haha thanks a lot of the help, that's great!

Anyone else have and extra info about this??

Originally Posted by Dr. |2udie

Anyone else have and extra info about this??

Extra info here.

Photo below of my parallel charging get-up. Incredibly easy and all packs are at exactly the same voltage and perfectly balanced upon charge termination. Packs need to be of the same cell count and within a few tenths of a volt prior to charging. Capacity is irrelevant. Been parallel charging for over 3 years and frequently charge 3S 5000's in parallel with 3S 2100's. I honestly cannot remember the last time that I charged less than 4 batteries on each charger at a time.

Mark

Nice clean setup mrforsyth, and I like the APP's. I was planning on making a few parallel harnesses for my iChargers, but I'm running short on ultra males and hc doesn't carry them anymore. I can't blame dean's, but they made APP's look a whole lot more interesting to me.

Cheers,
Kev

That thread is excellent, thank you very much! So how about those battery memories?

So let's say I've got 4x 3S 2200mah packs to at 8.8A as memory 1, then 2x 6S 4200mah packs to at 8.4A as memory 2. Can I just select option 1, connect the 3S packs have it charge, then connect the 6S packs, select option 2 and have it go?

My current charger has a lipo cell count option hidden away in a setup menu which covers every saved battery profile. So this figure has to be changed as well as the actual memory selection. Trying to avoid that with a new charger!

Originally Posted by Truglodite

Nice clean setup mrforsyth, and I like the APP's. I was planning on making a few parallel harnesses for my iChargers, but I'm running short on ultra males and hc doesn't carry them anymore. I can't blame dean's, but they made APP's look a whole lot more interesting to me.

Cheers,
Kev

Thanks for the compliment, Kev.

Yes, I'm one of the few APP junkies. Started using them over 15 years ago when I was into RC cars as I was really drawn to their simple yet elegant design. Decided to keep using them when I got into electric flight four years ago. For me, they're very cost effective (less than $.60 / connector) and a joy to install (I have the WMR Crimper).

One hidden benefit is that none of my flying buddies who use Deans ever ask to borrow my battery packs when theirs are all discharged. I do have a male Deans to APP converter in my flightbox though in case my friends want me to test their packs in my planes.

Mark

Originally Posted by Truglodite

J
BTW, parallel is much easier to wire up and can be more powerful, faster, and more precise, but I like to have series adapters for those times at the field when I have to charge a bunch of packs which are at various states of discharge.

You may have missunderstood something here. For these cases, different pack with different states, parallel charging is the way to go! Serial charging is ok, if you only _use_ AND _charge_ the packs in serial. If you use them seperate, you should only charge them single or parallel.

- Oliver

I managed to get a balanced discharge/charge on the problematic battery, and the battery seems normal now. During the discharge (1.2 - 1.4A) cell voltages were within 20mV of each other, with the cell that was unbalanced previously was a bit lower than the other two but not significantly. I have enclosed the graphs showing the end of discharge and the complete charge. I guess this battery must be normal and could be better after a few charges.

Still not having time to read the manual , I have two simple questions:

Is it possible to change the charge or discharge current without disturbing the operation? I can not find how, if it is possible. The Robbe Powerpeak II permits that. Second question related with discharging to storage voltage, do I have to do this using the balance connector?

Thanks,

Bulent

First question: I "think" you must stop and reset. Second question: I don't know.

Thanks,

I guess using the balance connector would no no harm during storage discharging..

Bulent

From what I've read and think I've observed, it does not "balance" during storage discharge, or, if so, it is less accurate.

Now I've found out how to measure cell IR with my ichargers I've been measuring a few of the packs I have around here and there are big variations. I have 4 4S Rhino packs which each have cell IRs of 2-3mOhms, some Hyperion G3s which are around 5 - 6 mOhms and some dualsky lipos which come in at a huge 25mOhms.

Now I'm curious about IR, what determines it and what effect it has. I assume lower is better but can the IR of cells change with use? Ie. are my Rhino packs low in IR because I've been using them a lot or were they like that from new? Is there a way to condition my Dualsky packs to bring down the IR? How important is IR to performance anyway?

The lower the IR is the cooler the packs run under heavy loads. As far as I know the IR never gets lower from use just higher. The lower the IR the better. Also you want all the cells in a pack to be about the same.

I have a need to charge 2X 6S (12S total) 5000 mah packs. They are to be used in a series for large helis.

Would 2 X 106B+ be the way to go? If so, do they network together and packs are balanced as 1 large (12S) pack? Is ther enough juice to charge them at 1C?

My PS will supply 14V at 28A. Thanks.

Pat L

About IR, we would want zero IR; which would mean the battery would be an ideal one and would not heat up at all and give the same voltage under load. That is impossible in practice.

Think of a real life battery as an ideal battery in series with its IR resistance. when we pass a current there is a voltage drop of IR X current (so the battery voltage on the outside drops) and there is a power loss of IR X the square of current (which is converted to thermal energy and heats the battery up).

Bulent

Originally Posted by Makiedog

I have a need to charge 2X 6S (12S total) 5000 mah packs. They are to be used in a series for large helis.

Would 2 X 106B+ be the way to go? If so, do they network together and packs are balanced as 1 large (12S) pack? Is ther enough juice to charge them at 1C?

My PS will supply 14V at 28A. Thanks.

Pat L

A single 106B+ is all that you would need to charge your two 6S 5000mAh packs at 1C charge rate. Since your packs are discharged at the same time, they'll be at the same voltage upon discharge (if they're properly matched). Simply reconfigure your plugs and charge the two packs in parallel at 10A and they'll both be fully charged and perfectly balanced upon charge termination. No need for two chargers unless you decide to charge faster than 1C or charge other packs at the same time.

Your power supply should be more than adequate if the listed specifications are realistic.

Mark