NiCad battery charger

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"NiCad" battery charger

LM 317 is a good IC Voltage regulator for small power supplies. FIG. 1 shows another application of LM317 as "Constat Current source" for "NiCd" battery charging.

FIG. 1
Example: we need a NiCd battery charger for a 700 mAh battery case. How is it the "R" value? Answer: NiCad batteries must be charged with 10 percent of their capacity... that means 700 x 10% = 70 mA or 0.07 A... => R = 1.25 / 0.07 => R = 17.85 OHM

The commercial resistors have standard values 10, 12, 15, 18, 22, 27, 33 .... so, the closer value for 17.85 is a 18 Ohm resistor . Imprortant notes: 1) input voltage must be 5-6 Volts higher... i.e. for a 7.2 V battery case the input voltage must be 12.2 V or higher. 2) For currents above 50 mA, LM317 needs a Hotsink but keep in mind: the central conductor has an internal - connection with metal- body of IC .
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NiCad battery charger

http://sv1bsx.50webs.com/charger/charger.html

DON'T put the IC-body direct to a GND-metal box for hotsink without isolation! In this case we have short-circuit between pin2 of LM317 and ground (--) Finally, during charging "NiCd" batteries have a thermal-loss of about 40-50 %. That means a higher total charging period... i.e. for a 700 mAh battery case it is not enough a 10 hours period (10 x 70 mA =700 mAh) but a 14-15 hours period (total battery capacity "plus" thermal loss).

The following table has various Battery capacities and "R" values

Battery capacity 400 mAH 500 mAH 700 mAH 1000 mAH

"R" value 33 Ohms 22 Ohms 18 Ohms 12 Ohms

Time period 15 Hours 14 Hours 15 Hours 14 Hours

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01/15/2013 08:57 AM