Gel Cell Charger, I

Parts List:
All resistors are carbon, 1/4 watt, 5% tolerance, unless otherwise indicated.

R1 = 500 ohm C1 = 0.1µF (100nF), ceramic U1 = LM350T

R2 = 3K C2 = 1µF/25 volt U2 = LM301A
R3 = 820 ohm C3 = 1000pF (1nF), ceramic S1 = Pushbutton switch (normally-open)
R4 = 15 ohm D1 = 1N457 (or equiv.)
R5 = 230 ohm Led1 = Red, 5mm, ultra-bright
R6 = 15K T1 = 2N2905
R7 = 0.2 ohm, 5W, WW

This high-performance circuit first quickly starts (and holds) the charge at 2 amp, but as
the voltage rises the current will consequently decrease.
When the current falls below 150mA, the charger automatically switches to a lower 'Float'
voltage to prevent overcharging.
At the point that a full charge is reached, T1 will bias and the LED will light.
The LM301A is a 8-pin OpAmp. Transistor T1 is a PNP, Silicon, AF-Out type with a TO-
39 metal case and can be substituted for a NTE or ECG129. Diode D1, a Si, GP Det. type,
can be substituted with a NTE177 or ECG177. The LM350 (U1) needs to be cooled.
The input voltage should equal or about 18volts.
 R1's function is to bleed some of the input voltage to the output and vice-versa. A 1N4002
or similar diode can be used also.
R2 & R5 are actually metal-film type resistors but carbon is okay to use. To get the 3K for
R2 use two 1K5 (1500 ohm) resistors in series. For R5 use two 470 ohm resistors in parallel.
Or whatever combination to get to these values. For R1, 500 ohm, you can use two 1K in
parallel or 470 + 33 ohms in series.
R7, the 0.2 ohm resistor, is a 5 watt wire-wound type. Do not use the standard carbon type.

S1 is a subminiature pushbutton switch, normally open. I received a couple emails in

regards to this switch. I thought the diagram was pretty clear. It shows an 'open' switch
with the arrow indicating a 'momentary' connection when pushed. Nothing out of the
ordinary here folks and a standard symbol for electronics...

When the start switch is pushed, the output of the charger goes to 14.5 V. As the batttery
approaches full charge, the charging current decreases and the output voltage is reduced
form 14.5V to about 12.5V, terminating the charging process. Transistor T1 then lights the
led as a visual indication of a full charge.

Battery Booster
Everybody that runs QRP with solid state rigs knows some of the potential problems that result when
the battery you're using begins to lose it's charge. Most gear is designed (and specified) to run at 13.8
Volts. Power Output in non-ALC-controlled rigs is proportional to the square of the applied voltage.
Even on a fully-charged lead-acid (gel-cell) battery, the loaded voltage will quickly fall to 12.5 V, and
the output power will only be 80% of it's rated value. As the battery reaches about 1/2 of its rated
capacity, voltage will drop to around 11 Volts, resulting in about 2/3 rated power. In many QRP rigs
(including my Ten-Tec Scout), malfunctions or other performance problems occur below 12 Volts. To
complicate matters, the cable between the rig and the battery may provide additional voltage
drops, especially during transmit. For example, a 5-Watt QRP transmitter that uses 1 Amp of current
during transmit, may lose an additional 0.1 to 0.5 Volts through a typical portable battery connection
and cabling (most loss in the connectors).

The QRP Battery Booster here is an attempt to circumvent these problems. It was designed to be
small, light, and portable, and work in conjunction with a 12 Volt battery for field day or portable
operation. The idea is simple: when the 12 volt battery drops by 1.2 Volts, add a battery with similiar
capacity and current-capability in series with the main battery, bringing the rig's operating voltage
back up to nominal (or close to it). Here's a schematic:
To implement this, we procured a plastic project box from Radio Shack (RS 270-1806), which is large
enough to hold 2 D-cells and their holder, with enough panel space to mount a panel-mounted
voltmeter and two toggle switches. We'll arrange the circuitry so that we can switch in either one or
two NiCad cells (although you could use Alkaline cells if the load current is not too high). A second
switch will allow us to bypass the battery booster so that we don't have to physically remove it from
the battery circuit. A picture of the front panel is shown at the very top (click on the image to see a
larger version). Front panel labels were created using sticky-back paper (Avery 8-1/2 x 11 mail labels)
and the trusty ol' PC & printer.

