Originally Posted by RMFISH

I want to buy a 1010B+ and I see that hobbycity.com have them advertised. The only problem I have is the fact that as late as the 29th of October people were posting on the customer comments section of the 1010B+ catalog page that the units did NOT HAVE A USB PORT. Does this mean that Hobby city is selling old inventory (1010)as 1010b+??

Hello Robert,

Thank you for your support of our iCharger. The 1010B+ chargers we offer to our agents are all with a USB port.

Regards,
Junsi

Originally Posted by RMFISH

... The only problem I have is the fact that as late as the 29th of October people were posting on the customer comments section of the 1010B+ catalog page that the units did NOT HAVE A USB PORT. Does this mean that Hobby city is selling old inventory (1010)as 1010b+??

No - HC reused the original 1010B (non-plus, non-USB) listing without removing/changing the comments about the USB port They have the 1010B+ *with* USB port now.

Junsi, maybe you could use your leverage with HC, and have HC fix this?

T

Thank you all for your up to date info. I called Hobbycity and they assure me that they are selling the 1010B+, complete with USB port. I will let you all know how things go with my order. Thank you again Junsi, I wish you every success for the future.

One more question to the great people out there in high grade charger land. Which software would be compatible with this charger, from what I understand there might be several that might work.
Robert.

I just bought the iCharger 106B+, but I notice the charger is leaking electricity, though a bit. I put one end of a voltmeter to the charger, and it registers about 0.5v (max recorded). Other times, its lower, but I can feel the tingle when i place my fingers on the case...
Is that normal?

And when I used it to charge an apogee lipo (LiMn, which was stated to be charged as a Lipo), the pack puffed up immediately
Is it because the charger cannot determine what type of lipo it was? Coz I dont want to buy another apogee lipo, only to waste it when I try to charge it for the first time. Anyone successfully charged an apogee lipo with the iCharger?

Hello hyperscorpic,

Originally Posted by hyperscorpic

I just bought the iCharger 106B+, but I notice the charger is leaking electricity, though a bit. I put one end of a voltmeter to the charger, and it registers about 0.5v (max recorded). Other times, its lower, but I can feel the tingle when i place my fingers on the case...
Is that normal?

It's normal that it registers about 0.5v, as there is a high impedance and a great capacity, but it has no harm to the cells pack. Our device is DC/DC, which would not bring high voltage. You said you can feel the tingle, maybe there is something wrong with GND of your input power supply. It will bring static electricity to the human beings and the charger, we suggest you solve this problem immediately .

Originally Posted by hyperscorpic

And when I used it to charge an apogee lipo (LiMn, which was stated to be charged as a Lipo), the pack puffed up immediately
Is it because the charger cannot determine what type of lipo it was? Coz I dont want to buy another apogee lipo, only to waste it when I try to charge it for the first time. Anyone successfully charged an apogee lipo with the iCharger?

According to your description, we don't know the cause exactly. Would you pls send the charging process data by using logview? Or you can press "Start" button for 3 seconds to monitor the voltage, seeing if there is an evident inaccuracy between the actual voltage and the shown voltage. If it's evident, then it must be something wrong with the charger; if not, then it must be something wrong with the setting.

Regards,
Junsi

...Other times, its lower, but I can feel the tingle when i place my fingers on the case...Is that normal?

NO and it is very dangerous. You almost certainly have a fault with your DC power supply which is passing the AC mains voltage through to the DC output. To check set your multimeter to AC and measure between the charger case and a good earth. Odds are you will see 230V ! Do NOT use the charger like that. Disconnect you power supply from the AC mains and get it repaired or replaced.

Originally Posted by junsi

Hello hyperscorpic,
It's normal that it registers about 0.5v, as there is a high impedance and a great capacity, but it has no harm to the cells pack. Our device is DC/DC, which would not bring high voltage. You said you can feel the tingle, maybe there is something wrong with GND of your input power supply. It will bring static electricity to the human beings and the charger, we suggest you solve this problem immediately .
According to your description, we don't know the cause exactly. Would you pls send the charging process data by using logview? Or you can press "Start" button for 3 seconds to monitor the voltage, seeing if there is an evident inaccuracy between the actual voltage and the shown voltage. If it's evident, then it must be something wrong with the charger; if not, then it must be something wrong with the setting.

Regards,
Junsi

For the lipo, I've discharged it in salt water already. It puffed up immediately after I started the charging process. I immediately disconnect it and discharged the lipo, fearing the worse. So, no log view....
However, I've used the charger on a venom lipo, and all is fine. So I think its either a faulty apogee lipo, or that iCharger cannot charge LiMn packs. Junsi, can the charger charge LiMn packs? (Could the lipo chemistry check be unable to charge it as a LiPo?)

Originally Posted by kgfly

NO and it is very dangerous. You almost certainly have a fault with your DC power supply which is passing the AC mains voltage through to the DC output. To check set your multimeter to AC and measure between the charger case and a good earth. Odds are you will see 230V ! Do NOT use the charger like that. Disconnect you power supply from the AC mains and get it repaired or replaced.

