Maestro C

Rick Wykoff

Is there a circuit in the C that shuts off the internal battery charger when it reaches 100 % ? A colleague of mine is suggesting that I remove the battery when on AC power and just re install when I take the Maestro away from AC. What do you think?

Rick N4WRW

Eric-KE5DTO

Yes. The RRC PMM (Power Management Module) that is inside the Maestro C handles battery charging/status and definitely does stop charging at 100%. If you have a power measurement device inline, you'll see the current drop when charging stops.

Mike-VA3MW

Yes, there is battery charging circuitry. It is part of the RRC battery solution.

Russ Ravella

Yes, of course there is "battery charging circuitry", Mike. The question is, does that circuitry shut of charging when the charge reaches 100 % making it unnecessary to remove the battery ? Some "battery charging circuitry" does not. He's asking if the Maestro C's does. I'd like to confirm that also.

Russ KR6W

Neil D Friedman N3DF

The Maestro manual does say that current from the power supply, if needed, charges the Maestro C’s battery.

Russ Ravella

Right. The question that's being asked however is, does it STOP charging the battery when it reaches 100%. Not all power supplies automatically sense charge state and shut off.

Neil D Friedman N3DF

if it charges when needed, I suppose it doesn’t charge when it’s not needed. Not trying to be argumentative, just seems like a reasonable conclusion. I use an external battery charger (does stop when battery is full) and only run the Marstro C on battery.

Russ Ravella

Hi Neil,

I don't think you're trying to be argumentative at all - thanks for the comment.

I'm also not trying to be argumentative. I'm just trying to point out that Mike didn't answer Rick's question. And although it certainly IS reasonable to conclude the charger doesn't charge when it's not needed, that is not in fact always the case - amazingly. For example, for quite awhile in the very early days iPhones could be overcharged by leaving them on their chargers. Apple didn't bother to include the necessary circuitry. This led to batteries wearing out long before they should, and in this case encouraging customers to replace their phones before they should have to. I don't think anything like that is going on here with Flex, but it is a legitimate question in general. And although Rick clearly asked it, Mike didn't answer it.

73 Russ KR6W

Rick Wykoff

You are correct. Mike did not answer my question. Just wanna know if the charger stops when the battery reaches 100%. Also should I take the battery out when it is fully charged.

Rick