Does anyone know a source for the parallel banana plugs on the FMA parallel charge leads?

Matt

Originally Posted by mdh1979

Does anyone know a source for the parallel banana plugs on the FMA parallel charge leads?

Matt

Banana Plug Rated 125V/10A Fits 4mm Standard Socket (2-Pack)
Model: 274R8-87
Catalog #: 274-012

$2.99


http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=3014502

Just realized they are only rated @ 10 Amp

Yes original wire is smaller than 12g. I had tried 12g with quality bananas (not the safety bananas) , but with 24 inch long. Same message. In my observation, the output charge leads should have used a heavier duty connection system than regular bananas to connect to the PL8.

I need to use longer than 8 in leads, so I won't try . Maybe someone else will try.

Originally Posted by gww528

Banana Plug Rated 125V/10A Fits 4mm Standard Socket (2-Pack)
Model: 274R8-87
Catalog #: 274-012

$2.99


http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=3014502

Just realized they are only rated @ 10 Amp

Are those parallel? They look like it but it doesn't specify. I'd like to make my own leads with more flexible wire.

Matt

Originally Posted by mdh1979

Are those parallel? They look like it but it doesn't specify. I'd like to make my own leads with more flexible wire.

Matt

The Specs say "Banana plugs & jacks ", so I do believe you can plug them in end to end. Call Radio Shack & confirm.

Originally Posted by mdh1979

Does anyone know a source for the parallel banana plugs on the FMA parallel charge leads?

Matt

Just in case anyone else was looking for some shrouded, stackable parallel plugs, here are some.

The specs say accepts 18ga wire so i don't know if larger would fit but they are rated for 36A.

According to this pdf, max wire size 12awg.

Matt

Originally Posted by mdh1979

Just in case anyone else was looking for some shrouded, stackable parallel plugs, here are some.

The specs say accepts 18ga wire so i don't know if larger would fit but they are rated for 36A.

According to this pdf, max wire size 12awg.

Matt

From the same website (i.e., www.testpath.com), I ordered part number CT2013 0

These are stackable plugs rated at 36A for 12 to 18 AWG wire. However, 12 AWG silicone and even 13AWG silicone wire (e.g., Dean's Ultra wire) will not fit in this connector. Not only is the silicone insulation too large to fit in the hole, the wire itself also won't fit. That has been a common problem I've found in sampling numerous stackable banana plugs from different sources. Instead of stackable banana jacks, I just made up a few 12 AWG "Y" cables and used a standard 4mm bullet on the ends which plug into the charger. I also placed a 35 amp fuse in each positive wire. I use the "Y" connectors to charge two 5S 5300 pattern packs in parallel at 23 amps and neither the wire nor connectors get warm.

Mike

I've been using these retractable sleeve 13awg banana connections for several years now. The ones with 13awg wire are rated for 36A. If you buy one red/black set and then cut them in half you have two sets for your charger which is what I did.

http://www.testpath.com/Categories/B...eeves-1810.htm

I've been mainly using a Pb battery with the Pl8. Today I flew long enough that I depleted the Pb battery to 50% DoD, and still wanted to keep flying. So I started my car and connected the Pl8 to the car's battery. The voltage held around 14v while delivering about 25 amps. This worked fine until near the end of the charge. With the pack nearly fully charged, the PL8 stops the charge and reports "undercurrent". I restarted the charge. It ran for a few minutes then stopped the charge and reported undercurrent again. I successfully finished the charge with the Pb battery.

What would cause "undercurrent" to be triggered? I didn't find this error in the manual?

I've tried dozens of times. Regenerative discharge always stop automatically right after 1 or 2 minutes it started It just stops and say DONE, the cell voltage is still 4.0V+, far higher than the threathold I set at 3.0V. Whenl I lower the disch. current to 20A or lower, it works like normal. What's wrong ?

Power source: 90Ah 6S LiPo
Battery: 6S 5000mAh 25C Turnigy in great condition, IR reads 1.8mOhm/cell

Another update:

I am not able to get rid of the safety error code of "over-voltage" by adjusting the charge voltage on the Charge Tab. I have run quite a few tests and am all the way down to 4.00v per cell. It definitely stops the voltage appropriately (I measured using two different voltage testers), but I still get the safety code error messages when I hook back up to the CCS.

