Operating Instructions
Warning:
LiPo batteries can be hazardous and can explode or burn under certain circumstances if handled
in a wrong way! Always monitor charging. Charge LiPo batteries outside of the model on a non
flammable surface. EMCOTEC excludes any liability when using the PowerCharger600.
High Grade Quick Charger of the First Class -
Made in Germany!
The PowerCharger600 is a charging device which,
thanks to its 600 watts of charging power, allows for
fast charging of LiPo batteries. Purposely, the device
was designed simple: No excessive setup, no searching
through endless software menus, no setup of number of
cells, simple connection of the battery and you're done!
Usually, (e.g. with combat models) the same number of
cells are flown by pilots for years (e.g. 10S battery in
aerobatic F3A). Why not a charger which is designed
for a fixed number of cells? Setups are avoided and
nothing can be done wrong. Simply connect the battery
to the PowerCharger600. Done! The charging state is
indicated by several LEDs. A green LED e.g. indicates
battery full.
In order to distinguish the different chargers and
therefore the assigned battery at first sight, the front
plates are printed in different colors:
Each battery has its "own" charger. Only the charging
current can be selected in 4 steps by the user. This
ranges from regular charging (e.g. 4A) up to quick
charging (up to 24A). The new generation of LiPo
batteries is quickly rechargeable up to 5C (5 time's
nominal capacity). A 4Ah battery therefore can be
charged with up to 20A. Depending on rest capacity,
the battery would be fully charged by the Power
Charger600 in 5 to 15 minutes!
Up to two Orbit can be connected
to the PowerCharger600 if you want to balance the
cells during charging (available in the EMCOTEC
internet shop). Besides the pure balancing function
(equalization of single cells) the LiPoChecker reduces
the charging current in case the allowed cell voltage
is exceeded. The batteries can not be over-charged!
There is no safer and quicker way to charge LiPo
batteries!
It therefore suffices if the battery is charged once in a
while using a regular charging device (with internal
balancer) or using the PowerCharger600 with reduced
charging current (e.g. 4A) and an external balancer.
LiPoChecker PRO
Hint:
The PowerCharger600 has no built in balancers!
Experience shows that LiPo-batteries must not
necessarily be charged using a balancer especially
when quick charging. What is a balancer good for
which bleeds off 0.5A to 1A if the battery is charged
with 20A?
Green
Red
Blue
Black
6S LiPo (25.2V)
12S LiPo (50.4V)
7S LiPo (29.4V)
10S LiPo (42.0V)
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Setting the charging current:
- Press button for 3 seconds
- Current indicator LED blinks
- Push button until LED with
desired charging current blinks
- Wait 3 seconds
- Selected LED is now steadily lit
During charging
there is no current selection
possible, i.e. the select button is
locked.
ATTENTION:
Charge Indicators:
CC:
CV:
Full:
This blue LED is on in case of
a short or if the battery voltage is too
low. In this case there is only a small
current flow (e.g. in order to start
charging the battery protectively =>
Trickle Charging)
Constant Current. This red LED
is on when full charging current is
flowing. Only after reaching the final
charging voltage the LED extinguishes.
The battery is then charged approx.
80% to 90%.
Constant Voltage. This yellow
LED is on, when the battery reaches
its nominal voltage but there is still
current flow. Only if the charging
current drops to 5% of the selected
value, the LED turns off.
This green LED is on if either no
battery is connected or the connected
battery is fully charged. Charging
current is less than 5% of selected
value.
Alert:
PowerCharger600 - Front View
PowerCharger600 - Rear View
The cooling slots at front and rear side of the housing must be freely
accessible in order to allow for good air circulation.
Battery connector Plus (+)
(for 4mm Banana plug)
Battery connector Minus (-)
(for 4mm Banana plug)
XLR Charging connector
(only 10S version)
Inlet connector for non heating
apparatus (110VAC / 230VAC),
e.g. PC power cord
Sticker for seriall number
On/Off-Switch
Carrying handleCooling slots
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Connector for an alarm cable (3.5mm phone jack) of a LipoChecker PRO
The PowerCharger600 is short-circuit-proof and
protected against reverse polarity connection of
the battery.
Only batteries with charge end voltages which
are apparent on the front plate must be charged.
This means: Lithium Polymer batteries with 6, 7, 10
or 12 cells!
Obey maximum charging current of the battery!
Leave LiPo batteries not unattended during recharge.
Generally adhere to normal safety instructions when
charging LiPo batteries!
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Operation:
What one may do:
1. Connect a power cord (230VAC) and turn charger on.
2. One of the 4 LED in the left LED column indicates the
selected charging current.
3. If the charging current is to be changed, press the
button for approx. 3 seconds. The LED flashes fast.