Not too sure what you mean, but let me explain my side first. I connected the iCharger to an A20 power supply, and turned on the iCharger.
The iCharger is just sitting there, idle, not charging. I take one end of the voltmeter probe, and place it on the corner of the iCharger alu case (not at the input or output leads), and the voltmeter registers a voltage (not more than 0.5v).
I tried the same for the power supply, and there is no voltage.
What could be the problem? Could it be a faulty ground wiring in the charger?

Really appreciate you guys helping me out here...

One more thing to add: The plug that came with the power supply is a US version, 3 prong. I used an adaptor, which only had 2 prong output. Could that be the reason why the power supply is leaking (no ground)? I have since converted the plug to my local plug, which is 3 prong. I will go back and check if the charger still leaks, and get back here...

That is a cheap and possibly poorly made power supply. It almost certainly has a dangerous fault that allows dangerous AC mains voltage to pass through to the DC output terminals. I have a similar problem with a cheap PS from another source. If you were to disconnect the iCharger from the power supply and simply touch the positive terminal you would feel the same tingle BUT DO NOT DO IT.

If you don't know how to measure the AC voltage then skip it.

This is not a fault in the charger it is a fault in the power supply.

You almost certainly cannot fix it yourself and it is not worth the risk. I would be making a warranty claim from HC or simply tossing it out.

Originally Posted by kgfly

That is a cheap and possibly poorly made power supply. It almost certainly has a dangerous fault that allows dangerous AC mains voltage to pass through to the DC output terminals. I have a similar problem with a cheap PS from another source. If you were to disconnect the iCharger from the power supply and simply touch the positive terminal you would feel the same tingle BUT DO NOT DO IT.

What about i touch it with one end of the voltmeter? Am I supposed to get some voltage readout? If so, in what range?

You have to set the voltmeter to the AC range not DC. Then touch one probe to the positive DC terminal and one to the case of the PS or some other earth point.

Ok, I'll go home and check. At work now

But do you think this could be the reason for all that leaking?
One more thing to add: The plug that came with the power supply is a US version, 3 prong. I used an adaptor, which only had 2 prong output. Could that be the reason why the power supply is leaking (no ground)? I have since converted the plug to my local plug, which is 3 prong.

Originally Posted by hyperscorpic

For the lipo, I've discharged it in salt water already. It puffed up immediately after I started the charging process. I immediately disconnect it and discharged the lipo, fearing the worse. So, no log view....
However, I've used the charger on a venom lipo, and all is fine. So I think its either a faulty apogee lipo, or that iCharger cannot charge LiMn packs. Junsi, can the charger charge LiMn packs? (Could the lipo chemistry check be unable to charge it as a LiPo?)

Yes, the charger can charge LiMn packs. As for the power supply, agree with what Kgfly said. Thank you for your input

Regards,
Junsi

Originally Posted by thomanie

Junsi, maybe you could use your leverage with HC, and have HC fix this?

T

We negotiate about this with HC, and they have changed it.

Regards,
Junsi

Originally Posted by hyperscorpic

I just bought the iCharger 106B+, but I notice the charger is leaking electricity, though a bit. I put one end of a voltmeter to the charger, and it registers about 0.5v (max recorded). Other times, its lower, but I can feel the tingle when i place my fingers on the case...
Is that normal?

Between which points do you measure this 0,5V? One point is the case, but against what do you measure the voltage?

But:
a) a voltage on the case is not a "leak". You wouldn't say a battery has a "leak" as you can all the time measure a voltage? Even on AC-powered devices the casing is grounded - and you can often measure a voltage, depending on the "other" point of measure It's called "electrical potential"between different points. Only if current is flowing, you can call it a "leak".

b) you will never feel a "tingle" from 0,5V. If you really feel a tingle, there might be a current flowing, but a much higher voltage would be needed for that. If there really is a "tingle" it may be a problem with the power supply as others have stated. Try to measure AC Volts of the case against "ground". You can get ground from water tubing or heaters. Or from the outlet, but I only know German Outlets good enough and will not give dangerous advice here

Originally Posted by hyperscorpic

And when I used it to charge an apogee lipo (LiMn, which was stated to be charged as a Lipo), the pack puffed up immediately

"Puffed" doesn't sound like a LiMn? All LiMn I know are in cylindrical form factor. But I don't know everything Normally, LiMn have little lower maximum voltage. But even if you charge them this little to high, they will surely not "puff" on charging. At least not right at the start. Puffing happens at discharge normally.

Originally Posted by hyperscorpic

Is it because the charger cannot determine what type of lipo it was?

The charger NEVER can determine the type of LiPo! You have to SET the type! Please read the manual.

Originally Posted by hyperscorpic

Anyone successfully charged an apogee lipo with the iCharger?

You can charge EVERY Lipo and even other Chemicals with the iCharger. You can even change the end-voltage for new or exotic types of LiPo!

- Oliver

Apogee make LiMn ("Magnum") packs in the same style as regular R/C LiPo packs using the same format soft shell flat cells bundled together: http://www.pfmdistribution.com/

Their packs should be charged using the standard LiPo setting (CCCV to 4.2V/cell) on the charger.

If you feel a tingle it is because current is passing through your finger and body to earth. This is can be very dangerous, even fatal.