Rudman Regulator

Rudman Regulators

Rudman Regulators come in lots of versions. All of them offer two basic functions. They sit on top of a battery and clamp its voltage to some maximum, keeping it from being overcharged. This is accomplished by shunting power through a resistor on the regulator. They also optionally send a signal back to a Manzanita Micro battery charger (or other charger) telling the charger to cut back its current because one or more batteries can't accept this level of charging current.

All versions before the MK2-D and the MK3 are no longer available.

The MK-1 versions were relatively simple.

The MK-2 versions are much more feature-rich than the MK-1 versions. They allow the user to set the clamping voltage and the voltage considered "too low." If the "too low" voltage is ever encountered, a red LED lights up and stays lit until the battery is fully charged, as evidenced by the voltage clamping circuit engaging. The voltage clamping circuit lights a green LED when it is active. Furthermore, the MK-2 regs can accept a signal from the charger indicating that the clamping voltage should be raised 10% for an equalization charge. When this is turned on, typically by a DIP switch on the charger, the reg turns on a yellow LED. Lastly, the MK-2 series of regulators have a header for an external temperature sensor and an external load, which is turned on when the clamping circuit is engaged.

The MK-3 versions use an embedded microprocessor to do most of the things that the MK-2 series did, except for the external load. A user can connect a computer (or other device) to the string of regulators and collect data from them, vastly simplifying the task of monitoring a battery pack.