From: Heikki Hannikainen <hessu_at_hes.iki.fi>
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2002 15:59:34 +0300 (EEST)

On Tue, 6 Aug 2002, George Styles wrote:

> Can some kind person explain how the charging mechanism works on the JB
> please? the way I understand it is that it always runs off the battaries,
> and when it is charging, it charges the battaries at the same time, but not
> as fast as using it discharges it. is this correct?

  This is correct.

> what is meant by charging in discharge and charge?

  When the 'Deep discharge' mode is enabled in the settings menu, the
charger will start only when the battery is under 10% capacity
(CHARGE_RESTART_LO). When the 'Deep discharge' mode is disabled,
the charger will start when the battery is under 90%
capacity (CHARGE_RESTART_HI).

  The deep discharge mode is intended for users who keep the device
connected to a charger all the time (fixed-location mains-powered usage)
and want to reduce possible memory effects (which aren't supposed to be
too bad on NiMH batteries, but some manufacturers do recommend against
trickle charging NiMH cells).

  With deep discharge mode disabled the battery is guaranteed to be at
least 90% charged after an overnight charge.

> finally, the new 6 hour max charge time, does that get reset if you pull the
> plug, and re-insert it?

  Yes. This is just a backup timer to stop after 6 hours of continuous
charging in case the 'battery full' detection fails for some reason. The
timer should not fire in any normal case.

  One additional note, the charger code currently only runs once per
minute, so it will not notice changes in charger status immediately.

  - Hessu
Received on 2002-08-06