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Sony BC-L160 charger

Sony BC-L160 charger
The BC-L160 is a Li-ion battery charger designed for charging Sony professional (V-Mount) Li-ion batteries and has a number of new features, including simultaneous charging of four batteries and a silent mode for overnight charging in a hotel room. It is ideal for production applications using XDCAM, XDCAM HD, XDCAM HD422, MPEG IMX, Digital Betacam and HDCAM camcorders, using Sony professional monitors and using the PDW-HD1500 and HDW-S280.

Li-ion charger for Sony Professional Batteries
The BC-L160 can be used with the current BP-GL65, BP-GL95, BP-L60S, BP-L80S and the discontinued BP-L40, BP-L40A, BP-L60A, BP-L90A and BP-IL75.

For safety reasons, the BC-L160 must not be used with any other type of battery, including NiMH batteries (BP-M100, BP-M50) or batteries from non-Sony third party companies. Serious damage may be caused if this condition is not met.

4 Channel Operation
The BC-L160 can charge 4 batteries simultaneously, with a maximum charging current of 5A (depending upon battery type).

Choice of charging modes
Charge voltage selection can be made via an H/L switch on the rear panel. The L setting can be used to prolong the battery life, although in this mode maximum capacity will be reduced to 90%

H = 100%, L = 90% (Charging voltage = 16.8V, 16.4V)

Charge speed can be selected using the F/S switch on the rear panel.

F (Fast) mode is the factory setting. Batteries are charged using a charge current of 5A or 3A.

S (Slow and silent) mode can be used to reduce the charge current and therefore the fan noise (all batteries are charged using 3A current in S mode). S mode is useful for quiet locations such as a music studio, or where overnight charging in a hotel room is required. Charge time is increased to around 6 hours. The charger fan works normally when outputting DC power in DC output mode.

A skip switch allows the trickle charge sequence to be skipped when the BC-L160 is charging a battery which is already charged to more than 90%. This feature can help to prolong battery life.

Battery Diagnosis mode
The BC-L160 has a capacity display on the LCD. This makes a calculation using an algorithm that is based upon the number of times a battery is charged. In some cases, the actual capacity may be different to the calculated capacity depending upon the storage condition of the battery, the load current being supplied etc. The BC-L160 can perform a more comprehensive measurement using a full charge and discharge test.

Charge time
For current models:

BP-GL65 – 155 minutes
BP-GL95 – 145 minutes
BP-L60S – 150 minutes
BP-L80S – 210 minutes


Discontinued models:
BP-L40/40A – 125 minutes
BP-L60A – 235 minutes
BP-L90A – 300 minutes
BP-IL75 – 140 minutes


All times based on H and L switch settings