Originally Posted by rctc

On my new charger it took almost two and a half hours to fully charge my 2- 6 cell
lipo 3300 mah packs.

when I parallel charge on my pl6 those same packs it takes a little more than one hour to bring both packs up to fully charged.

Both packs had 38 % of there charge left in them before I charged them on the gt 500.

Is this normal for parallel charging 2 or more packs on the gt 500?

It sounds like you double the charge rate, therefore, you charged at half the amps.
I don't parallel charge but I have an idea......

The PL6 asks if your parallel charging, I assume if you say yes and designate how many, the charger automatically multiplies the charge rate. The GT500 didn't ask, so it just charged at what you had set, without the multiplier.

What would you double? why did they not set it up like the PL6 that would ask you how may packs are you parallel charging?

I do not want to input the wrong info and ruin my packs or worse.

If your charging at 1C, you would charge your single battery at 3.3A.

If you parallel charge two batteries, that current gets split across the two. So your charger is pushing 3.3A, but each battery is only seeing 1.65A, or 1/2C.

When your PL6 asks for how many packs, you input 2, it multiplies it's set charge rate by 2, so it's output is now 6.6A. Since electricity flows like water, that current evenly flows into the two batteries evenly. Each battery is seeing 3.3A.

I understand the GT500 is an "economy" charger per say, so it isn't as heavily optioned like the PL6.

Originally Posted by rctc

On my new charger it took almost two and a half hours to fully charge my 2- 6 cell
lipo 3300 mah packs.

when I parallel charge on my pl6 those same packs it takes a little more than one hour to bring both packs up to fully charged.

Both packs had 38 % of there charge left in them before I charged them on the gt 500.

Is this normal for parallel charging 2 or more packs on the gt 500?

What charge rate did you set? The GT500 does not have the native parallel charging features as the Powerlab series. The user will need to manually multiply the charge rate by the number of packs.

How do you parallel charge on this charger?

What do you double?

For example how would you parallel 3- 6 cell 3300 mah lipo batteries on the gt 500.

I know most of the choices but what would I triple for the above example.
I have only ever parallel charged on my pl6 or pl8 and it is rather easy to do.

1c I believe

1.0 Amps is the default I only charge at 1c

Originally Posted by rctc

How do you parallel charge on this charger?

What do you double?

For example how would you parallel 3- 6 cell 3300 mah lipo batteries on the gt 500.

I know most of the choices but what would I triple for the above example.
I have only ever parallel charged on my pl6 or pl8 and it is rather easy to do.

1c charge rate for 3300 would be 3.3 amps for a single pack, 6.6 amps for 2 packs, 9.9 amps for 3 packs.

Thank you Gregor99

I have a GT500 and an existing MPA board. The existing MPA cable does not fit.

I searched this thread for MPA adapter cables, but no joy.

I also searched the Revolectrix site and the best I can come up with is the "PN: MPA-FRC-X08-US" with JST-XH on both ends, and suitable for 8S balancing...

Has anyone else tried this? It is only $7.95, so no biggie, but I had hoped to try the GT500 in the field this week and none of my balance cables seem to fit the plugs (either MPA end or GT500 end.)

Almost forgot, the UI is pretty straightforward and I was able to configure a few customized presets for my charge/storage of 4.20 and 4.27 packs. The knob turned smoothly, so no problem as someone else had reported.

Thank you.
Michael

Originally Posted by Snowflake6515

I also searched the Revolectrix site and the best I can come up with is the "PN: MPA-FRC-X08-US" with JST-XH on both ends, and suitable for 8S balancing...

That's the one. The GT500 has an JST-XH 8s connector on the charger.

Much appreciated; ordered.
Michael

Originally Posted by Gregor99

That's the one. The GT500 has an JST-XH 8s connector on the charger.

I have been getting acquainted with the new GT500 charger over the last week. Overall, I find that this charger is really easy to set-up and use right out of the box. As a long time CellPro 10XP user, there are a couple of features that I liked right away. One is the larger display and the manner in which all of the data can be quickly scrolled through using the rotary dial. I also like that no balance adapter boards are needed when using packs with JST-XH style, now almost an industry-wide standard, balance connectors. Just plug the balance connector directly into the charger and you are ready to go. And all the way up to 8S!

This charger has been a joy to use. I am liking the larger, scrolling display far more then I originally imagined. Great upgrade!

I too have been really enjoying the GT500. It has been a reliable and flexible "daily driver" that is suited more for use as a charger than as a pack development tool like the PL series. I have only made one modification to it, like I have with one of my PL chargers, and this is to replace the output jacks with standard 4mm bananna jacks instead of the insulated ones. I have found that 80% of standard 4mm plugs dont seat deep enough into the high current insulated jacks. Since I dont have large packs and to keep everything common, they get switched out.

Racing season has started. Using the GT500 very regularly now. It's been a great charger.
The update utility worked great. I plan to be charging with v2.13 shortly.