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9 6 • F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 5 • E L E C T R O N I C S F O R Y O U W W W . E F Y M A G . C O M
CIRCUITIDEAS
CMYK
S.C. DWIVEDI
This charger for series-connected4-cell AA batteries automaticallydisconnects from mains to stop
charging when the batteries are fullycharged. It can be used to charge par-tially discharged cells as well.
The circuit is simple and can bedivided into AC-to-DC converter, relay
driver and charging sections.In the AC-to-DC converter section,
transformer X1 steps down mains 230VAC to 9V AC at 750 mA, which is rec-tified by a full-wave rectifier compris-ing diodes D1 through D4 and filteredby capacitor C1. Regulator IC LM317(IC1) provides the required 12V DCcharging voltage. When you pressswitch S1 momentarily, the chargerstarts operating and the power-onLED1 glows to indicate that thecharger is ‘on.’
The relay driver section uses pnptransistors T1, T2 and T3 (each BC558)
Y.M. ANANDAVARDHANA to energise electromagnetic relay RL1.Relay RL1 is connected to the collec-tor of transistor T1. Transistor T1 isdriven by pnp transistor T2, which, inturn, is driven by pnp transistor T3.Resistor R4 (10-ohm, 0.5W) is con-nected between the emitter and baseof transistor T3.
When a current of over 65 mAflows through the 12V line, it causes a
voltage drop of about 650 mV acrossresistor R4 to drive transistor T3 andcut off transistor T2. This, in turn, turnstransistor T1 ‘on’ to energise relay RL1.Now even if the pushbutton is re-leased, mains is still available to theprimary of the transformer through itsnormally open (N/O) contacts.
In the charging section, regulatorIC1 is biased to give about 7.35V. Pre-set VR1 is used for adjusting the biasvoltage. Diode D6 connected betweenthe output of IC1 and battery limitsthe output voltage to about 6.7V,which is used for charging the battery.
AUTO TURN-OFFBATTERY CHARGER
Pushing switch S1 latches relayRL1 and the battery cells start charg-ing. As the voltage per cell increasesbeyond 1.3V, the voltage drop acrossresistor R4 starts decreasing. When itfalls below 650 mV, transistor T3 cutsoff to drive transistor T2 and, in turn,cuts off transistor T3. As a result, re-lay RL1 de-energises to cut off thecharger and red LED1 turns off.
You may determine the chargingvoltage depending on the NiCd cellspecifications by the manufacturer.Here, we’ve set the charging voltageat 7.35V for four 1.5V cells. Nowadays,700mAH cells are available in the mar-ket, which can be charged at 70 mAfor 10 hours. The open-circuit voltageis about 1.3V.
The shut-off voltage point is deter-mined by charging the four cells fully(at 70 mA for 14 hours). After measur-ing the output voltage, add the diodedrop (about 0.65V) and bias LM317 ac-cordingly.