So it arrived without batteries. Luckily I had some tested elements that I pulled from notebook battery pack. I can't understand how to charge the meter. I plug in power cable and the power button lights up red. How would I know that it is fully charged?
I'm under impression that the charging won't stop.
Manual has no information.
It will stop charging when the battery is full. Give it a night. It can be that the battery are to much depleted.
The instructions indicate that a controller is installed in the device, the charge time is approximately 2 hours. Trust the controller.
The only moment. Old 18650s sometimes get hot when approaching 100% charge due to high internal resistance and the charge does not end for a very long time or never. I have these from Sony and Panasonic from old laptops. It is strange that this happens at very low charging currents. Probably something with chemistry, so be careful. This is sometimes called the term "perpetual charge". Personally, my temperature
when heated, such batteries scare, they are very hot. Heating is exactly at the end of the charge, when the charging current should be minimal.
At the same time, most older 18650s work well. Better buy a new battery.
The instructions indicate that a controller is installed in the device, the charge time is approximately 2 hours. Trust the controller.
That's the thing. Batteries are fully charged. I charged them on external lab power supply. Bad once were thrown out, good once I left for use. So the batteries that I put into it are fully charged. I just used the unit to test all my spare caps, warm up 15 minutes, and then about 1.5 hours testing everything in my stock pile. They still show full. I decided to charge before storage and realized I don't know what should happen when the charging stops?
When the charging stops the red light goes out?
NEVER MIND
I just didn't wait long enough.
When the charging completes, red power button stops blinking.
Manual is really crappy, BTW. In that context, I would have many more questions which manual did not address. Fast, slow, medium speed for example. Range, 300 mv vs 600 mv. Because as it turns out I have no idea how to use this meter, other than measure ESR and capacitance. Manual does not teach you about these things.
Charging is indicated by a red light behind power button
It can easily take 2 hours before the meter can be turned on, if batteries are depleted
Full charge is indicated by power red light changing to no power light (perhaps after about 8 hours) - does not matter if unit in use or not
Device is protected from over charging - leave on supplied charger if in doubt - 1833C will look after itself if power connected
Device has limited power-down protection - Batteries can discharge below minimum level after a long period without use (months, not years)
Download the manual for Hantek 2000 series oscilloscope for better battery information (page 27) - e.g. 2D42, NOT DSO 2000 - different device but same charging circuitry
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From 2D42 manual:
Charge
When the battery frame on the screen is displayed as blank, it indicates that the battery is
about to run out. When the battery power is too low, the oscilloscope will prompt “Power
off after 5s”. In order to avoid the automatic shutdown of the oscilloscope due to
insufficient power supply, please charge it in time.
If the power button is pressed, the oscilloscope will not react, indicating that the battery
power may be exhausted.
You can charge the oscilloscope in the following way:
Charge the oscilloscope through charger: Connect the oscilloscope to the power
socket through the USB data line and charger distributed by the instrument for charging.
Charge the oscilloscope through the USB interface: Connect the oscilloscope to a
computer or other equipment through the USB data line.
When charging, turn on the oscilloscope and the battery frame on the screen will change.
When the battery is full, the oscilloscope will automatically stop charging.
Storage and Replacement of the battery
Storage
Lithium battery can be stored in clean, dry and ventilated rooms. Contact with corrosive
substances should be avoided and away from fire and heat sources.
If the lithium battery is not used for a long time (for example, more than 6 months), it
should be charged with 50%-70% electricity, and removed from the instrument, and stored
in a dry and cool environment.
If the lithium battery rusts, leaks, bulges and other phenomena, it should be removed
immediately and scrapped.
Replacement
Batteries can be recharged repeatedly, but they are vulnerable to wear and tear. If
standby time is found to be greatly reduced, batteries need to be replaced.
The battery specification is 18650 lithium battery, 3.7V, 2600mA.
Please refer to the following to replace it.
Unfold the supporting leg, there are two screws. Remove the screws and remove the
battery cover, you will see the batteries. Now you can remove the battery and replace.
Attention: Pay attention to the positive and negative poles of batteries when replacing
batteries.
A little UPDATE:
First time around batteries charged okey even though it took a while. Now it was two months ago. Since then, I used the meter, didn't charge, no need. Now this time around decided to charge and no go. Left it over night, still charging in the morning. Took out batteries, 4.7 volts each. Replaced them with other sells which read 4.1 volts. Then charged, charging light now turns off.
So, if charging light does not turn off for a long time, that means cells, perhaps not bad bad, usable, but not getting up to their 4.1 - 4.2 volts.
Now, fully charged cells, in this unit, read the following:
4.127
4.126