Xiegu X6100 Battery Charging Questions and Answers
- Ham Talk
- Posted by Jackson Chen
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One of the Radioddity customers posed these
well-thought-out questions about the
Xiegu X6100
battery charging system and procedures. These are important issues that every
X6100 owner should be aware of.
1. Can the X6100 be left connected permanently to an external charger or
external source of dc power with the charger turned off?
Yes, it can be left connected. The Green LED will show activity if the Charger
has not been toggled Off in the Radio Setting1 Menu.
2. Can or should the X6100 be operated from an external power source with the
charger turned off?
Yes, as long as the Charger is toggled off in the Radio Setting 1 Menu, there is
no problem running from an external power source. (13.8 VDC @ 3.4 Amps or above
current capacity). The radio will operate from 9 to 15 VDC with current capacity
requirements increased at a lower voltage than 13.8 VDC and reduced above
13.8VDC up to 15 VDC.
3. When should the charger be turned off?
The Charger should be used with the radio powered off. The Battery Management
System (BMS) will start with a constant current charge that is indicated by a
flashing Green LED. When the current demand from the battery tapers down to a
steady low current set point, the charge state shifts to Constant Voltage for
the 'finishing charge'. During this charging state, the Green LED will glow
constantly. It is during this charging state that the 2 cells should be
balanced-charged to their maximum of 4.2 VDC. The LED (in theory) should turn
off when this state is completed, but there may be a conflict between the actual
indicator of the completed charge and the LED Staying on to remind that the
charger is still connected. I would recommend charging overnight, then toggling
the charger back off in the System Setting1 Menu.
4. When should the charger be turned on?
The BMS will monitor battery capacity and voltage. It has voltage set points to
first disable transmit capability and a 2nd set point to power the radio down to
prevent the battery from being discharged below the point it can properly accept
a charge. At this point, the charger should be enabled. During the first 4
charge /discharge cycles, you should charge fully and let the radio discharge
the battery until the BMS shuts it down. After that, the battery has been
'built' to its rated current capacity and is more tolerant to partial charge
cycles to top off a charge before the radio BMS shuts it down. The battery has a
projected set number of charge/discharge cycles, so partial charging should be
avoided if possible.
5. Does operating X6100 from an external power source with charger turned off
affect the internal batteries of the X6100?
There should be no effect on the battery when the charger is off as indicated by
the lack of the Green LED activity. I have not tried to generate a test setup to
check for any current draw in milliamps or microamps to confirm this. There is
no heat felt when the charger is off, and the radio remains connected to an
external power source.
6. When operating the X6100 from an external power source to boost the output
wattage should the charger be turned on or off?
The Charger should always be turned off when the radio is being operated; even
for receive only. When the battery is under load, the BMS cannot sense a
reduction in current demand. If used un-squelched, or for transmitting, the BMS
only senses a rise in the current demand. This can cause excessive heat when the
heat from the Power Amplifier (PA) components internal to the radio is combined
with heat from the BMS circuit / Battery pack combination. The radio uses
Passive Cooling (no cooling fan). The surface area of the outer case can
dissipate heat from normal operations. Constant, or near constant carrier modes
like FT8 (or other digital sound card modes), as well as CW and RTTY, place a
higher demand on the PA section of the radio. The by-product is heating. Add the
additional heat build-up from the charger circuit and the heat can become
excessive. Combine this further with working in direct or near direct sunlight
and the radio may shut down.
Should you have any question about Xiegu X6100, be free to
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us. We'll try our best to help.
1 comment
Edward Wernecke
Very good information on battery and charging.
I would like you all to explain the items under the two menus, what they are for and proper settings.
I have had my Xiegu 6100 only a week now and I love it.