Fast Charging Lithium batteries Using Volteq regulated DC Power Supplies
The following is a note that one of our happy customer "Kevan" wrote to us:
"Sorry for taking so long to answer your question about using the Mastech for battery charging, but I wanted to be sure of the charging procedure myself.
Well, it works even better than I could have hoped for! I'm charging A123 cells (3.6V maximum charge, 2300mAH cells). So for a 7-cell series pack I set the voltage to 25.2 volts on the Mastech (7*3.6 = 25.2) then, with the current knobs set to minimum I hook up the pack. The advantage of A123 cells is that they can be charged FAST (at 4C, or 4 times the pack capacity). So 4*2300 = 9200mA or 9.2A maximum charge rate. So after connecting the pack at 25.2V, I slowly dial the current up to 7 or 8A. The current will sit there while the displayed voltage goes from about 21V to the set point of 25.2 (set when the pack was disconnected). When the voltage approaches 25.2 you can actually hear the Mastech dial itself back and you see the current begin dropping until it reaches almost zero (maybe 0.2A). At that point, the pack is almost fully charged. No problem leaving it on quite a bit longer though because at this point it's basically a trickle charge. The A123 packs can be charged in about 20 min, and if you have two identical packs they can be charged in parallel at the same time by doubling the max current to 14-18A. The Mastech is AWESOME! I'm very happy I went with it."
Recently we have added Volteq regulated DC power supplies to our expanding product lineup. These power supplies are designed with over-voltage and reverse-voltage protection , so are protected from occasional user errors, and are ideally suitable for fast charging Lithium batteries like A123 Cells, or any other batteries. These regulated DC power supplies are also great for equalizing marine, automotive, and aircraft batteries, as well as fortlift batteris, and golf cart batteries.
"Sorry for taking so long to answer your question about using the Mastech for battery charging, but I wanted to be sure of the charging procedure myself.
Well, it works even better than I could have hoped for! I'm charging A123 cells (3.6V maximum charge, 2300mAH cells). So for a 7-cell series pack I set the voltage to 25.2 volts on the Mastech (7*3.6 = 25.2) then, with the current knobs set to minimum I hook up the pack. The advantage of A123 cells is that they can be charged FAST (at 4C, or 4 times the pack capacity). So 4*2300 = 9200mA or 9.2A maximum charge rate. So after connecting the pack at 25.2V, I slowly dial the current up to 7 or 8A. The current will sit there while the displayed voltage goes from about 21V to the set point of 25.2 (set when the pack was disconnected). When the voltage approaches 25.2 you can actually hear the Mastech dial itself back and you see the current begin dropping until it reaches almost zero (maybe 0.2A). At that point, the pack is almost fully charged. No problem leaving it on quite a bit longer though because at this point it's basically a trickle charge. The A123 packs can be charged in about 20 min, and if you have two identical packs they can be charged in parallel at the same time by doubling the max current to 14-18A. The Mastech is AWESOME! I'm very happy I went with it."
Recently we have added Volteq regulated DC power supplies to our expanding product lineup. These power supplies are designed with over-voltage and reverse-voltage protection , so are protected from occasional user errors, and are ideally suitable for fast charging Lithium batteries like A123 Cells, or any other batteries. These regulated DC power supplies are also great for equalizing marine, automotive, and aircraft batteries, as well as fortlift batteris, and golf cart batteries.
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