diff options
author | Uwe Freese <thebreaker@rockbox.org> | 2002-12-14 13:03:14 +0000 |
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committer | Uwe Freese <thebreaker@rockbox.org> | 2002-12-14 13:03:14 +0000 |
commit | eec501ee4dac711705beb3bd26f7a1bb7509cb0f (patch) | |
tree | 22401e78703479f18e9bda95a6fd6f199266eb51 /docs | |
parent | 3817730f0fe38cf83364a02a392fc24a6db3ca84 (diff) | |
download | rockbox-eec501ee4dac711705beb3bd26f7a1bb7509cb0f.tar.gz rockbox-eec501ee4dac711705beb3bd26f7a1bb7509cb0f.zip |
updated because of trickle charge
git-svn-id: svn://svn.rockbox.org/rockbox/trunk@2984 a1c6a512-1295-4272-9138-f99709370657
Diffstat (limited to 'docs')
-rw-r--r-- | docs/BATTERY-FAQ | 58 |
1 files changed, 35 insertions, 23 deletions
diff --git a/docs/BATTERY-FAQ b/docs/BATTERY-FAQ index 07a7e3784b..31aa82a212 100644 --- a/docs/BATTERY-FAQ +++ b/docs/BATTERY-FAQ @@ -11,14 +11,21 @@ A1: Player: the charging is all done by hardware and the exact Q2: Will keeping my charger connected a long time damage my batteries? Can I leave it over night? -A2: The charger logic lets the batteries charge until they are full. After - that, the charger is disabled, but the device will stay powered on and - continue to consume some power from the batteries (the hardware does - not allow running from the charger without charging batteries, or - powering off with the charger connected). After some time, it will - start charging the batteries again to keep them full. This will - wear the batteries a little, but overnight charging is what most - people do. +A2: There's a deep discharge mode and you can switch trickle charge on and off. + If you use your AJB connected to the power supply the whole time, select + "deep discharge on" and "trickle charge off". If you want to charge your + AJB over night and take it with you the next day, select "deep discharge + off" (that it starts charging immediately) and "trickle charge on" + (that the batteries remain full). + + Trickle charge is needed to keep the batteries full. That's necessary because + the device will stay powered on and continue to consume some power from + the batteries (the hardware does not allow running from the charger + without charging batteries, or powering off with the charger connected). + The trickle charge time is 12 hours. It should be enough for you to disconnect + your AJB in this time and turn it off / use it. + However, after 12 hours of trickle charge, it will turn it off, the batteries + are discharged and another charge cycle is started. As the Battery FAQ at http://www.greenbatteries.com/ puts it: "A NiMH battery can be charged and discharged hundreds of times, @@ -30,18 +37,22 @@ Q3: Does Rockbox charge the batteries more/less/worse/better than the Archos A3: Player: Rockbox doesn't affect the charging on Players, it is all done by hardware logic out of software control. - Recorder: The current release of 1.2 is much worse than the Archos - charger, it tends to stop charging much too early and leave the batteries - half empty. - - The current development code (CVS daily builds as of 20.8.2002) is much - better than the 1.2 release, but still not perfect. Linus recently - measured 6 hours continuous playtime after a rockbox charge, and much - over 7 hours after an Archos charge. We are working on fine-tuning - the charger logic to get the most out of the batteries, but the - emphasis is on not overcharging them, since that would damage the - batteries. Better be safe than sorry. + Recorder: The whole algorithm is made to carefully charge the batteries full + and keep them full after that with a trickle charge option. Many documents + about charge ICs were considered. If you want to know details, then look + into docs/CHARGING_ALGORITHM. If you have comments, write to + mail@uwe-freese.de or the Rockbox mailinglist. + + Test results with trickle charge (battery capacities measured with an + external charger, Model "Conrad Electronic Charge Manager 2010", ~100 EUR): + + - after normal charge and top off time: 1798, 1834, 1819, 1815 mAh + - after normal + top off + trickle charge (12h): 1784, 1748, 1738, 1752 mAh + - charged with external charger: 1786, 1819, 1802, 1802 mAh + You can see, whenever you take your AJB with you in the 12h trickle charge + period, the batteries are at least 97% full. :) + Q4: What kind of batteries are there in my factory default Player/Recorder? A4: Both ship with 1500 mAh NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries. @@ -63,13 +74,15 @@ A6: http://www.greenbatteries.com sells 1800 mAh NiMH cells at $3.25USD each, online shops. Browse around. There's a pretty good comparison between different battery makes and models at the digital imaging resource site: http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM + In Germany, www.reichelt.de sells GP 2000 batteries for 2,75 EUR (12/2002). Q7: What kind of run-time can I expect on a set of fully-charged batteries when running Rockbox? A7: For the stock 1500 mAh cells, from 6 hours to 8 hours, depending on - which charger was used (see Q3). It depends a lot on the condition of - the batteries. We are looking into implementing more battery-saving - techniques in rockbox to make it rock longer. + which charger was used (see Q3). It depends a lot on the condition of the + batteries. With 2000 mAh batteries, you should reach about 10 hours or more. + We are looking into implementing more battery-saving techniques in rockbox + to make it rock longer. Q8: Can I use different batteries in my Archos? How much playtime would I gain by using 1800 mAh batteries instead of the 1500 mAh ones? @@ -205,4 +218,3 @@ A15: That depends on who you ask. ;-) NiMH sellers say NiMHs are better and However, if you use your AJB connected to the charger all the time, we recommend you to use the deep discharge option. - |