How do I configure my charger?
Which charger to choose?
Recharging a Lipo battery requires a special charger. Under no circumstances can you use a classic Nimh charger. For model making, we recommend investing in a universal smart charger like the Zeen Z60 . It is a charger capable of charging most batteries (Lipo, Nimh, Lipo, NiCd, etc.) and we will use it as an example in this tutorial.
Connection and security
Your charger is supplied with a mains socket and different adapters depending on the connections available on your battery. We advise you to always connect and disconnect your battery at the junction between the two cables and not at the charger. This is to avoid bringing the red and black cables into contact, which would create an electrical discharge that could injure you and damage your battery.
How to use the charger?
On most chargers there is a "BATT/PROG" button to choose the desired program, the START (or ENTER) button is used to select an input and navigation is possible using the < > arrows. To start a program, you must press the Start button for a few seconds, to stop it you must press the “STOP” button. During charging and using the arrows, you can also access different types of information such as battery status, charge level, etc.
How to configure the charger?
Several settings are available on your universal charger. In the case of the Zeen Z60 charger, we advise you to turn off the Safety Tiner. This is a safety feature to avoid overcharging the battery if it turns out to be defective but can slow down the charging time when you plug in a large battery.
Our method for charging a Lipo battery
To recharge a Lipo battery, you must first connect the two connectors, the first corresponds to the sum of the battery cells, the second gives access to each of the cells in order to properly balance the charge. We recommend always using BAL CHARG mode to recharge your Lipo battery and not FAST CHG so as not to damage it.
Lipo battery charging programs
The most common charging programs for a Lipo battery are:
- CHARGE allows you to charge Lipo batteries in normal mode.
- DISCHARGE is used to discharge the battery.
- STORAGE is a mode that allows you to charge the battery to the ideal voltage to be able to store it in the best conditions.
- FAST CHG allows the Lipo battery to be charged more quickly but the charged capacity may be slightly reduced.
- BAL CHARGE allows you to charge and balance the batteries, this is the charging mode that we recommend.
How to start charging the Lipo battery?
In this example, we are going to recharge a Lipo 2S 5400 mAh battery.
- Select the “BAL CHARGE” mode, validate with Start.
- Then enter the amps, here 5.4 A, then the number of cells, here 2S.
- Start charging by pressing the Start button for a few seconds.
- Don't forget to monitor the charge of your Lipo battery.
- Press Stop when charging is complete.
Some additional information
Here is the information displayed on the screen during charging:
- 5.4A indicates the amperage sent to the battery
- 11.85V indicates the battery voltage, it will increase up to 7.4V for a 2s battery
- BAL indicates the Balance program
- 1:33 indicates the time passed since the start of charging
- 00033 indicates the number of mA sent into the battery
How do I charge my Nimh battery?
On most universal chargers, there are special programs for Nimh batteries. With the Zéen Z60 charger, simply select the desired mode using the arrows, then start charging by holding down the START button.
Nimh battery charging programs
The most common charging programs for a Nimh battery are:
- CHARGE is the basic mode to select for charging Nimh batteries.
- AUTO CHG is a mode with automatic detection of the battery status but care must be taken to set the maximum charging current.
- DISCHARGE is used to discharge the Nimh battery.
- RE-PEAK allows the battery to be recharged more quickly but the charged capacity may be slightly reduced.
- CYCLE is used to chain several charge/discharge cycles in order to refresh, balance or stimulate the battery.
