Advanced Radio I Charger User manual

I Charger
1
www.advanced-radio.com

Congratulaons for choosing the Advanced Radio Intelligent Micro
Charger - The worlds rst Automac Intelligent charger designed
to mount directly in your giant scale model.
Gone are the days when you had to carry a charger to the eld. All
you need with the Advanced Radio I Charger is a 12 volt DC power
supply.
Before you install I Charger please take the me to
read these instrucons. A few simple steps will have
you successfully using this easy-to-use product in no
me at all.
I Charger Features and Specicaons:
- 32 bit Processor for crisp display and highest resoluon in the industry.
- Bright full colour OLED for easy day me reading of pack voltage,
instantaneous charge current and mAh charge amount into the pack
- Completely automac charging, simply connect 12 volts.
- Available 2 baery pack, 3 baery pack and 4 baery pack congura-
on.
- Charges at up to 2A per pack. Charge current is automacally selected
by the advance charge algorithm.
- Auto on-board over heat funcon limits charge current if temperature
becomes too high.
- Oponal external temperature sensors for charging LiPo pack. Au-
tomacally stops charge funcon if pack temperature climbs above
40C/100F. Charge funcon resumes when temperature decreases to
safe working level.
- Maximum input voltage 15 volts.
- Minimum input voltage 11 volts.
- Weight is only 78 grams 2.9oz (3 stack version).
- Dimensions (3 Stack Version) 62mm x 47mm x 35mm (2.4 x 1.86 x 1.43
inches).
- Supplied with DC Charge Jack for mounng to your model and DC plug
for connecng to 12 volts.
DO’S and DON’TS
I Charge is designed to charge 2 cell Life (6.6v), Lion(8.2v) and
Lipo (8.4v) baeries and is available 2 baery pack, 3 baery pack
or 4 baery pack conguraons. You simply set the baery type
on each stack slider switch. Connect your baery and when ready
to charge simply connect a 12 volts DC power supply. It is really
that simple.
I Charger is also supplied with an ultra connector and an external
DC charge socket for mounng in your model. I Charge can also
be used as a stand alone charger.
I Charger MOUNTING POSITION
The Advanced Radio I Charger will get hot when charging bat-
teries. YOU MUST provide adequate space when mounng the I
Charger in your model. It is advised that you mount the I Charger
vercally so that thermal cooling is maximized. Failure to pro-
vide an adequate cooling environment will result in lower charge
currents and a longer charge me.
CHARGING WITH I Charger
While the I Charger comes with the utmost in safety design,
Advanced Radio states that you should NEVER leave Lithium bat-
teries unaended while charging.
I Charger requires a 12 volt DC ltered supply to operate. This
supply can be your car baery or a high quality 12 volt DC power
pack. DO NOT USE I Charger with power supply voltages higher
than 15 volts DC. High supply voltages could damage the input
ltering capacitors and while reparable this will not be covered
under warranty.
2 3

Lets get started
4
I Charger Safety Features
Baery over temperature safety.
I Charger has provision for Lithium baery temperature moni-
toring. This feature monitors baery pack temperature using
the oponal temperature sensor. You simply aach an oponal
temperature probe to the baery with tape and if the baery
temperature moves outside a safe charging range of 0°C to 40°C
or 104° Fahrenheit , the I Charger suspends charging and signals
a fault condion (Red LED). Once temperature returns to the safe
range then charging will connue.
Baery Bad Detecon
I Charger also has bad baery detecon, which triggers a charge
fault (Red LED) if a baery stays in precondion mode for more
than one eighth (23 minutes) of the total charge cycle me.
Automac Charger Over Temperature Safety
During the charge process the I Charger monitors each charger
board individually. If the temperature of an individual charge
board reaches a high temperature condion then the charge cur-
rent on that charge board is reduced to maintain a safe operang
temperature range. This applies to each individual charge board.
Step 1
First note that the charge ports (Boards) are numbered from the
top down, so a three port charger will have the top charge port as
number one and the one below that number two and the boom
one number three.
The LCD screen plate is above the number one charge port. The
LCD displays each baery’s informaon also from top down and is
indicated as B1, B2, B3 etc.
Display Board
Charge Port B1
Charge Port B2
Charge Port B3

67
Step 2
On each Charge port you will see a small slider switch. This slider
switch determines what baery chemistry and charge voltage is
applied to each charge port. You will see that the charger accom-
modates LiPo, Lion and LiFe.
Slider Switch
PLEASE NOTE:
BEFORE CONNECTING THE BATTERY OR 12volt POWER please set
the slider switch to match the baery chemistry. Failure to do
so could result in the baery pack receiving an incorrect charge
voltage and might damage the baery pack.
I Charge is designed to use with baeries that have an internal
baery balancing charge circuit.
If you are an advanced user then you know that some baery
chemistries do not require charge balancing however Advanced
Radio states that I Charger should be used only with self balanc-
ing baeries.
Step 3
On the opposite end of the charger you will noce that there are
three sets of plug in pins per port or board.
On the right you have the baery pins (BAT) , next is the F-Bus
pins and nally the TMP or temperature sensor pins. You can plug
your baery into the bat pins either way as the center is posive
and both outside pins are negave.
The F-Bus is for future developments.
The TMP port can be used with the oponal temperature sensor.
These can be placed on the baery to warn of excessive tempera-
ture.
Baery
Connector Oponal
Temperature
Sensor
FBUS
Expander

