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Triton Question - 7/25/2003 11:54:02 AM   
lavneet



Posts: 155
Joined: 2/7/2003
From: New Delhi, INDIA
Status: offline 		While charging the nicad cells, the Triton manual says that after peak detection a top up trickle is given to the pack automatically. I have observed that after peak detection in charge mode, the display shows "End" rather than "Top". Is it still giving that trickle? I am confused because after the charging ends, the "mah" does not increase but the pack voltage increases steadily and slowly.

Strangely, in the triton, the discharge cut off voltage is automatically set at .8V/cell in the CYCLE mode. This cannot be manually set. Is this safe in general for battery packs.....esp if they are 6-8 cell packs?

Cheers


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Re: Triton Question - 7/25/2003 5:53:50 PM   
Red Scholefield



Posts: 5024
Joined: 12/8/2001
From: Newberry, FL, USA
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by lavneet
While charging the nicad cells, the Triton manual says that after peak detection a top up trickle is given to the pack automatically. I have observed that after peak detection in charge mode, the display shows "End" rather than "Top". Is it still giving that trickle? I am confused because after the charging ends, the "mah" does not increase but the pack voltage increases steadily and slowly.

[COLOR=blue]The trickle charge is only applied at charge rates above 1.0 amps, below that it is zero. Kind of dumb, but what do you expect for a smart charger? :-)[/COLOR]

Strangely, in the triton, the discharge cut off voltage is automatically set at .8V/cell in the CYCLE mode. This cannot be manually set. Is this safe in general for battery packs.....esp if they are 6-8 cell packs?

[COLOR=blue]The 0.8 volts/ cell cutoff is set when you use the Charge/Discharge or Discharge/Charge function. If you use only the Discharge function you can set it to whatever you want.

0.8 volts/cell however is OK for 6-8 cell packs discharged at C rate or above.[/COLOR]
Cheers [/QUOTE]

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Triton Question - 7/25/2003 9:41:15 PM   
lavneet



Posts: 155
Joined: 2/7/2003
From: New Delhi, INDIA
Status: offline 		Says in the manual that for a charge rate of .1 - .9 amps, 35 mA trickle is given!!! So is the manual incorrect?


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Triton Question - 7/25/2003 10:29:06 PM   
Red Scholefield



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From: Newberry, FL, USA
Status: offline 		Maybe they have updated it, but mine (page 8) says 0 for charge rates .1 to 1.0 amps.

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Triton Question - 7/26/2003 5:42:37 AM   
kermit


 

Posts: 4
Joined: 6/8/2003
From: Reston, VA, USA
Status: offline 		Mine says for fast charge setting of 0.1-1.0A : 0-35ma

It adds that the trickle charge rate is based on the fast charge rate AND the "condition of the battery being charged". What does that last condition mean?

Donald

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Triton Question - 7/26/2003 10:00:48 AM   
lavneet



Posts: 155
Joined: 2/7/2003
From: New Delhi, INDIA
Status: offline 		Donald/Red,
Thanks Guys! But my original question.....at the charge rate of .8A on a 800mAh pack, am I getting a top up trickle charge after peak detection even if the display flashes "End" or not?

Thanks

< Message edited by lavneet -- Jul 26 2003 7:00AM >


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Triton Question - 7/26/2003 6:28:14 PM   
Red Scholefield



Posts: 5024
Joined: 12/8/2001
From: Newberry, FL, USA
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by lavneet
Donald/Red,
Thanks Guys! But my original question.....at the charge rate of .8A on a 800mAh pack, am I getting a top up trickle charge after peak detection even if the display flashes "End" or not?

Thanks [/QUOTE]

OK, I just stuck my Fluke digital multimeter in the circuit, charged 800 mA pack a 0.8 amps . . . . .

Display reads:

NiCd Chg 00096
5.74V END 007m


And the answer is . . . . .Ta Da

[COLOR=red]37 mA on the Fluke[/COLOR]

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Triton Question - 7/26/2003 8:03:09 PM   
lavneet



Posts: 155
Joined: 2/7/2003
From: New Delhi, INDIA
Status: offline 		phew....man you're a life saver.....
GP do something to make that manual more understandable!!!


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Triton Question - 7/26/2003 8:07:50 PM   
jon.emmons


 

Posts: 63
Joined: 3/13/2003
From: Concord, NH, USA
Status: offline 		lavneet said:
GP do something to make that manual more understandable!!!
:

Yeah, like send it to Red to rewrite.

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Triton Question - 7/26/2003 8:52:11 PM   
Red Scholefield



Posts: 5024
Joined: 12/8/2001
From: Newberry, FL, USA
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by lavneet
phew....man you're a life saver.....
GP do something to make that manual more understandable!!! [/QUOTE]

I have a hunch that whoever wrote the manual did it based on the design specs and never on actually using the device after it was in production.

Any way, as I write this the Fluke still reads 37 mA. NOTE: The display has not changed - it does not add in the trickle charge current (mAh) or time to what it read when the fast charge was terminated.

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Triton Question - 7/26/2003 8:55:44 PM   
Red Scholefield



Posts: 5024
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From: Newberry, FL, USA
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by jon.emmons
lavneet said:
GP do something to make that manual more understandable!!!
:

Yeah, like send it to Red to rewrite. [/QUOTE]

I was writing a Triton for Dummies but figure that by the time I had finished it everyone would have already figured it out.

Have the first chapter if anyone is interested - It just goes through the Menu set ups.

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Triton Question - 7/27/2003 7:32:05 AM   
jon.emmons


 

Posts: 63
Joined: 3/13/2003
From: Concord, NH, USA
Status: offline 		Sure Red, I've figured out the basics, but I'm sure there's more to it than I know so far. For instance, if you're not using a saved battery, how does it know the cutoff voltage for cycling? Haven't played around with that too much my self.

Perhaps you should post chapter one on the battery clinic site and track the hits it gets and reactions from folks. As always, thanks for all the info.

Jon

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Triton Question - 7/27/2003 10:13:21 AM   
lavneet



Posts: 155
Joined: 2/7/2003
From: New Delhi, INDIA
Status: offline 		Jon, I could help you a little with this.
In the cycle mode...ie Chg - Dscg or Dscg - Chg, the triton automatically sets the cut off rate at 0.8V/cell. You have NO control on this in the Cycle mode. The cut off is only user assignable in the Discharge mode. Even when u revert to a battery in the memory(1-10) and put it on cycle mode, it does not cut off at "your" set rate, but at .08V/cell. .
It says so clearly in the last but one para on page 12 of the manual under "Note"
Also In the cycle mode, it will NOT provide a trickle after the cycle is complete. That will be in the "Charge" mode only.

Cheers


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Triton Question - 7/27/2003 10:19:47 AM   
lavneet



Posts: 155
Joined: 2/7/2003
From: New Delhi, INDIA
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by Red Scholefield
The display has not changed - it does not add in the trickle charge current (mAh) or time to what it read when the fast charge was terminated. [/QUOTE]

Notice the pack voltage though. It gives that steady increase!! Why won't the software make the mAh figure increase too?? GP needs to address some fundamental problems in this otherwise excellent charger.


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Triton Question - 7/27/2003 4:43:49 PM    <