IBMS Intelligent Battery Management System

The IBMS is a modern voltage sensing universal battery charger which was
added to the Clansman range in the mid 1990s (the earliest document reference
I have yet seen is 1993). It is of similar size and can be mounted in a
similar way to the RT320, RT321, ATR and DMU. The IBMS comprises:



Note that the IBMS does not support 24V 1AH batteries at all.

The IBMS requires about 6A at 24V to charge a full tray of batteries.
The operator controls the IBMS via front panel toggle switches and
monitors its operation via a front panel LED display. The display is in
two parts:

  1. A 4 character alphanumeric display
  2. A pair of red and green LEDs for each of 8 charging positions


The IBMS has three modes of operation
  1. Trickle - also the default mode after other modes have completed
  2. Fast - should charge a 4AH battery in 3 or 4 hours
  3. Conditioning - attempts up to 5 charge/discharge cycles


The normal mode of operation is:
  1. Load the batteries onto the tray
  2. Make sure that the TEST/NORM/TACT switch is in the middle position
  3. Power up the IBMS - all loaded positions should flash red
    after the IBMS has finished its self tests
  4. Flick the START/STATUS switch to START
  5. In case of alarms flick the ACK switch
  6. You can monitor individual batteries by using the SELECT switch
    to choose the position and flicking the SRART/STATUS switch to STATUS
  7. Wait for the IBMS to finish - at which point all positions should be green
  8. Remove the batteries


The SLOW/FAST/COND mode switch is used in conjunction with the start switch
by holding it in the desired position before operating START.

For all the other possibilities I recommend getting document 4085 from the
Vintage & Military Amateur Radio Society archive at:

www.vmarsmanuals.co.uk

This is only available to VMARS members to satisfy the conditions under
which the documents were released by the MOD.

IBMS front View


IBMS Top View


IBMS 3/4 View


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Last Updated Thu Jul 16 13:38:12 BST 2009