I have a number of military battery chargers, but this is my first Ultralife charger. Got it to see if it can help a UBBL02 and also see how it works on the UBBL10. I"ve been told Bren-Tronics chargers have firmware that works for thier batteries, but is not specified to work with Ultralife batteries. I got errors and/or faults when trying to charge Ultralife batteries on the Bren-Tronics BTC-70870-1 and PP-8498/U Soldier Portable Charger (SPC).
McDowell Research Corp. in the past has sold Ultralife chargers re-branded MRC-nn. But it's my understanding (2016) they are no longer doing that.
There are conflicting references for which CH000n goes with the MRC-85A and MRC-86A.
Ultralife NSN
MRC
Input
No. Batteries
Batteries
CH0002 6130-01-597-0085 na
AC: PS2540: 50/60 Hz
DC 19-40V
1
BB-2590
CH0004 6130-01-566-9962 MRC-86A
AC - DC 2
BB-390, BB-590,BB-2590 CH0003 6130-01-499-7305
MRC-85A
AC - DC 6
BB-390, BB-590,BB-2590
The MRC-86A is clearly marked CH0004 on both the outside and inside the lid, see MRC-86 Fig 1 below.
CH0002
Single battery charger and maintainer. Only uses the socket, i.e. does not use any of the extra top contacts so will charge any BB-2590 battery (maybe except the ones that use one of the top contacts as a charge enable.
The maintainer function adds a little chagre once a day. So is a good thing for storing batteries.
Fig 1 CH0002
Fig 2 CH0002
Fig 3
MRC-85A (CH0004) Charger & Cycler
6-Bay battery charger and maintainer. Works with BB-390 Ni-MH, BB-590 Ni-Cad, BB-2590, UBI-2590, UBBL09 Li-Ion
After receiving I installed 5 batteries and this charger is working better than any other BB-5590 family charger I have.
Uses a three stage charging algorithm:
- Precharge (trickle charge at low current). Blinking green Charge LED
- Fast Charge at recommended current. Solid green Charge LED.
- Constant Voltage mode. green LED on, charge LED on.
- 90% charged green Charge LED off, yellow 90% Charged LED on.
- Discharge when Yellow Discharge LED is on, as soon as it goes off the green Charge LED comes on automatically (i.e. cycles back to charged condition).
It's not clear which side (A or B) is discharged when the Calibrate/Discharge button is pressed. Let me know.
MRC-86 (CH0003)
2 Bay suitcase type charger, very similar to the MRC-85 above but smaller and lighter. Fits inside a large rural mail box!
When dead battery is first placed on charger the two green charge lights come on.
Then the 90% complete yellow lights are also on.
Finally the charge lights turn off and only the 90% charged lights are one signaling a full charge.
Fig 1 MRC-85 6-bay and MRC-86 2-bay charger/conditioners in foreground.
The 4-bay Bren-Tronics BTC-70870-1 VMC Lite and 8-bay PP-8498 SPC are in the background.
Fig 2 after charging a BB-2590
Battery Chargers
5590 type battery eliminators
Vehicle Mounted Battery Chargers
Soldier Portable Battery Charger PP-8498
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