Pressing again switches the LED to the next position
(next charging current). As soon as the correct
charging current is reached, don't press the button
anymore. After approx. 3 seconds, the LED is turned
on; the selected current is stored. Hint: the charging
current can not be changed as soon as a battery is
connected!
4. If charging with a balancer: the Orbit LiPoChecker
PRO 8S has a short connection cable with a phone
jack. This phone jack is plugged into in one of the
two sockets "Alert" (on front plate of the charger).
Connect the battery balancer connection cable at
the balancer connector of the LiPoChecker PRO.
Because there are two Alert connectors at the
PowerCharger600 two LiPoChecker PRO can be
connected. This is necessary with 10S or 12s
batteries (consiting of 2 packs with 5S or 6S).
Charging of 12S batteries with a 6S PowerCharger600
or 14S batteries with the 7S PowerCharger. This only
works if the packs can be separated into two 6S or 7S
packs respectively. The individual single packs are then
connected in parallel and charged together. Two 6S
packs with 5Ah each (i.e. 12S 5Ah) result in one 6S
10Ah for charging.
Preparation: Charging Operation:
5. Connect empty battery using 4mm banana plugs
onto the charging output (at rear).
6. Charging starts automatically as soon as the battery
is connected. The fan of the charger starts automa-
tically, too.
7. The red LED (" ") is now permanently on (if battery
is empty) and there is the selected current flowing.
8. After the battery is charged up approx. 80% to 90%,
the red LED turns off and the yellow LED turns on
(" ").
9. After some time (depending on type of battery and
charging current), the end of charging is reached
and the green LED (" ") turns on.
10. The battery may now be removed and is ready for
usage.
CC
CV
Full
The PowerCharger gets warm and warm air flows
out of the housing when charging with maximum
current. This is normal and not a malfunction.
If over-heating, the PowerCharger600 stops charging
or reduces the charging current to less than 1A. This
is indicated by the blue LED with blink codes.
A connected balancer (LiPoChecker PRO) is recog-
nized automatically and indicated by the flashing
" "-LED. If a single cells voltage exceeds 4.23V,
the charging current is also reduced (less than 1A)
and indicated by LED.
Alert
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Connecting the battery without mains voltage:
Here, the charging electronics will start and the green
LED " " turns on. The device will not be damaged,
but the battery (of course) will not be charged.
Attention: it looks like that the battery is fully charged!
Full
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Charging Status:
If the yellow " "-LED is on, the battery is charged approx. 80%-90% and therefore can be used already before the
charging cycle is terminated. If the green " "-LED is on, the battery is charged completely to 100%.
CV
Full
Important hints:
Operation on a current generator (Inverter):
An ideal current generator will be of no problems. Some
generators can show the following behavior: Voltage
peaks when the tank empties. There are generators
which increase RPM in an uncontrolled manner when
running out of gas before they turn off. This can lead to
severe damage in the switching power supply (charging
device) which can not be repaired. It is also possible
that the charger just turns off and must be restarted.
Test the generator for all loads for this behavior. Two
100W light bulbs can be connected in parallel at the
generator (test if that works!).
Remedy:
Precautions for operating with generators:
Possible Failures:
If there is power loss during charging (e.g. turning the
device off), one can recognize this by a stopped fan.
Perhaps one does not realize that! The charger will not
be damaged.
If the switching power supply fails (e.g. due to voltage
peaks) one can see that by the stopped fan (just like
error case 1). Perhaps a restart of the charger suffices
(turning the device off and than on again). In the worst
case sever damage occurred.
1. Power Failure:
2. Error in switching power supply:
In this
case, the generator is at full load. Here, the voltage
always ends up in a peak. Whether this is dangerous
or not is not predictable. There might be generators
which behave critical.
A dangerous situation might come up if the battery
is disconnected at maximum charging current (the
charging current is interrupted immediately).
Function of LED "Alert":
The blue LED " " serves several purposes and indicates errors as well as system states of the PowerCharger.
Depending on a possibly connected balancer (LiPoChecker PRO), the LED shows different behavior.
The LED is also turned on permanently if the battery voltage is very low, i.e. the battery is fully discharged. In this
case the charging current is very low (less than 1A). The battery will be charged protectively and can possibly be
"rescued".
Alert
State of the Alert LED
Continuously on
Blinking
Inverted flashing every second
with approx. 0.5Hz
Short flashing every second
State of the PowerCharger600
Short circuit on charging output
Internal overtemperature (>65°C)
LiPoChecker PRO connected
One cell voltage exceeds 4.23V
Made in Germany
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EMCOTEC GmbH
Waldstr. 21
D - 86517 Wehringen
Tel.: +49 8234 / 95 989-0
Email: [email protected]
www.shop.rc-electronic.com
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Do not use too small generators (at least 2.5kW).
Never interrupt charging current suddenly!
Charge the battery fully (here, the charging current
naturally drops and the RPM of the generator does
not produce a peak at the end of the charging cycle).
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