. Initially the battery will be ch arged at hi gh current levels and the terminal voltage of[...]

LABC1 • 20 TROUBLESHOO TING GUIDE If your LABC1 does not work correctly after construction, recheck the following: • correct orientation of VR1 , and U1 (see PC board layout diagram) • correct polarity of electrolytic capa citors • correct orientation of diodes D1 to D17 • correct orientation of transistor Q1 • No shorted traces on the [...]

LABC1 • 21 CONCLUSIO N W e sincerely hope that you enjoy the use of this Rams ey produ ct. As always, we have tried to compose our manual in the easiest, most user-friendly format that is po ssible. As our c ustomers, w e value your opinions, comments, and additions that you would like to see in future publications. Please submit comments or idea[...]

LABC1 • 22 This p age intentiona ll y left blank. Don’t you hate it when pe ople do this? W hy don’t the y just admit that they ran out of things to say![...]

LABC1 • 23 The Ramsey Kit Warra nty Please read carefully BEFORE calling or writing in about your kit. Most problems can be solved wit hout contacting the factor y. Notice that this is not a "f ine print" warranty. We want you to understand your rights and ours to o! All Ramsey kits will work if assembled properly. T he very fact that y[...]

LABC1 • 24 Price: $5.00 Ramsey Publica tion No. MLABC1 Assembly and Instruction manual for: RAMSEY MODEL NO. LABC1 RAMSEY ELECTRONICS, INC. 590 Fishers Station Drive Victor, New York 14564 Phone (585) 924-4560 Fax (585) 924-45 55 www.ramseyelectr onics.com REQUIRED TOOLS • Soldering Iron Ram sey WLC-100, • Thin Rosin Core Solder Ram sey RTS12[...]