General Information - VOLTCRAFT CC-1 Notice D'emploi

7. General information

Batteries consist of two electrodes put into an electrolyte; thus, a battery is a chemical element.
Chemical processes are happening inside this element. Since these processes are reversible it
is possible to recharge batteries.
The so-called charge voltage is required for recharging batteries. This voltage must be higher
than the cell voltage. Moreover, the energy (mAh) supplied for the charging process must be
higher than that which can be drawn afterwards. This ratio of the energy supplied to the energy
drawn is called efficiency.
The capacity that can be taken mainly depends on the discharge current; it is decisive for the
condition of the battery. The supplied charge cannot be used as a measure, because a propor-
tion of it will be lost (for example converted into heat).
The capacity data given by the manufacturer is the maximum theoretic quantity of current which
can be delivered by the battery. This means that a 2000 mAh battery can, for example, theoreti-
cally deliver a current of 1000 mA (= 1 ampere) for two hours. This value considerably depends
on many factors (condition of the battery, discharge current, temperature, etc.).
Selecting the appropriate charge and discharge current
The charger offers several practical charge and discharge currents.
Charge current:
Discharge current:
The charge current must be selected according to the information on the rechargeable battery.
Example 1: L abel reading "Standard charge: 12 - 15 hours at xxx mA"
Example 2: Label reading "Fast charge: 4 - 5 hours at xxx mA"
Example 3: Label reading "Fast rechargeable" or "Quick charging possible"
The charger does not always offer the exact charge current required. In such cases,
the next lowest current range should be selected.
For rechargeable batteries without charge current information, a charge current of
1/10 of the battery capacity must not be exceeded on the charger (e.g. battery capac-
ity 2500 mAh, charge current 200 mA).
When setting the discharge current for AAA/micro rechargeable batteries especially, you should
not set a value that is too high because it could cause the battery voltage to quickly drop and the
discharge process to end too early.
200 mA, 500 mA, 700 mA, 1000 mA
100 mA, 250 mA, 350 mA, 500 mA
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