I'm all ears at this point? (4 different 3S 2250 25C lipos were used)

Thanks,

Mike

Previous posts at and 1578 and 1592.

Originally Posted by Brownie433

Another update:

I am not able to get rid of the safety error code of "over-voltage" by adjusting the charge voltage on the Charge Tab. I have run quite a few tests and am all the way down to 4.00v per cell. It definitely stops the voltage appropriately (I measured using two different voltage testers), but I still get the safety code error messages when I hook back up to the CCS.

I'm all ears at this point? (4 different 3S 2250 25C lipos were used)

Thanks,

Mike

Previous posts at and 1578 and 1592.

Hi:

When the actual charge is complete and the chargers says "DONE" on the LCD, the charge session has not yet terminated. You must press and hold the ENTER button to actually cancel the charge session. If you are simply removing the battery from the charger when you see the DONE message on the screen, this might invoke the "over-voltage" safety code because even after the unit says DONE, the PL8 is still monitoring the individual cell voltages. This code can be caused by intermittent connections which is likely what you will get if you disconnect a battery during a charge.

The reason you must press and hold the ENTER button to end the charge process is so that the charger will maintain data from the charge/discharge.

So are you just pulling the plug when the charge says DONE, or are you first stopping the charge process?

Tim Marks

Originally Posted by Tim Marks

Hi:

When the actual charge is complete and the chargers says "DONE" on the LCD, the charge session has not yet terminated. You must press and hold the ENTER button to actually cancel the charge session. If you are simply removing the battery from the charger when you see the DONE message on the screen, this might invoke the "over-voltage" safety code because even after the unit says DONE, the PL8 is still monitoring the individual cell voltages. This code can be caused by intermittent connections which is likely what you will get if you disconnect a battery during a charge.

The reason you must press and hold the ENTER button to end the charge process is so that the charger will maintain data from the charge/discharge.

So are you just pulling the plug when the charge says DONE, or are you first stopping the charge process?

Tim Marks

Thanks for this information, Tim. I had always assumed that when the charger said "Done" it was was done and disconnected the balance/charge wires.

Does the charger monitor the individual cell voltages indefinitely or does it stop after a period of time? I'm wondering if it might be appropriate to replace the "Done" message with something that more accurately reflects that the charger is still monitoring the pack and that enter needs to be pressed to end the charge process and save the charge/discharge data.

Originally Posted by PeteB

Thanks for this information, Tim. I had always assumed that when the charger said "Done" it was was done and disconnected the balance/charge wires.

Does the charger monitor the individual cell voltages indefinitely or does it stop after a period of time? I'm wondering if it might be appropriate to replace the "Done" message with something that more accurately reflects that the charger is still monitoring the pack and that enter needs to be pressed to end the charge process and save the charge/discharge data.

This is the same way the Hyperion chargers work, except the they say END. This way you can check all your data after it is DONE. FMA does use CHARGER STOPPED when it actually stops charging. This is all explained in the setup.

Page 31 & 32 of the manual

10. When the operation is complete, PowerLab 8 will “beep beep beep” several times and the display will show ELAPSED [time] / [chemistry] DONE. Press INC and DEC to review data screens.
11. Press and hold ENTER. Screen displays CHARGER STOPPED.
12. Press ENTER or BACK to return to the User Preset list.
13. Disconnect the pack from PowerLab 8.
PowerLab 8 is ready to charge another battery (step 3).

Originally Posted by Tim Marks

Hi:

When the actual charge is complete and the chargers says "DONE" on the LCD, the charge session has not yet terminated. You must press and hold the ENTER button to actually cancel the charge session. If you are simply removing the battery from the charger when you see the DONE message on the screen, this might invoke the "over-voltage" safety code because even after the unit says DONE, the PL8 is still monitoring the individual cell voltages. This code can be caused by intermittent connections which is likely what you will get if you disconnect a battery during a charge.

The reason you must press and hold the ENTER button to end the charge process is so that the charger will maintain data from the charge/discharge.

So are you just pulling the plug when the charge says DONE, or are you first stopping the charge process?

Tim Marks

Tim, you are right on. When the charger says "DONE" I just disconnect. I didn't realize I need to to hold down enter when it completed on it's own.

Man I can't believe I missed that, I have scoured that manual. And it was in a bright yellow box to boot!!

Feeling stoopid now - thanks for the help.

Thanks,

Mike