Radio Shack Racing Battery Pack DC Charger User manual

Cat. No. 23-412
OWNER’S MANUAL
Please read before using this equipment.
Racin
g
Batter
y
Pack DC Char
g
er
for 4.8V/6V/7.2V/9.6V Ni-Cd Battery Packs
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2
FEATURES
Your RadioShack Racing Battery Pack
DC Charger is perfect for charging ra-
dio-controlled racing cars’ battery packs
when you are on the go. It connects di-
rectly to your vehicle’s battery terminals
and can fully charge 4.8V, 6V, 7.2V and
9.6V nickel-cadmium battery packs in as
little as 15 minutes! (High-capacity 7.2V,
1700 mAh and 9.6V, 900 mAh battery
packs require more time to fully charge.)
Your charger also includes these fea-
tures:
DC Reverse-Polarit
y
Input Protection
— blows the charger’s fuse to prevent
damage to the charger, the battery pack,
and your vehicle’s electrical system if
you accidentally connect the DC power
cord clamps to the wrong battery termi-
nals.
Char
g
in
g
Indicator — lights when the
battery pack is charging and automati-
cally turns off when charging is finished.
Start Button — makes battery-pack
charging simple.
Di
g
it Peak Volta
g
e Detector — en-
sures complete charging.
Safet
y
Guard Protection Timer — pre-
vents overcharging that can damage the
battery pack.
Thermal Sensor — stops charging au-
tomatically if the battery becomes too
hot.
CHARGING CAUTIONS
• Charge only one battery pack at a
time.
• Be sure that the battery pack is
rated at 4.8, 6, 7.2, or 9.6 volts.
• Avoid charging fully-charged bat-
tery packs. Doing so can damage
the battery pack or cause it to lose
some of its storage capacity.
• Charge battery packs only at room
temperature (65–80°F). Charging a
battery pack in a hot area can per-
manently reduce the battery pack’s
power capacity.
• Do not expose the charger to rain or
excessive moisture.
©1998 Tandy Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.
RadioShack is a registered trademark used by Tandy Corporation.
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3
OPERATION
Before you charge a battery
pack, use it until it no longer
provides the necessary
power.
Warnin
g
s:
• To reduce the risk of
injury, charge only
rechargeable nickel-
cadmium battery packs
with this charger. Trying
to charge other types of
battery packs could
cause the packs to leak
or become very hot and
explode, causing injury
to bystanders or dam-
age to your charger.
• Do not charge a battery
pack that is damaged or
leaking.
• Do not cover the vents
on the top or back of the
charger while charging
a battery pack.
Follow these steps to con-
nect the charger to your ve-
hicle’s battery and charge a
battery pack.
1. Connect the charger’s
red clamp to the vehi-
cle’s positive (+) battery
terminal.
2. Connect the DC
charger’s black clamp
to the vehicle’s negative
(–) battery terminal or to
a metal part of your
vehicle’s chassis that is
not insulated by a plas-
tic part. The POWER
indicator lights.
Caution: Do not con-
nect the black clamp to
any part of your vehi-
cle’s chassis unless you
are sure your vehicle
has a negative-ground
electrical system.
3. To charge a 6V battery
pack, simply insert it
into the compartment
on the battery charger.
Then skip to Step 5.
To charge a 7.2V or
9.6V battery pack,
insert the pack into the
compartment on the
battery charger and
slide the connector into
CHARGING JACK. If the
connector does not fit,
turn it over and try
again. Do not force it.
ILLUSTRATION
of red clamp
w/vehicle’s
positive battery
terminal
ILLUSTRATION
of 6V battery
connection
ILLUSTRATION
of 7.2 V
battery connection
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4
To charge a 4.8V bat-
tery pack, plug the small
end of the supplied
adapter cord fully into
the battery pack’s con-
nector. Then plug the
adapter cord’s large end
fully into CHARGING
JACK.
4. Insert the battery pack
into the compartment
on the battery charger.
5. Insert THERMAL SEN-
SOR into the charger’s
sensor holder.
6. Press START to start
charging. The CHARGE
indicator lights.
This table shows the
typical fast-charging
time for battery packs of
different capacities:
ILLUSTRATION
of 4.8 V
battery connection
ILLUSTRATION
of THERMAL
SENSOR in
sensor socket
ILLUSTRATION
of START
location
Capacity Charging Current
(mA)
Charging
Time
(minutes)
4.8V/6V
(600
mAh)
2500 15
7.2V
(1200
mAh)
4500 16
7.2V
(1700
mAh)
4500 23
9.6V
(600
mAh)
2500 15
9.6V
(900
mAh)
2500 22
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5
Caution: Never discon-
nect the charger’s DC
charger’s clamps from
your vehicle’s battery
while charging is in
progress. If you need to
suddenly stop charg-
ing, disconnect the bat-
tery pack from the
charger first, then dis-
connect the DC
charger’s clamps from
the vehicle’s battery ter-
minals (and chassis, if
you connected the
black clamp to it).
Notes:
• If the battery pack
becomes too hot, the
thermal sensor
makes charging stop
automatically.
• If the charging time
and the battery
pack’s life are both
very short, the battery
pack might be dam-
aged.
• If the charging indica-
tor does not light,
check to see if the
charger’s fuse has
blown (see “Replac-
ing the Fuse” on
Page 6).
7. When charging is com-
plete, the charger and
its CHARGE indicator
automatically turn off.
Disconnect and remove
the battery pack from
the charger, then dis-
connect the DC
charger’s clamps from
the vehicle’s battery ter-
minals (and chassis, if
you connected the
black clamp to it).
Note: If you are charg-
ing
high-capacity
7.2-
volt, 1700 mAh, and
9.6-volt, 900 mAh bat-
tery packs, you must
run them for two charg-
ing cycles to fully
charge them.
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