The BQ76905 must have the top and bottom cells used for proper operation. Cell count can be reduced by shorting the unused cell inputs from the next-to-top down. Cell count can be reduced for basic evaluation by shorting unused cells at the input terminal block. Follow the recommendations in the data sheet for which cells to short. This works for both operation with the cell simulator and cells, but can have some side effects in transient tests because the shorted resistors are parallel to the cell IC where the capacitor provides a signal path to the used input. See Figure 3-4 for an example of simple reduced cell configuration for 3 cells. For the best evaluation with reduced cells in a transient environment, short the VCx pins at the capacitor and remove the unused input resistor. When using the cell simulator, shorting the unused cell at the terminal block is still required to eliminate the simulated cell voltage. Shorting the cell inputs at the terminal block screw terminals is suggested since the cell inputs are apparent if the board is re-used for a different cell count. Table 3-1 shows configuration recommendations for reduced cell count, this table assumes the board has been set-up as detailed in Section 3.

Figure 2-4 Example 3 Cell Simple Evaluation Configuration