The 12-Volt battery input/output connectors are the ARES-recommended (Molex) connectors, panel-
mounted using the connectors' integral mounting ears. The project box is pretty soft plastic, and it
was easy to drill a rectangular pattern for the Molex connectors, then shape it out with a hobby knife
(Wear Eye Protection!). My sloppy results are shown in the picture below. Notice also the fuse, which
is intended to protect against short-circuiting the main battery.
The picture below shows the inside layout and wiring, which is completely non-critical. If you use
battery-holders molded out of thermoplastics, I recommend getting two one-cell holders, with wires
already attached, because the thermoplastics do not hold up well (at all) to soldering operations.

Operation is very simple. We assume you've installed two freshly-charged NiCad D-Cells. We prefer
the 4500 mAH type (RS 23-140) even though they're very expensive, because they have about 3-times
the capacity of standard cells, and have current sourcing capability similar to the main battery we'll be
using. Connect the source battery (I use a 7AH, 12V gel-cell) to the input jack. Connect your QRP rig to
the output jack. With the switch in "BYPASS" begin operation. Check the front-panel voltmeter from
time to time, and when it drops below 12.5 Volts, switch in the first D-Cell "+1.2V". Wow! Back to full
power! When it again drops below 12.5 Volts, switch it to both D-Cells "+2.5V". Again, back to full
power! This is a really neat way to maximize your battery-operating capabilities.

When using this setup with my Ten-Tec 1340 (a 3-watt QRP rig) during Field Day '99, I operated for 21
hours, switched in the first D-cell after about 4 hours, and never got past the first D-Cell. Cool!

ALKALINE CHARGER
This circuit was specifically designed to recharge alkaline cells. The unusual connection of
the transistor in each charging unit will cause it to oscillate, on and off, thus transferring
the charge accumulated in the capacitor to the cell. The orange LED will blink for around
5 times a second for a 1.37V cell. For a totally discharged cell the blinking is faster but it
will decrease until it will come to a stop when the cell is charged. You may leave the cell in
the charger as it will trickle charge and keep it at around 1.6V. To set the correct voltage
you have to connect a fresh, unused cell and adjust the trimmer until oscillations set in,
then go back a little until no oscillation is present and the circuit is ready to operate. You
should use only the specified transistors, LED colors, zener voltage and power rating
because they will set the final voltage across the cell. A simple 9V charging circuit was also
included: it will charge up to around 9.3V and then keep it on a trickle charge: the green
LED will be off while charging and will be fully on when the battery is close to its final
voltage.
 A 2.5VA transformer will easily charge up to 4 cells at the same time although 2 only are
shown in the schematic. In order to minimize interference from one circuit to the other
they have nothing in common except the transformer and, in order to show a balanced load
to the transformer, half of the charging units will use the positive sinewave and the other
half the negative sinewave. Make sure to use high beta transistors such as BC337-25 or
better BC337-40. Given the dispersion of the transistor parameters it might happen that
oscillations do not take place. Use a slightly higher zener voltage: 7.5V instead of 6.8 or a
green led in place of the orange ones.
All types of alkaline cells can be recharged: it will take 1 day for a discharged AA cell or
9V battery and up to several days for a large D type cell. The best practice is not to
discharge completely the cell or battery but rather to give a short charge every so often
although admittedly this is not easy to achieve. Do not attempt to recharge a totally
discharged cell or a cell showing even the slightest sign of damage.
I tried successfully to recharge NiMH cells as well. Although the charging profile for these
cells is quite different from alkaline cells, the circuit seems to work fine provided you do
not leave them in the charger forever, because of the possibility of overcharging especially
for the smaller batteries.
The mains transformer must be suited for the voltage available in each country: usually
230Vac or 115Vac.
 Temperature Controlled NICD Charger by
IC LM311

Introduction

This circuit is for a temperature controlled constant current battery charger. It works with
NICD, NIMH, and other rechargeable cells. The circuit works on the principle that most
rechargeable batteries show an increase in temperature when the cells becomes fully
charged. Overcharging is one of the main causes of short cell life, hot cells pop their
internal seals and vent out electrolyte. As cells dry out, they lose capacity.
Theory
The transformer, bridge rectifier, and 1000uF capacitor provide around 22 Volts of DC
power to run the rest of the circuit. The 7812 regulator drops this to 12V to run the 311
comparator and 4011 nand gates.

