Multi-Phasic Charge Mode (MPCM)

Since version 10.27 Pro-Trak has contained a charge mode that only a few people have known about. We decided that until we had sufficient feedback that we would not make this mode available to the user. The mode is only accessible after a certain key sequence.  

Unfortunately the feature has become public knowledge and we find it necessary to release some information on the subject.

We  do not have suggestions at this time for values that could improve the performance which is why we kept the mode hidden.

Nobody knows what will work best or even if there is a benefit from using the mode!!

We are sure that having released this information the rc forums will be full of the pros and cons of the charge mode. And maybe a MPCM profile will be forthcoming.

The MPCM available in the earlier versions  10.27 - 10.35 will not  be as  programmable as later versions.

This charge mode as the name implies  has a number of phases.

In brief the charge mode functions as follows.

There are 3 charge currents that can be programmed.

The 3 currents are programmed into:-

Charge Current     Middle Current    Finish Current

   3                                 8                              4

Note: Pro-Trak uses the "re-peak" current as the middle current

With the above settings on Ni-Mh cells the charge would be as follows:-

Start charge at 3 amps,  ramp current to 8 amps at 1500mA, step current back down to 4 amps at 2800mA.

The middle current is controlled by the lockout capacity, if you change the lockout capacity to 1000mA the the current is ramped at 1000mA.  The finish current is always ramped at 2800mA.

As you can see there are hundreds of possible charge sequences that can be programmed.  You could start charge at 2 amps, have a middle charge current of 6 amps and a finish current of 4 amps. 

The MPCM charge mode is toggled on or off  by holding down key 6 as you connect Pro-Trak to 12 volts. 

When MPCM (Multi-Phasic Charge Mode) is enabled you get the option of Programming the 3 currents for Ni-Cd and Ni-Mh cells when you press key 5.

The default settings above are safe settings that will  make no difference to pack performance.

Note:- When the charge current is ramped down from a higher current to a lower current the delta will increase because of the drop in current!!

Pro-Trak resets the delta at the different phases to stop a false peak occurring and terminating charge.  

The earlier MPCM  function ( 10.27 to10.39 ) reset the delta as soon as the new current was reached, however we found  in some cases the delta could continue to fall for about 30 seconds after the current was reduced. This  possibility of a delayed false peak was corrected  in version 10.40.  

As you can see MPCM has been under development and has been fine tuned over a number of months.  

We can only be confident that a false peak situation will not occur in versions 10.40 and above.

Please be aware that we have not officially released this charge mode but if you are tempted to try it be aware that versions below 10.40 need to be monitored at the point of current reduction to make sure the false peak condition does not occur.  We do not wish to spoil your racing because your pack has not fully charged!!

We will update this page as we gather information,  we know there is a lot of discussions in  Japan and Hong Kong about t  MPCM and have arranged for any information to be forwarded to us.

Suggestion

If you only have Ni-Mh cells you could program the Ni-Cd values to suit Ni-Mh cells.

This would allow you to have 2 set-ups for Ni-Mh cells.

Change the delta fallbacks for Ni-Cd to those suitable for Ni-Mh

Change the Ni-Cd lockout to those suitable for NI-Mh

Change all 3 Ni-Cd charge currents to the same value, and the Ni-Mh charge currents to the values you want the MPCM mode to use.

If you don't want to use MPCM then select Ni-Cd, if you do then select Ni-Mh

Or you could program 2 different MPCM profiles 

The options are endless, however if you get out of you depth put all the settings back to safe values by holding down the "#" key when you power Pro-Trak up.  

Note you will have to re-enter the calibration figures if you intend to use the remote leads. 

Intensive Care System /Equaliser  Monitoring.

During  testing of our ICS (information available from home page) we produced a special program (new rom) which automated the testing.  This program we found very useful and have now incorporated it in to the latest version of Pro-Trak (10.45)

This was designed for the Pro-Trak ICS but can be used to monitor other equalisers.

Third party equalisers
In the charge menu there is the option to select Monitor ICS,  when selected the user can enter a voltage at which Pro-Trak will produce an audible warning.  If a value of 0.7 volts is entered a warning is given every 30 seconds when all the cells are < 0.7 volts. This will save you checking on the cells every 10 minutes to see if you can  put on a new pack.  Only option 1 "Monitor " can be used with third party equalisers as the other 2 options need to control the equaliser to stop equalising during Charge and Cycle .

With our ICS the voltage would be set to 0.1 volts thus giving an audible warning when all the cells are < 0.1 volts.

After setting the warning voltage value the user has 3 options,

1 Monitor.    Discharge  at 20 amps then switch on ICS and monitor (give audible warning at set voltage)

2 Charge.    Full -     Discharge at 20 amps then switch on ICS and monitor, when all cells < 0.1 volts switch off  ICS and charge.

                     Part -    Discharge at 20 amps then switch on ICS and monitor, when all cells < 0.1 volts switch off  ICS and Part
                                  Charge  to   value set by user.

3 Cycle.       Discharge at 20 amps the switch on ICS and monitor, when all cells < 0.1 volts switch off ICS charge then
                     discharge   pack.

There is a modified ICS  for use with the above program, this ICS is controlled by Pro-Trak.

All new Pro-Traks have an 8 pin remote lead socket fitted, the 8th pin allows Pro-Trak to control the ICS. 

Note:  Pro-Trak switches the ICS on and off only, it does not control the discharge of the individual cells. When using the ICS in charge or cycle modes  the audible warning cut-off must be set to 0.10 volts.

If you set the warning voltage to 0.50 then the cells are not all equalised to the same value before charge or cycle.

In the example below the cut-off was set to 0.50 volts, you can see that charging started even though cell 6 was not fully discharged.