NiMHTHD7/universalfastcharger

Introduction
TheprojectforthisNiMHfastchargeroriginatedfromthewidespreaduseof
AArechargeableNiMHbatteriesfortheKenwoodTHD7portabletransceiver,commoninour
radioclub.
Eliminatingtheneedforthestandard16hourwallchargerandother
multipurposebatterychargersbycreatingaspecificmilledand12Vpoweredchargerwasa
surplusintheportable,exerciseandemergencyuseofourset.ThestandardKenwood16hour
wallchargeralsoputstheportabletransceiveroutofserviceforthechargingtime.

Figure1

Wewanttothankeveryonewhocontributedtothesuccessfulcompletionofthisproduct,even
thoughanameorcallsignmaybeforgottentobementionedinthispaper.

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Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................................................3
I.

Description..............................................................................................................................7

II.

Theoryofoperation................................................................................................................8
A. TypicaloperatingcircuitbyMaxim.............................................................................................8
B. CircuitimplementationbyON4RST............................................................................................9
C. Calculationofcomponents.......................................................................................................10
1.

Determiningfastchargecurrent...........................................................................................10

2.

Choosinginputvoltage/wallcube.........................................................................................10

3.

Powertransistorpowerdissipation......................................................................................10

4.

R1value.................................................................................................................................10

5.

Rsense(R5)value...................................................................................................................10

6.

Fuse.......................................................................................................................................10

7.

Othercomponents................................................................................................................10

D. PCBLayoutcomponentside...................................................................................................11
E.
III.

PCBLayouttrackside.............................................................................................................11
Componentlist......................................................................................................................12

A. Resistors....................................................................................................................................12
B. Capacitors..................................................................................................................................12
C. LEDs..........................................................................................................................................12
D. Diode.........................................................................................................................................12
E.

Transistor...................................................................................................................................12

F.

IC................................................................................................................................................12

G. Other.........................................................................................................................................12
IV.

Mechanicalrealization..........................................................................................................13

A. Milledbatterymount................................................................................................................13
B. Case...........................................................................................................................................13
V.

Projectcost............................................................................................................................14

VI.

Participatingmembers..........................................................................................................14

VII.

Projectresponsible................................................................................................................14

VIII.

Projectreference...................................................................................................................14

IX.

Logbookofactivities..............................................................................................................14

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I.

Description
TheNiMHfastchargerisacompactandsturdyfastchargerforNiMHbatteries,basedonthe
Maxim712IC.Otherconditionstomeetareselectablenumberofbatterycellstoload,andsolid
mountedbatterypack.
ThebasicTypicaloperatingcircuitprovidedbytheMaximdatasheetwasimplementedto
maintainsimplicity.Somecomponentswereaddedasdescribedtosetcertainvalues
concerningchargetimeandnumberofcells.
IndicationofPoweronandFastchargeisavailablewithLEDs
ForfixedoperationaDIPswitchisforeseentoselectthenumberofcellstobecharged.
Commonbatterypacksusedhave4or5cells.PinsPGM0andPGM1areconnectedtodifferent
otherpinsoftheICselectingtherightcellcount
Formoreflexibleoperation,theDIPswitchcanbeomitted,andinsteadhaveatoggleswitch
installedtotheoutsideofthecase.Thatwayonecaneasilyswitchthechargerto4,5or6cell
charging.6cellisaniceadditionwithbothPGM0andPGM1inopenposition,as6cellbattery
packsarecomingintopractice.
Thechargingtimeoutwasfixedto264minutesincludingVoltageslopedetectionforcharge
termination.PGM2andPGM3arethereforeconnectedtoBATT.
ThechargingcurrentisdefinedbytheRsenseresistorvalueoverwhichtheMAX712willmaintain
aconstantvoltageof0.25V
TheTHD7batterypackwasreverseengineeredtocreateasolidmilledaluminummounting
blockforattachingthebatterypacktothecharger.
Thisaluminumblockcanalsoactascoolingribforthepowertransistor.
ThemilledblockiswhatmakesthischargerspecificfortheTHD7model.Allelectroniccircuitry
isoffcourseuniversaltoeveryNiMH/NiCdbattery.

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II.

Theoryofoperation
A. TypicaloperatingcircuitbyMaxim

Rsensewilldeterminethe
chargecurrentthrough
thebattery.The
MAX712willmaintain
0.25VoverRsense,
resultinginaconstant
batterychargecurrent.
R1isashuntresistor,
limitingcurrentintoV+
between5and20mA.
Q1willbedrivento
regulatetheconstant
chargecurrent.
D1willinhibitcurrent
flowingfromthe
batterytroughthe
circuitrywhenpoweris
notapplied.

Figure2

Aloadcanbesupplied
bytheMAX712butthisisnotimplementedinourdesignasstandalonecharger.

