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Important: please don't allow a deep discharge of the battery. That means use of a battery until it runs completely out of power. The battery level indicator would then be just grey with no black squares visible. The current battery holder/charger is not able to charge deeply depleted batteries. Completely drained batteries must be brought to the telemetry team for an exchange. Please prevent this by doing regular charges and make sure there is at least 1 bar on the battery level indicator
The purpose of the battery is to supply clean and stable power to the OBC. The battery consists of 4 Li-Ion cells in series. The battery contains battery management system (BMS) functions to protect the cells form overcharge, overdischarge and short circuits. The OBC battery, battery holder, and a 50W charger is part of the telemetry kit provided by the technical team. However, it is the (race-)teams responsability to always keeping their battery well charged. Avoid going out on track with less than 60% charge (less than 3 bars). To charge the battery, have it installed in the holder and connect the charger barrel connector to the battery holder.
Nominal voltage | 14.4 VDC |
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Capacity (OBC run-time) | 3,250 mAh (Three-Four hours - min, depending on energy type) |
Recharge time (with supplied 50W charger | Four hours (max), depending on charge level |
The battery holder must be securely mounted in close proximity to the Backbone in the vehicle engine compartment. Mount the battery holder such that the battery is protected from mechanical damage, excessive heat and water and both the battery and battery holder can be easily removed and replaced.
Please read the following information carefully. Li-Ion Batteries are very safe, when handled properly, but can release vast amounts of heat, smoke and even flames in case of a thermal runaway, caused for example by mechanical damage to the battery
It is your responsibility to charge the battery before going out to the start line