17
16
2. Warnings and safety notes
•
Protect the charger from dust, damp, rain, heat (e.g. direct sunshine) and vibration. It should only
be operated in dry indoor conditions.
•
The case slots serve to cool the charger, and must not be covered or enclosed; set up the charger
with space round it, so that cooling air can circulate unhindered.
•
The charger is designed to be powered by a 12 V car battery or a 230 V mains socket only. Never
connect the charger to both power sources simultaneously, as this would immediately ruin the unit.
•
The charger and the battery to be charged should be set up on a heat-resistant, non-inflammable
and non-conductive surface before use. Never place the charger directly on a car seat, carpet or
similar. Keep all inflammable and volatile materials well away from the charging area. Provide good
ventilation.
•
Connect the charger
directly
to the car battery using the original cables and connectors supplied.
The car’s engine must be stopped all the time the ULTRAMAT 10 is connected to the car’s
battery.
Do not recharge the car battery at any time when the ULTRAMAT 10 is connected to it.
•
The charge output sockets and connecting leads must not be modified, and must not be inter-
connected in any way. There is a danger of short-circuit between the charge outputs and the
vehicle’s bodywork when the charger is connected to the car battery. The charge leads and
connecting leads must not be coiled up when the charger is in use. Avoid short-circuiting the charge
output or the model battery with the car bodywork, as the ULTRAMAT 10 is
not
protected against
such errors. For this reason the charger must never be placed directly on the vehicle’s bodywork.
• Never
leave the charger running or connected to the car battery unsupervised.
•
Only
one
battery may be connected to the charger for charging at any one time.
•
The following types of battery must
not
be connected to the charger:
- Ni-Cd / Ni-MH batteries consisting of more than 10 cells, or Lithium-Ion / Lithium-Polymer
batteries of more than 4 cells, or lead-acid batteries.
- Batteries which require a different charge method from Ni-Cd, Ni-MH or Lithium batteries.
- Faulty or damaged cells or batteries.
- Batteries consisting of parallel-wired cells, or cells of different types.
- Batteries consisting of old and new cells, or cells of different makes.
- Non-rechargeable batteries (dry cells).
Caution
: explosion hazard!
- Batteries which are not expressly stated by the manufacturer to be suitable for the currents
which the unit delivers during the charge process.
- Packs which are already fully charged or hot, or only partially discharged.
- Batteries fitted with an integral charge circuit or charge termination circuit.
- Batteries installed in a device, or which are electrically connected to other components.
•
To avoid short-circuits between the banana plugs fitted to the charge lead, please always connect
the charge lead to the charger first, and only then to the battery to be charged. Reverse the sequence
when disconnecting.
•
As a basic rule always check that the charge quantity is approximately the same as you expected
after the charger has indicated that the pack is fully charged. This is your means of detecting a problem
reliably and in good time, should the charge process be terminated prematurely for any reason. The
likelihood of premature termination varies according to many factors, but is at its highest with deep-
discharged packs, low cell counts and particular cell types which are known to cause problems. You
may need to adjust the Delta Peak sensitivity to the correct setting.
•
We recommend that you carry out a series of test charges to satisfy yourself that the automatic
termination circuit is working perfectly. This applies in particular when you are charging packs
consisting of few cells. If the cells feature an indistinct peak, the charger may fail to detect their fully
charged state.
• Before charging please check:
have you selected the appropriate charge program? Have you
set the correct charge current? Have you set the vitally important termination sensitivity when
charging Ni-Cd and Ni-MH packs? Are all connections firm, or is there an intermittent contact at any
point in the circuit? Please bear in mind that it can be dangerous to fast-charge batteries. For
example, if there is a brief interruption due to an intermittent contact, the result is inevitably a
malfunction such as a restart of the charge process, which would result in the pack being massively
overcharged.
Contents
Chapter
Page
1.
Introduction
2
2.
Warnings and safety notes, please read and observe!
3
3.
General notes on using the charger
4
4.
Recommended charge leads, polarity
5
5.
Controls, using the charger, starting the charge process
5
6.
Charge program
6
7.
Program flowchart
6
8.
Using the charger for the first time
7
9.
Ni-Cd / Ni-MH charge program
7
10.
Lithium batteries
8
11.
Lithium charge program
9
12.
Special functions, Delta Peak sensitivity
10
13.
Safe Timer, buzzer
11
14.
Screen displays, monitor displays
12
15.
Cleaning and maintenance
13
16.
Notes on handling rechargeable batteries
14
17.
Specification
15
18.
Guarantee certificate
Back cover
1.
Introduction
Please study these instructions, reading them completely and attentively, before you use the
unit for the first time. This will guarantee that you will be able to exploit all the facilities of
your new battery charger. The warnings and safety notes are particularly important. Please
store these instructions in a safe place, and be sure to pass them on to the new owner if you
ever dispose of the charger.
In the ULTRAMAT 10 you have acquired a mature product with an excellent performance. It incorporates
the latest semi-conductor technology, controlled by a high-performance RISC micro-processor, to
provide superior charging characteristics combined with simple operation and optimum reliability.
These features can normally be expected only from much more expensive units.
The ULTRAMAT 10 represents a reliable method of charging sintered Nickel-Cadmium (NC, Ni-Cd)
packs, Nickel-Metal-Hydride (Ni-MH) batteries, Lithium-Polymer (Li-Po) and Lithium-Ion (Li-Io) batteries.
These sealed, gas-tight batteries have proved excellent for our purposes in RC models. They are
mechanically robust, can be used in any attitude and are generally highly reliable. These batteries
require no special measures for storage apart from protecting the cells from becoming deep-discharged.
If you are using Lithium packs be sure to read and observe the information supplied by the battery
manufacturer. Please handle these cells with great care, as incorrect handling or mistreatment can
result in an explosion!
Note
It is important always to observe the charging instructions supplied by the battery manufacturer,
and to keep to the recommended charge currents and times. Do not fast-charge batteries unless
the manufacturer states expressly that they are suitable for the high currents which flow during
these processes. Please bear in mind that new batteries do not reach their full capacity until they
have been charged and discharged several times. With new batteries you may also encounter
problems with premature charge termination. Whenever you wish to use a new battery it therefore
makes sense to carry out a series of monitored test charges, so that you can check that the
automatic charge termination circuit works correctly and reliably with your packs, and charges
them to full capacity.
