PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-701

PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly

ISSUE 701

APRIL 2011
PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-701 - Page 22 of 33
40
PS 701
APR 11
41
PS 701
APR 11
i
f you use the Soldier portable charger, PP-8498/U, NSN 6130-01-495-2839; the
vehicle-mounted charger, PP-8481B/U, NSN 6130-01-527-2726; or the charger-
on-the-move, PP-8481A/U, NSN 6130-01-494-9164; you absolutely, positively
must have the latest and greatest software installed. If you don’t, and you attempt to
recharge an old lithium-ion rechargeable battery, your charger could go up in fames!
To prevent a Fre ±rom happening, examine the program label on each charger in
your commo shop
right now
to determine the software revision level. On the Soldier
portable charger, PP-8498/U, the program label is between ports one and two. On the
vehicle-mounted charger, PP-8481B/U, the program label is inside the cover next to
the window.
On the PP-8498/U, the software level should be H. On the PP-8481B/U, the
software level should be C.
What about the charger-on-the-move, PP-8481A/U? This charger is no longer
supported with software upgrades. If you must use this charger with old lithium-ion
batteries, you must constantly monitor the charging process.
If your inspection of the PP-8498/U or the PP-8481B/U shows that a software
upgrade is needed, go to this website:
Once at the website, using a PC or laptop running Windows 95 or newer and using
a USB to serial cable like NSN 6150-01-558-7214, you can download the latest
software to your charger.
What is considered an old lithium-ion battery? There is no hard and fast rule, but
i± the battery is older than Fve years, it’s old!
Battery
NSN 6140-01-
BB-2001A/U
BB-2557/U
BB-2588/U
BB-2600A/U
BB-2800/U
BB-2847A/U
534-3856
490-5387
493-7623
490-4311
490-5372
493-8092
Equipment used in
NSN 6140-01-
AN/PRC-148
AN/PRC-152
AN/PRC-153
487-1153
548-7566
548-7367
1.
Charge no more than two batteries at a time. In the
Soldier-portable charger, both batteries can be in Port
One. In the vehicle-mounted charger, one battery in
adapter A and one in adapter B is permitted.
2.
Install the batteries in the charger and then turn it
on. (The charger should be off during the installation
of the batteries.) Let the charger run for 30 minutes.
3.
After 30 minutes, observe the charger indicator
lights. If the light is a solid amber, things are going
well. Let the charge continue until the light turns
green, indicating the battery is fully charged.
However, if after 30 minutes of charging, the
indicator light is red, blinking amber or no light at
all, the battery is defective. Remove it and properly
dispose of it!
4.
Remember, this is only a temporary solution (except
for the charger-on-the-move). The permanent solution
is to upgrade the software.
Battery Chargers…
getting
fired
up!
One final note…
there are some
great folks at
C-E LCMC that can
help you with this
issue. Here are four
emails that can get
you to one of
these folks…
donald.brockel
@
us.army.mil
ari.herman
@
us.army.mil
larry.valencourt
@
us.army.mil
philip.d.klimek
@
us.army.mil
Or see your
local C-E LCMC LAR
for assistance.
if you are using
a charger-on-
the-move or you
MUST charge a
5-year-old or
older lithium-
ion battery with
one of the other
chargers and
the software is
not current,
here is what you
MUST
do:
Take this info
seriously.
C-E LCMC
has -- and they’ve issued
an Operational Ground
Precautionary Action
(GPA) Message, CECOM GPA
2011-001, on the issue.
Here are some of
the batteries that
you need to check
for old age:
701.40-41.indd
1-2
3/2/11
6:32 PM
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