La Crosse Technology Alpha Power manual

1 T ABLE OF CONTENTS T opic Page Features 4 Inventory o f Contents 5 Operating Modes 6 Charge Mode 7 Charge T imes 9 Defect Indicator 1 1 Discharge Mode 12 Te s t M o d e 1 2 Tri ckle Charge 16 Care and Maint enance 16 S pecifications 17 Safety Instruction 18 Warr anty Information 19 FCC Disclaimer 21[...]

2 BC-500 BATTERY CHA RGER Instruction Manual BEFORE USING OUR B A TTERY CHARGER, PLE ASE READ ALL INFORMA TION CONT AINED IN THI S MANUAL. KEEP THIS MANUAL IN A S AFE PLACE A S YOU MA Y NEED TO USE IT LA TER. Attention : T o all us ers of this device - please follow the safet y and maintenance instructions in this m anual. Read the caution markings[...]

3 INTRODUCTION : Congratulations o n purchasing the BC-500 ch arging unit. This dev ice provides quick and efficient charging of “AA” and “AAA” rechar geable NiMH or NiCd batteries. The BC-500 offers several cha rging functions as well as indiv idual LCD display s for the charging compartments. The BC-500 chargi ng unit is reliabl e, user-f[...]

4 rechargeable bat teries only . The charger w ill not charge ZnMn, NiZn or Li-ion b atteries. Nev er use thi s device to charg e other types of batteries, suc h as alkaline, lithiu m, carbon zinc battery or any other ty pe of battery that is not specified.  The charging unit shall only be us ed at normal indoor r oom conditions.  Always foll[...]

5 simultaneously .  Minus del ta voltage (- dV) detection for c harge termination.  Defective bat tery detection.  Discharg e mode (first discharg ing and then charg ing) to remove memory ef fect of recharg eable batteries.  T est functio n to check the capacity of rechargeable ba tteries.  The charg ing/discharge/test function can b[...]

6 After the AC w all adaptor or DC car pow er adaptor has bee n plugged into an appropriate pow er source (Figur e 1), insert a rechargeable batt ery into the chargi ng unit and plug th e DC jack into the bat tery charger. After about 5 secon ds the status will be display ed, along with the batt ery voltage (ex ample, “1.38V”) Then th e “CHAR[...]

7 3. (TEST) Check the rechargeable b attery capacity in Ah. CHARGE MODE When in this mod e, the unit charges the rec hargeable battery (s). It will automatically switch to trickle chargi ng after the rechargeable battery is fully charged. During the charging process, the display will show the “CHARGE ” sign on the LCD. It will also show alter n[...]

8 Once the battery is full, the voltage will display the “FULL” sign (see Figure 4). The trickle chargi ng then starts providing around 5% of the char ging current to keep t he rechargeable bat teries full. The estimated char ging time of th e different battery si zes is tabulated in Table 1. (Figure 3) (Figure 4) “FULL” sign shows -The bat[...]

9 T a ble 1. Charging T ime with T wo Ty pes of Battery Size Size of battery Battery Capacity Charging current ( mA) Estimated charging time AA 2600mAh around 500mA ~6 hrs AAA 1000mAh ~2 hrs Notes:  The defaul t charging current is ar ound 500mA.  The actual c harging current o f rechargeable batteries depends on their condition an d is contr[...]

10  When the AC wall adaptor is first plugged into th e power source, all the segments l ight up momentaril y and then the ver sion number of the c harger (for exampl e “48”) is displ ayed.  If no batteries are in the u nit, the “--” sign is displayed (see Figure 5).  IF ATTEMPTING TO RECHARGE ALKALINE OR CARBON BATTERIES, IT MAY C[...]

11  Carbon or Alkaline batteries m ay cause the charger to di splay the “DEFECT”. These type s of batteries are NOT sui table for this charger. DEFECT INDICATOR The “DEFECT” indi cator will flash (F igure 6) for a w hile on the LCD w hile the charger det ects the battery conditi on. If a defectiv e battery condition is detected, the “D[...]

12 DISCHARGE MODE To select the Discharg e Mode, press the MOD E key for 3 seconds after the status of the batteries is displayed. Discharge m ode will first discharge the batter y, then charge it. When discharging, the “DISCHARGE“ sign and battery voltage (Figure 7) will be shown on the LCD. After fully di scharging the battery (s), they will [...]

13 rechargeable bat teries will first be fully charged and t hen discharged to determine the b attery(s) capacity (s). They are then ful ly charged again. During the first ch arging cycle, the di splay of current (Fig ure 8) and voltage (Figure 9) will altern ate on the LCD. The charging cur rent Te s t m o d e (Fig ure 8) The charging voltage Te s[...]

14 When in the disch arging stage, the v oltage (Figure 10) a nd discharging capacity (Fig ure 11) are displayed alternately. During the second charging cycle, the v oltage and the total ca pacity are displayed alter nately. (Figure 1 1) The discharging capac ity (Figure 10) The voltag e Te s t m o d e Te s t m o d e[...]

15 When the recharg eable batteries are fully charged, the ca pacity (Ah) (Figure 12) and the voltage (V) ( Figure 13) will be shown alternately with “FULLTEST” displ ayed on the LCD. Note: When a ny one of the b atteries is in the test mode, do not change the other batter y(s). To test additi onal battery(s), y ou must remove and reinstall the[...]

16 TRICKLE CHARGING After the rechargeable battery is fully charged, the charger will giv e a small amount of curr ent to the rechargeable batter ies to maintain the fully charged l evel. This stage is auto matically launched a fter the rechargeable bat teries are fully char ged and kept in the ch arging unit. The “FULL” or “F ULLTEST” sign[...]

17 SPECIFICA TIONS :  Input voltag e for AC/DC adapter: 1 10V AC ~ 240V AC  Input voltag e for DC car adaptor : 12V DC  Input voltag e for Charger Unit: 1 2V DC (use supplied ad aptors only)  Charging cur rent: Approximately 500 mA (each battery)  Max charging capacity (capacity of rechargeable batteries) : 3000mAh  Dimensions (L [...]

18 A TTENTION – WARNINGS A ND SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS! Please carefully r ead the following important safety in structions:  As stated abov e, only use NiCd or NiMH rechargeable batteries.  The unit is for indoor use only . Do not expose it to humidity . Do not place it in w ater or submit it t o rain and/or snow . Do not store or use it near e[...]

19 WAR R AN T Y La Crosse T ec hnology ®, Ltd provides a 1- year limited warrant y on this product ag ainst manufactur ing defects in materials and work manship. This lim ited warranty begins on the original date of purchase, is va lid only on produc ts purchased and us ed in North America and only to the origina l purchaser of this pr oduct. T o [...]

20 carrier); (3) dam age to, or deterioration of , any accessor y or decorative surface; (4) damage result ing from failure to f ollow instructi ons contained in your o wner’s manual; (5) damage res ulting from the perf ormance of repairs or altera tions by someone ot her than an authori zed La Crosse T echnolo gy ®, Ltd authorized serv ice cent[...]

21 T o c ontact Customer Support / Warranty Work b y email : www .lacrossetec hnology .com/support/ La Crosse T echno logy ® on the Web: www.lacrossetechnolog y .com FCC disclaimer This device complies with part 15 of the FCC rules. Operation is subj ect to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference. (2) This [...]