FK Technics IPC-1

blog
hardware
  • a battery charger for AA and AAA batteries in four separate slots (individually controlled)
  • a specification of the purchased copy of original La Crosse Tech BC-900 charger
  • shipped with:
    • 1x charger, box version 4N11 V00, firmware version 37
    • 4x La Crosse Tech 2600mAh NiMH AA batteries (see their current characteristics)
    • 4x La Crosse Tech 1000mAh NiMH AAA batteries
    • 4x C-size battery adapters
    • 4x D-size battery adapters
    • 1x Ktec AC power adapter, input ~100-240V/50-60Hz/0.6A, output =3.0V/4.0A, model KSAFE0300400W1EU-A, box version P1611
    • 1x durable nylon travel bag
  • a review (in Czech)
  • available charging currents: 0.2A, 0.5A, 0.7A, 1.0A in all slots, and 1.5A or 1.8A in standalone slots no. 1 and no. 4
  • available discharging currents: the half of a set charging current

Booting

  • at the device’s boot, there are three numbers on its display:
    • channel 1: temperature sensor #1
    • channel 2: temperature sensor #2
    • channel 4: firmware version number

Charging

  • it is recommended to charge batteries at 0.5C–1.0C (higher is better, with temperature checking), don’t charge at a rate below 0.3C
    • 2.6Ah batteries: min. charging current 1.3A (i.e. 0.5C; or very min. 0.9A, i.e. 0.3C), min. discharging current 0.7A
    • 2.0Ah batteries: min. charging current 1.0A (or very min. 0.7A), min. discharging current 0.5A
    • 1.0Ah batteries: min. charging current 0.5A (or very min. 0.35A), min. discharging current 0.25A
  • the recommended charging current is due to Negative Delta V (NDV; to obtain a sufficient voltage drop, the charge rate must be 0.5C and higher)
  • see how to charge
  • in the case of totally “dead” batteries (voltage under 0,5V), interconnect each of them in parallel temporally before its charging with a fully-charged battery (e.g. with a paper clip)

Meltdown Issues

  • these products with older firmware versions (newer versions may be OK, supposedly firmware v33 reduces the shut-down threshold temperature; the version is visible during the device’s boot) and/or AC power adapters v4 (visible as Roman numeral “IV” on it in the lower right hand corner of the label on the wall side of an adapter) can cause an explosion/meltdown of batteries during charging
  • see a discussion at Amazon and a discussion at slickdeals about new versions of the firmware
 
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