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Originally Posted by t-maxxracer32
well i just dont knwo what it is. i didnt know if it was a charging method or what lol. i need to know all i can before i go into actually doing this. has anyone made a faw or any kind of good sticky thread i can go look at? i serisouly have no clue on most of this..
thanks for your guys help thoggh!
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Well, to make it simple;
A Constant current charge will vary the voltage to be able to push the set amount of current through the battery. This is how NiMH batteries are charged (with an extra step of detecting the peak voltage before the voltage starts to come back down). Simply: Current is constant, voltage is variable.
A constant voltage charge will output a steady voltage and the battery will pull whatever current it can. If you try to charge a depleted battery with a constant voltage, it will draw a HUGE amount of current, which would destroy the battery. Simply: Voltage is constant, current is variable.
A Lithium charger starts by charging at a constant safe current until the pack reaches 4.2v/cell (the battery voltage will rise as it gets charged). If you keep going at a constant current, the voltage will increase beyond the safe battery voltage range. So, the charger switches to a constant voltage charge. The charger maintains this voltage, but the charge current falls slowly until it is near zero, and the charge is done.