Are there any chips that will simplify charging/charger design?
Maxim recently released Max712/Max713 NiCd/NiMH “Battery Fast-Charge Controllers”. The ICs provide fast charge at rates from C/4 to 4C and C/16 trickle charge rate as well. These devices can charge 1 to 16 series cells. A voltage-slope detecting ADC, a timer, and a temperature window comparator determine charge completion. Nice points: • ICs require few external components. • Available as free samples from at Maxim (1-800-998-8800). Linear Technology also produces fast-charge controllers, but unlike generous Maxim, samples are not available for universities (I was designing a HV power supply and ran across one LT’s PS controller, called LT for a sample (actually we needed a hundred of HV PSs, but still I wanted to test the IC before starting a production) and got an answer that LT’s policy is not to deal with universities :(. So – stick with Maxim.
