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Our Products — 2-Stage Battery Pack Dischargers (PD)

MiniPD-12V Click for larger images (85KB)	PD-12V Click for larger images (78KB)
PD-24V Click for larger images (68KB)	PD-36V Click for larger images (78KB)

Description

A CamLight Systems 2-Stage Pack Discharger uses durable power-resistors and an auto-cutoff switch to discharge your NiCd or NiMH battery packs. It accurately monitors your pack's voltage level as it discharges and disconnects the load when the battery pack has reached the selected cutoff voltage.

Our Pack Dischargers use two stages:

Stage-1 - A higher-current discharge to quickly bring the pack to 0.9V/cell.
Stage-2 - A lower-current discharge to again bring the pack down to 0.9V/cell to ensure a complete discharge.

This 2-Stage discharge occurs automatically and helps to properly condition your packs better than high-current single-stage dischargers. And it's much faster than any low-current single-stage discharger!

Our Pack Dischargers can be used to:

Safely condition your NiCd battery packs by making it easy to discharge to a known voltage every time.
Measure the capacity of your NiCd/NiMH battery packs by using the Pack Discharger along with a watt-hour meter.
Quickly discharge your battery packs down to 0.8V-1.1V/cell before placing them in a discharge tray (to discharge each cell individually).

Our battery Pack Discharger's small size and low weight allows you to take it wherever you need to discharge your battery packs. No need for AC power or another battery to worry about, they run themselves from the battery pack being discharged.

All of CamLight's Pack Dischargers have the following features:

Accurately monitors a NiCd/NiMH battery pack as it discharges down to a selected cutoff voltage.
Automatic 2-Stage circuitry quickly discharges your packs. No more having to settle for only one discharge current level or hours of waiting for a low-current discharge to finish.
Adjustable discharge current to better match the capacities of your different battery packs.
Solid-state output, no relay contacts to arc or stick together.
Green LEDs indicate the pack is discharging and which Stage is active. Red LEDs light up when you connect the battery pack with the leads reversed.
Durable silicone-insulated wire leads, wire-tied in place.

Our larger dischargers also have the following features:

Adjustable per-cell cutoffs - lets you compensate for the internal resistance of the pack and its influence on the pack's voltage at higher discharge current levels. This will ensure a more complete discharge.
Load Module connector - lets you connect a CamLight Systems Load Module to increase the Stage-1 current level.

Specifications

	MiniPD-12V	PD-12V	PD-24V	PD-36V
Supported battery pack voltages	4-cells (4.8V 6-cells (7.2V) 7-cells (8.4V) 8-cells (9.6V) 10-cells (12V)	4-cells (4.8V) 6-cells (7.2V) 7-cells (8.4V) 8-cells (9.6V) 10-cells (12V)	10-cells (12V) 12-cells (14.4V) 14-cells (16.8V) 15-cells (18V) 16-cells (19.2V) 20-cells (24V)	15-cells (18V) 16-cells (19.2V) 20-cells (24V) 26-cells (31.2V) 27-cells (32.4V) 30-cells (36V)
Discharges other pack voltages?	Limited support for 5 and 9-cell packs***	Limited support for 5 and 9-cell packs***	Limited support for 8,9,11,13,17-19 cell packs***	Limited support for 11-14,17-19,21-25,28,29-cell packs***
Available cutoffs	0.9V/cell	0.8V/cell 0.9V/cell 1.0V/cell 1.1V/cell	0.8V/cell 0.9V/cell 1.0V/cell 1.1V/cell	0.8V/cell 0.9V/cell 1.0V/cell 1.1V/cell
Adjustable Stage-1 discharge current?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Stage-1 discharge current (nominal)***	0.25A-1.5A (4-cells) to .65A-3.8A (10-cells)	1.2A-4A (4-cells) to 3A-9.8A (10-cells)	1.6A-5A (10-cells) to 3A-9.8A (20-cells)	1.4A-5A (15-cells) to 2.8A-10A (30-cells)
Stage-2 discharge current (nominal)***	0.25A (4-cells) to 0.6A (10-cells)	0.6A (4-cells) to 1.4A (10-cells)	0.7A (10-cells) to 1.5A (20-cells)	0.8A (15-cells) to 1.7A (30-cells)
Can use a CamLight Load Module to increase Stage-1 current?	No	Yes, the LM-12V	Yes	Yes
Absolute max. battery pack voltage	16V	16V	35V	50V
Current drawn from battery pack when off	2mA @ 4.8V 10mA @ 12V	2mA @ 4.8V 10mA @ 12V	10mA @ 12V 15mA @ 24V	15mA @ 18V 25mA @ 36V
Battery pack connections	14AWG silicone-insulated wire, 6" long	14AWG silicone-insulated wire, 6" long	14AWG silicone-insulated wire, 6" long	14AWG silicone-insulated wire, 6" long
Size	2.4"W x 2.4"D x 3"H, not including wire leads	3.7"W x 3.7"D x 3.5"H, not including wire leads	7.3"W x 3.7"D x 3.5"H, not including wire leads	7.3"W x 3.7"D x 3.9"H, not including wire leads
Weight	6oz.	11oz.	20oz.	24oz.

***For detailed information, download the Pack Discharger Cutoff Voltage Tables (see Downloads below).

Available Models and Options/Accessories

For prices and links to the dealers who carry our product line, see the Price List & Ordering page.

MiniPD-12V	4.8V-12V (4-10 cell) 2-Stage Discharger for low to medium-capacity cells
PD-12V	4.8V-12V (4-10 cell) 2-Stage Discharger for medium to high-capacity cells
PD-24V	12V-24V (10-20 cell) 2-Stage Discharger for medium to high-capacity cells
PD-36V	18V-36V (15-30 cell) 2-Stage Discharger for medium to high-capacity cells
PD-PP	Two Anderson PowerPole PP15/45 housings (red and black) with 30amp contacts, installed on the Pack Discharger's wire leads