LITHIUM-ION/NIMH BATTERY CHARGER

R10
18
12V

R9 Q2
R1 R2 1K 2N2905A
1.5K 15K R5 R6
1K 10K

IC1
NE555
7 4 8
IC2a Q1 Battery
LM339 6 3 BC547B 1.2V
Batt. Volt
SW1 2 1 5
R7
680
D1
1.2 7.2 R8
1N4148
1K
C1 R3 R4 C2
470nF 27K 1.8K 4.7µF Charge
D2

0V

This is a clever little circuit that I found on Bill Bowden's Name Quantity
Hobby Circuits site. It generates pulses of charge and 1.1V Battery (Ideal) 1
measures the battery voltage inbetweeen ceasing when the 1.5K Resistor (1/4W) 1
battery is full.
1.8K Resistor (1/4W) 1
10K Resistor (1/4W) 1
I've made a few alterations but essentially it works the
same way. A comparator compares the battery voltage 12V Voltage Rail (Ideal) 1
against a potential divider based upon R1/D1 which is fixed 15K Resistor (1/4W) 1
at 0.7 volts. It is kept this low to enable 1.2 volt NIMH 18 Resistor (1/4W) 1
batteries to be used. Different battery voltages can be 1K Resistor (1/4W) 3
charged by altering the potential divider R2/R3 or R4. The
1N4148 Diode 1
supply should be at least 3v higher than the battery you
need to charge. 27K Resistor (1/4W) 1

If the battery voltage drops below the preset level, the 2N2905A PNP Transistor 1
comparators output goes low and triggers the 555 4.7µF Electrolytic Capacitor 1
monostable. This produces a short pulse of 470nF Capacitor 1
1.1 x C2 x R6 = 1.1 x 0.00001 x 10,000 = 110ms 680 Resistor (1/4W) 1
Sufficient current to charge the battery is generated by Q1
BC547B NPN Transistor 1
and Q2. After the pulse has charged the battery, the voltage
is compared again and another pulse is triggered if the LED (Red) 1
battery voltage has not met the preset level. This repeats at LM339 Operational Amplifier 1
a rate reliant upon the charge hold capability (or strength) of NE555 Bipolar Timer 1
the battery. SPDT Switch 1

A good tip was to to use a capacitor of about 1000uFor

more insteadof a battery for testing purposes.

Li-ion_battery_charger.lvw Phil Townshend - Oct 05 page 1 of 1