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B. CircuitimplementationbyON4RST

Figure3

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C. Calculationofcomponents
TheMaximdatasheetshouldalwaysbeusedasadetailedreference.
1. Determiningfastchargecurrent

*The2N6109transistorhasamaximumof7Acollectorcurrent
2. Choosinginputvoltage/wallcube
Theinputvoltageshouldalwaysbeminimally6Vandatleast1.5Vhigherthanthemaximum
batteryvoltagewhencharging.
Operationat12or13.8Visusedthroughoutourdesign.
Operationupto20VDCshouldbepermittedwithoutmodificationstothecircuitry,yetstillthepower
requirementsofdifferentcomponentsshouldbeverified

3. Powertransistorpowerdissipation

4. R1value
5

PDR1=<0.25W(ifDCinput<17.5V)
PDR1=<0.3W(if17.5V<DCinput<20V)
5. Rsense(R5)value
0.25
R

0.25V

6. Fuse
Afuseshouldalsobeconnectedinserieswithavaluedependingontherequiredcharge
current.Mostlya2Afusewilldo.
7. Othercomponents
TheDIPswitchusedisa9switchversion.A6switchversionwouldsufficebutatthetime
beingonlya9wasavailable.Yeta6switchshouldfitjustasfineinthesameposition.
TheDIPswitchsettingswilldeterminethenumberofcellstobecharged.
AsareplacementfortheDIPswitcharegulardualpoletoggleswitchcanbeused.Usinga
twopositionONONswitchmakes4or5cellchoiceavailable.Whenathreeposition
ONOFFONswitchisused,onecanchoose4,6or5cells.Thecenterpositionisanopen
positionwhichturnstheMAX712into6cellmode.
Eachpolecentercontactshallthen
beconnectedtoPGM0orPGM1.
Theothercontactswillbewired
followingthisschematic:

Figure4

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D. PCBLayoutcomponentside

Itemsmarkedinredarenotyetplacedonthispicture.PartsnotshownareT1transistor,R1
(Rshunt)andR5(Rsense).R5andR1shallbecalculatedaccordingtoparagraphC.4.

E. PCBLayouttrackside
APCBlayoutisshownherefortheenthusiastwillingtoreplicatetheproject.
ThePCBhasbeendrawnwiththefreewareprogramKiCad,availableforLinuxandWindows
operatingsystems.Thedatafilecanbeobtainedonsimplerequestorvia
http://www.on4rst.orgtofacilitatePCBreplication.

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III.

Componentlist
A. Resistors

R1(Rshunt)1k31/4W(SeealsoII.C.4)

R2150R1/4W
R368k1/4W
R422k1/4W
R5(Rsense)dependentofchargecurrent(SeealsoII.C.5)

R6,R710k1/4W

B. Capacitors

C11F/35V
C2,C410nF/35V
C3,C510F/35VElectrolytic

C. LEDs

LEDGreen
LEDRed

D. Diode

D11N4001(or1N4004)(or1N5822forIfastbetween1Aand3A)

E. Transistor

T12N6109TO220packageorequivalent
TO220micamountingkit(e.g.RS402456fromRadioShack)

F. IC

IC1MaximMAX712

G. Other

Fuse(SeealsoII.C.6)
DIPswitch6switch(DIL12)

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IV.

Mechanicalrealization
A. Milledbatterymount
Themilledbatterymountiswhatmakesthis
chargerspecialandspecificfortheKenwood
THD7portabletransceiver.
Asimplebatterycontactpointcanbe
createdwithsomecrimpterminalsandan
insertedpaperclip.(SeeFigure1
onintroductionpage)
Amodifiedversionwithaspringloaded
contactpointrecoveredfromabrokenNokia
6210Cellphonewasmadelateron.

Figure5

Figure6

Thespringloadedcontactisactuallybuiltupfrom2separatespringsandoneplasticcover,
solderedtosomeexperimentationboard.

Figure7

Figure8

Thewholepartisthenfirstpositionedwithsomesuperfastglueandthenfixedwith
epoxyresin.

B. Case
Allmemberswereleftfreeofchoiceinmechanicallymountingthecharger.
ThediecastaluminumboxintheexamplepicturecomesfromRadioShack(RS2264127).

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V.

Projectcost
Theelectroniccomponentscanberoughlyboughtforabout15~20inanelectronicsshop.
PCBcreationisnotincludedbutfortheelectronicenthusiastnotundoable.
Thediecastaluminumcasecostsabout10.
Themilledaluminumbatterymountwasaonetimecreationandthuswilltakemoreeffortfrom
anexperiencedtechnicianinreproducingit.

VI.

Participatingmembers
ON4ILL,ON2SWT,ON2KLS,ON2MAB,ON3RG,ON4DNL

VII. Projectresponsible
ON4ILL,BonneuxStijn,on4ill@gmail.com

VIII. Projectreference
http://www.on4rst.org

IX.

Logbookofactivities
End2010arequestwasmadetocreateachargerfortheKenwoodTHD7.
OnJanuary31,2011,theprojectenteredtheUBAHomebrewchallenge.
InFebruary2011thealuminumblockswerereverseengineeredandmilled,ON2SWThandled
thispart.
MarchandAprilwerethenusedtocreatetheschematic,buycomponentsandmakeafew
testPCBsusingtheironmethod.MainoperatorswereON2KLS,ON2SWT,ON4ILLand
ON4ABS.ON4ABSsuccessfullyexperimentedalotincreatingPCBsusingtheironmethod.
SecondweekofMayON4CMOandON4ILLcreated10PCBsinanetchingtank.
TherestofMayandJunewasthenusedtobuildupthechargersbyparticipatingmembers.
Exceptforsomespecificactions(e.g.millingandPCBironing/etching),allactivitieswere
performedonlyonWednesdayeveningsattheclubhouse.

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