The start switch is pressed to start the charging cycle. This causes the two 4011 nand gates,
 which are wired as an r-s flip-flop, to go into the charging mode. The Red LED is lit, and
the VMOS FET current switch is turned on. Charging current runs though the battery
pack. If the battery starts out warmer than the reference temperature, the circuit will not
switch into charging mode. Let the pack cool down. When the battery pack reaches a full
state of charge, the differential temperature sensor causes the flip-flop to switch off,
turning off the VMOS current switch, and lighting the Green LED.

The 7805 voltage regulator is wired as a constant current regulator. This provides a safe
maximum charge current for a number of different cell types. The 500 ohm resistor across
the VMOS FET sets the trickle charge current which flows through the battery pack after
the bulk charging is finished.

The 1N5818 diode prevents the pack from discharging if the AC power is turned off.

The resistor, diode, and capacitor around the start switch cause the circuit to auto-start
when power is first applied.

The differential temperature sensor circuit works by presenting two voltages to the input of
the 311 comparator. The comparator output switches on or off depending on which input is
at a higher voltage than the other. As the thermistors warm up, their resistance drops,
lowering the associated comparator input. Since there are two sensors, the room
temperature can vary and the circuit will only react to the difference in temperature
between the sensors.

Battery Monitoring By LM324

 Introduction

It has been stated in other pages on this website that it is a very good idea to have two
separate batteries, one for the drive (weapons and wheels), and one for the radio control
receiver and other electronics (see Speed controllers and EMC sections). It is very useful to
know the state of charge of both of these batteries so that you do not go into a bout with
uncharged batteries, but do not have to continually charge them when they are already
charged (which can degrade the batteries).

This page describes two methods of determining the state of charge of the batteries.

We can see from the discharge curve of the lead acid battery, that if we compare the
terminal voltage with a fixed value of about 1.75V per cell (10.5v for a 12v battery, 21v for
a 24v battery), we will get an idea of when the battery is in its terminal decline point. Note
however that the discharge curves depend on how much current is being drawn from the
battery at the time. This is because while drawing current, there will be a small voltage
drop across the internal resistance of the battery. Hence at large current drains, the battery
monitor may indicate a flat battery when it is actually OK. Therefore the monitoring
should only be done (or only taken notice of) when no current is being drawn from the
battery.

The voltage of the lead-acid reaction when fresh is typically around 2.15v per cell. A
further comparison threshold can be put at around 2.0v per cell (12v, 24v) to indicate that
the battery is down to about 25% charge left. These limits are a bit arbitrary, so we should
allow them some trimmability.

A circuit diagram of the battery monitor is shown below:

The comparators are powered from the battery itself, so to get a battery voltage input
which isn’t at the same value as the comparator supply (comparators would not work well
like that), the battery voltage is divided by the trimmer resistors. This is compared with a
value generated from the precision voltage reference. Opamps are used for the
comparators since no pullup resistor is then required (comparators generally have open-
collector/open-drain outputs which require a pullup resistor to make wired-OR
functionality easier. They are also normally much faster then opamps at comparing, but we
do not require any speed, or the wired-OR function).

The oamp after the trimmer and the opamp after the precision voltage reference are
connected as buffers, and are there to ensure that the trimmer and reference do not have to
supply any reasonable current which would affect their output voltages.

The 2.0V comparator LED is connected to the output of the 1.75v comparator. This
ensures that when the battery voltage falls to below 1.75v and that comparator’s output
goes low, the 2.0v LED will extinguish, and only the 1.75v LED will be lit. The series
resistors on the LED should have the value