98
Step 4
Your I Charger is supplied with several leads and connectors. You
can connect 12 volts DC directly to the charger male ultra connec-
tor to start the charge process or via the the fuselage port plug
which has the ultra- connector on one end and the DC Port Plug
on the other.
To mount the DC Port Plug on your model drill the appropriate
size hole (8mm or 5/16th) in the fuse or in a hatch area. The
12 volt barrel plug will then plug into this port to power up the
charger.
Step 5
When the charger rst powers up you will see the AR logo on the
LCD screen followed by the lisng of the baeries 1, 2, 3 etc. Next
to the B1 you will see the voltage reading of the baery, next to
that you will see the amps it is charging at. Below this B 1 line is a
sequenal color bar showing that charger working. To the right of
this is the amount of MA that the charger has put into the pack.
Baery
Indicator
Charge
Voltage
Charge
Current
Charge in
Process
Indicator
mA Charge
Indicator

10 11
Step 6
Next to the slider switch on each Charge Port You will see a BLUE
LED and a RED LED. The blue LED is a charge indicator and the red
LED is a fault indicator. These LEDs have the following meaning.
BLUE LED FLASHING = The charger is connected to a 12 volts sup-
ply but has no baery connected.
BLUE LED SOLID = The charger is in the baery charging process.
BLUE LED OFF = The charge has nished the main charge process
and is in trickle charge mode.
RED LED SOLID = There is a baery fault. This could be:
1) Baery over temperature (if using the oponal temperature
probe). The charge process will stop unl the baery returns to
the safe temperature range.
2) A bad baery that sll has a low voltage aer 23 minutes of
startup charge and cannot be charged.
3) A 3 hour period has been reached and the baery is sll not
completely charged.
Step 7
To start the charging process it is a simple process of connecng
a 12volt power supply. As soon as you connect the 12 volt supply
the AR Logo is shown for a brief moment, the charger boards are
reset and (if baeries are connected) the charge process begins.
You should see similar to the picture below if using a 3 port charge
and have all 3 ports connected to baeries.
Note. As with all chargers you need to be present during the
charge cycle. DO NOT LEAVE UNATTENDED. If you must leave
note the capacity of charge into the baery(s) then disconnect
the 12v source to stop the charge. Resume when you return by
simply plugging the barrel plug back in.

12 13
How I Charger Works
Aer seng up the desired baery pack chemistry (Life, Lion,
LiPo) via a small slider switch, you simply connect a 12 volt power
supply to the I Charger.
Once power is applied the charger will:
1) Automacally enter a baery precondion mode where it tests
the baery voltage. If the baery voltage is low the charge current
is reduced to 15% of the programmed maximum and applied unl
baery voltage reaches 70% of expected fully charged oat volt-
age.
2) Once the baery voltage reaches 70% of the expected fully
charged oat voltage I Charger automacally increases maximum
charge current to the full charge value (up to 2A).
3) I Charge will then charge the baery pack at full current
(up to 2A) unl expected fully charged oat voltage is reached.
4) At reaching expected fully charged oat voltage, I Charge
reduces high charge current proporonally as the baery internal
resistance increases.
5) At 90% of capacity (C/10) the baery charge algorithm enters a
trickle charge state and will stay in the trickle charge state for up
to 3 hours. This allows a baery charge state to reach the 100%
capacity. NOTE: Most hobby chargers end at 90 - 95 % of actual
baery capacity. I Charger will take the capacity all the way to
100%.
6) If less than 97.5% of capacity is reached aer the 3 hour period
then I Charger re-iniates, and charging connues for another full
cycle. This means you are guaranteed to know that your baery is
fully charged 100% at all mes as long as power is connected for
the appropriate amount of me.
7) As long as power is supplied to the charger the I Charger will
monitor the baery voltage and if the baery voltage falls below
2.5% of the fully charged oat voltage the charge cycle will start
again. This means you can leave I Charger theorecally connected
and permanently powered on to keep the baery topped up.
PLEASE NOTE: While we have designed I Charger with the up-
most in safety a permanent power connecon is not advised.
Also some baery chemistries do not react well to having a
100% charge all the me.
How I Charger Works

14
FACTS
I am charging the same type of baery. Why does one I Charger
mA meter show a dierent value to the others?
Baeries have an internal resistance. Think of this as a force at-
tempng to stop current from owing into the baery. Not all
baeries have the same internal resistance. A baery with a lower
internal resistance will take up charge more readily. I Charger uses
individual charge circuitry for each charge port. Each circuit charg-
es one baery. The combinaon of baery internal resistance,
connector and extension lead resistance may show as a higher mA
charge into one baery when compared to another.
I have noced that the mA and charge current indicaon is sll
showing a small charge aer the main charge is complete.
This is quite normal. The I Charger has a special top up technol-
ogy that will trickle charge a baery aer the main charging is
complete. What you are seeing is the trickle charge feature in
operaon.
15
Notes

16
Notes
12 Month Replacement Warranty
Advanced Radio will replace this product within 12 months if
found to be defecve in material and/or workmanship when used
in the intended purpose. The warranty does not cover - Ship-
ping charges related to any warranty claim. An over voltage or
over current usage beyond stated specicaon. Damage due to
system failure, negligence, abuse, accident, improper installaon
or freezing. Loss of me, inconvenience, loss of model, or other
incidental or consequenal damages.