![](http://datasheet.mmic.net.cn/330000/LTC1729CS8-4-2_datasheet_16429739/LTC1729CS8-4-2_8.png)
8
LTC1729 Series
3. When a heavily discharged battery is installed, trickle
charge conditioning must take place before the full
charge current.
The state machine diagram is shown in Figure 6. Note that
the Charge state includes the Precondition state, the
charger “ON” state and the Reset mode.
Reset and Hold are the two modes that will cause the
charger to stop charging (V
C
pin pulled low) and ignore the
state machine. The Reset mode clears all the timers and
forces the state machine to begin in the Charge state
(STATUS pin pulled low). This mode is only activated
momentarily at power-up or when the NTC pin is below the
Reset threshold. The other interrupt condition is called the
Hold mode. When the voltage on the NTC pin is above
2.79V (cold) or below 0.405V (hot), the state machine is
locked in the present state until the NTC pin voltage returns
to the proper range. While in the Hold mode, the charging
is disabled and the timers are frozen.
The charger is enabled only during the charger “ON” state.
There are three ways that the state machine can exit the
charger “ON” state. The first is for a 3-hour time-out which
is denoted as the time > t
MAX
transition to the Done state.
Second, if the battery is removed from the charger, the
V
MAX
signal is activated as mentioned in the Block Dia-
gram section. This causes the state machine to make the
V
BAT
> V
MAX
transition to the Pause state. The third way to
exit the charger “ON” state is with a V
BAT
< V
MIN
transition
to the Precondition state. The battery will need to drop
below 2.6V/cell to be less than V
MIN
. This is not a likely
scenario.
Once in the Pause state, there are two ways to proceed.
The first is to go to the No Bat state. This requires that the
V
BAT
remain greater than V
MAX
for more than one
second. From these conditions, the LTC1729 interprets
that a battery has been removed. If the voltage on the BAT
pin stays less than V
MAX
for more than one second, then
the state machine returns to the Charge state (Precondi-
tion and charger “ON”). This is interpreted as a momentary
open caused by the battery pack protection circuitry or
loose contact.
The Done state can only proceed to the No Bat state. From
outside the LTC1729 this transition is undetectable. The
APPLICATIO
S I
N
FOR
ATIO
U
W
U
requirement for this transition is for the BAT pin voltage to
exceed V
MAX
for more than one second. The IC now
assumes that the battery has been removed.
From the No Bat state, there is only one possible transition.
The No Bat state can move to the Charge state if the voltage
on the BAT pin remains less than V
MAX
for one second. The
LTC1729 will now work on the assumption that a new
battery has been installed.
Although the Precondition and Charger “ON” both reside
in the Charge state, there are differences between these
states. The main purpose of the Precondition state is to
slowly bring a heavily discharged battery up to a minimum
level before full charge current begins. The Precondition
state uses a 16mA current source to trickle charge the
battery with a 1-hour time-out transition to the Done state.
The Charger “ON” state enables the external charger and
the time-out is increased to three hours. For the entire
time in the Precondition state, the STATUS pin uses a hard
pull-down. In the Charger “ON” state the STATUS pin uses
two types of pull-down: hard pull-down and soft 50
μ
A
pull-down.
The STATUS pin is designed to provide an indication that
the battery is charging. Once the current drops below the
C
/10 threshold, the battery is close to being fully charged.
The LTC1729 turns off the hard pull-down once the
C
/10 comparator is active for more than three seconds.
The 50
μ
A soft pull down remains in effect until the 3-hour
time-out is completed or the input power is removed.
Terminate at
C
/10 Current
Charging can also be terminated using
C
/10 detection
rather than the 3-hour time-out. By connecting the low
side of the NTC thermistor to the STATUS pin instead of
ground, the NTC pin will float to 5V as soon as the Status
pull-down is open. This will force the state machine into
the Hold mode. The V
C
pin is pulled low which turns off the
charger. This circuit is shown in Figure 7.
In order to restart the charging process for a new battery,
the NTC pin will need to be momentarily brought below
0.2V or the V
CC
pin brought below the UVLO threshold.
The automatic battery detection features are disabled
during the Hold mode.