Done some reading and it looks like a 206 or 208 might be what I need.
They are about the same price..any pro or cons to ether of them?


I read that it comes with a balance board and I think my eflight batts are JST-XH type balance connectors. But pic of board only has 1 3s connector...or at least that is what it appears to have. So you can only charge/balance 1 3s batt at a time?

Any standard balance board usually only has 1 of each size connector for charging ONE battery at a time.

I think you may be thinking of a parallel charging board.
With these you can usually charge up to 6 at a time.
More if you have a second parallel board.

Hi,

Just got a shiny new 306B for christmas(from myself ) and had a few questions regarding the discharge. I skimped over the specs before ordering and realized that this charger doesn't actually do 30amp discharge without an external load. Kind of misleading in the marketing but regardless, I want to be able to to discharge at 30amps.

From what i am reading in the manual , I would need a .25ohm resister.

Battery -> 2S 40c 5000 Lipo
Target Discharge -> 30 Amps

7.4v / 30amp = .25 ohms

Now correct me if i am wrong, but i am assuming i just use the resister as a "red wire" and connect it to the positive of the charger and positive of the battery. The black wire would be connected to the charger and battery as normal.

Anything else I might be missing before I blow up the house?

Originally Posted by johnnytc4

Anything else I might be missing before I blow up the house?

Sure is.

The WATTAGE of your resistor.

You will need about at least a 250WATT resistor.
I would go bigger than that. It will get very hot.
I don't think you can find one of those at Radio Shack.
Would be something you have the order.

Originally Posted by TheWoodCrafter

Sure is.

The WATTAGE of your resistor.

You will need about at least a 250WATT resistor.
I would go bigger than that. It will get very hot.
I don't think you can find one of those at Radio Shack.
Would be something you have the order.

Awesome! Had this one in mind, it looks like it will work.

http://www.digikey.com/product-detai...25E-ND/1124871

Originally Posted by junsi

Yes, you can replace CP2102 USB to UART bridge chip yourself.

Junsi

Thanks Junsi.
I replaced CP2102 chip but USB still didn't work. After some measurements found that R82 was blown.
This 1-ohm resistor, I think, is a kind of protection between USB 5V and CP2102-s supply input (pin7,8). Without 5V from USB line CP2102 simply cannot start.

Changed resistor, and...happy again

Does anyone know if I can use an external dummy load such as these in the Discharge+ mode:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1352331



on the iChargers ?

I know it is not a resistive load, as say a halogen bulb is, but it is a cheap way (cheaper than bulbs !!!) to get a lot of power dissipation. I had a play around with a LM388K today and for a few bucks can dissipate 5.0A with one component.

The regulator requires the battery load to be plugged in one end and dissipates the power in the IC, I can't see how I would be able to use it as an external discharge source with the iChargers. Does anyone know if it can be done ?

The voltage reg constant current sink circuit I am running is attached below.

I am able to get about 4.0A running a halogen 50W bulb but would rather use the LM317 / LM338 if possible.

Cheers

Originally Posted by ilium007

Does anyone know if I can use an external dummy load such as these in the Discharge+ mode:

Regenerative discharge would be a better option. There is a lot of posts regarding this in this thread.

Fred

Oh... I didnt think of regenerative discharge. I have been concentrating on looking at the Discharge+ mode. I will start scouring this thread. Thanks for the pointer.

I'll have to keep searching tomorrow. Have been through first 5 pages of search results in this thread and cant find anything relating to using one of these loads with the iCharger.

One of my Turnigy Accucell 8150 chargers needs to be replaced and I'm looking at the 106b+. Flying 4s2650 with two chargers and three batteries at the club field.
For park 3D, parallel charging 3s1300x5.

Hoping that the icharger will be more reliable. How important is the connecting
sequence?

1. Connect iCharger's input power supply, and turn on it.
2. Connect Li batteries' balance port
3. Connect the main charging port's positive pole to cells' positive pole, and then connect negative pole to
cells' negative pole (this will avoid striking fire while connecting Li cells).
4. Start charging and discharging...

Thanks

Originally Posted by ilium007

Does anyone know if I can use an external dummy load such as these in the Discharge+ mode:

I built a similar unit and never was able to get the discharge mode to work with it.
Because it is not actually a load till it is powered up.

So I use it in MONITOR mode.
It sounds loud enough when the set point is met.

I have since added a fan on top.

Originally Posted by 732002

How important is the connecting sequence?

Connection sequence is not that critical in my experience. I have been using iChargers (three 106B's and a 306B) exclusively since 2008 and would always connect main connector prior to balance connector for the first few years and never had an issue. I have been connecting the balance connector prior to main connector for the last 2 years with equal success.

I surmise that Junsi's published connection sequence is to ensure that the charger is displaying the correct cell count prior to plugging in the main connector as improper connection can burn internal traces and lead to the dreaded 'connection break' error.

Mark

Originally Posted by 732002

1. Connect iCharger's input power supply, and turn on it.
2. Connect Li batteries' balance port
3. Connect the main charging port's positive pole to cells' positive pole, and then connect negative pole to cells' negative pole (this will avoid striking fire while connecting Li cells).
4. Start charging and discharging...

Never plug in a battery to the charger output when it is not powered.
Do not exchange steps 2 and 3 unless you want to observe lightnings and connector deterioration;-) Important for higher voltages (>3S).

Can you use the 206B to discharge 4s's back into the power supply's battery?