Older chargers had a special cable included with ground shield disconnected. Maybe there has been a redesign so that any cable can be used? When powered from a LiPo, it will not be a problem anyway.
Balance boards are for serial connection (most 7S and 8S packs comes with two balance connectors).

Fred

Thanks, flarssen. Glad I asked, or I would have cooked some packs. Time to get some balancing boards. In fact, I have one already on the way from HK. Will have to order some more different types. Too bad, they only have up to 6S, thoough

chewy

chewy, you may want to check out the 308Duo/4010Duo thread:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1801512

It's easier to get answers to Duo-specific questions there.

My 308Duo arrived with some apparent scratches on the screen (which later turned out to just be on the screen protector film). But the other areas looked OK. Someone else had mentioned scratches around the buttons, or something, on their 308Duo.

The balance board will let you charge a 3S, or a 6S, for instance. But the smaller connectors are in series, as was said. I haven't tried it, but you could probably do a pair of 3S, BUT you would need to connect their main leads in series as well (you'd have to make an adapter cable), so that the main leads, and the parallel leads, would all really be at 6S (the charger would see it as a 6S pack). It would be cumbersome, and a bit risky. Charging 1 at a time for now is safer until you can get a proper parallel setup

It seems that you still need to use the special, isolated-ground cable if you are going to run the charger off wall power, using a computer that's also on wall power. I used the special isolated-ground cable that came with my 106B+, and it worked fine going to my laptop that was also on wall power. Too bad they don't include that cable any more. But just run the charger off a LiPo if you don't have a suitable cable, and if you have to use a wall-powered computer (my laptop battery doesn't last long at all, but I have plenty of LiPos around to power the charger).

If you have a MicroSD card for it, and a way to read a MicroSD card, you don't need to connect the charger directly to a PC even for pulling logs. The logs will save to the SD card, then you can put the card in your computer, copy the logs, and open them with Logview.

Red,

Thanks for the info and the thread. I also have the 106B+ and will use that cable if need be. TQ

chewy

Hey guys, got directed here from the traxxas forums with a question on my icharger.

I just got a 106b and am currently only using the traxxas series 1 1200mAh nimh pack. I've been reading up on charging nimh packs and still slightly unclear on some things. Will setting the capacity limit to 1200mAh be the best option to stop charging on time or should I set it slightly lower at 1100 or so? I also have the delta V detection set to 5mV.

Yesterday I had not set the capacity limit to 1200 yet, but was monitoring charging. It went past 1200 slightly when I unplugged it. My main question here is..how is charging monitored for nimh/how does the charger know when to stop charging?

Also, I have been reading on formation charging and would like to try that with the other series 1 pack I have that does not hold well. Is the best option for that to charge at 1/10C? What is the best way to use the discharge function of the charger?

Thanks for any help!

Hello.
Anyone know what Is the IC U13?




My icharger 106 was demaged during charging PB24V.
I replace all power mosfets, all ss8050,ss8550 and 2n7002 and U13 producing short circuit on Gate Q32 and Q43 and both power mosfets U1 and U3 short circuit supply.

Regards Slawek

If anyone is interested I just listed in classifieds an icharger 206b with a 350watt PS in basically new condition.

Slowly reading through this thread I've concluded I'm an ignorant dolt when it come to anything electrical. My minimal knowledge can be more dangerous than no knowledge. So in need of advice to reduce the chance of making a poor decision.

Situation: Largest size battery to be charged would be a 3S 4000mAh, 4 units parallel charging. Assuming 1C charging rate, ~90% charger efficiency.

Therefore: At 1C, 4amp capacity x 12.6V = 50.4 watts x 4 batteries = 201.6 watts.
201.6 watts @90% efficiency = 224watts charger needed

106B spec are 250W with 10A max charge current. This is where I get a bit confused. 250W = 10A x 25V.
1. So does this mean you can really only charge 2 of the above batteries in parallel at 10A charge current?
2. If so, to charge 4 of the batteries in parallel the 206B (300W with 20A max) would be needed?
3. 2C charging of a 11.1V/4000mAh battery would require double the spec of even the 206B or only charging 2 batteries in parallel?

What is considered a proper sized power supply(PS) for each of the chargers? Is the Junsi P350 (350W 15V) adequate for the 206B? Or is more better, you can never have enough W? "Better" meaning less wear on the PS.

Thanks for any enlightenment, clarification and corrections.

Your calculations are good. But bear in mind that chargers are rated based on their output, not their input. The iChargers do seem to be about 90% efficient, but you only need to worry about the 10A/250W spec for the moment, when figuring out what will be put into your packs.

Whichever # you hit first, amps or watts, will limit you. As you found, 10A on 3S is only 125W. You'd need the 206B if you want 250W of power on 3S. The 106B+, which I have, will only hit 250W when charging 6S at 10A.

1) 10A on 4000mAh packs will give you 2 packs at 1.25C.
2) Yes, for 4 at 1C you'd need 16A * 12.6V = 202W. You could hit 1.25C, at 20A at 250W.
3) 2C on a single 3S 4000mAh is the same charger output as 1A on a pair of 3S 4000mAh. 8A, 101W.

If you need more amps/power, the 306B is worth considering.

And the Voltz 101K is currently on sale at readyheli.com for $97, it's apparently a rebranded iCharger 3010B. Which goes for $190.

http://www.readyheli.com/Voltz-101K-...r-p-37877.html

You'd get 30A, 750W output, on 6S. Note that it only has a 10S balance plug, you'd need a 10S->6S balance cable to use a normal parallel board.

http://www.buddyrc.com/paraboard-bal...-4010-duo.html

For a power supply, anything will work, if it's within the voltage range of the charger, and can provide enough power for what you want. This is where your 90% comes in. Power supply output * 0.9 = the charger watts output you'll be able to get.

The higher the voltage, within the charger's limit, the less heat due to input current, within the charger. And the more output you can get, once you reach a certain voltage (see the graph in the manual for the charger, or ask). But don't lose sleep over it.

Powerful (say >500W) chargers need a 24V supply to make their max output. For a 206B, that supply is fine. But for less money, I'd suggest this, you'd get 575W, 47A, 12V. There is also a dual-supply version of this. These are used server supplies, very high quality, very robust. These are HP DPS-600PB supplies. If you want some DIY, you can buy them from eBay for about $20 and modify them with instructions in another thread on RCG. You can buy them already modified elsewhere, as well.

http://www.buddyrc.com/ep-buddy-575w...upply-601.html

Originally Posted by HX4

Thanks for any enlightenment, clarification and corrections.

If money is no object, buying the best charger/ps that you can afford. makes sense and certainly pays off in long term, but if you're on a limited budget, perhaps you may consider to buy a Modified Mean Well 600W 24V 25A Power Supply (MWS600-24) and an iCharger 208B. You can buy it at buddyrc or Progressive.

Originally Posted by HX4

Slowly reading through this thread I've concluded I'm an ignorant dolt when it come to anything electrical. My minimal knowledge can be more dangerous than no knowledge. So in need of advice to reduce the chance of making a poor decision.

Situation: Largest size battery to be charged would be a 3S 4000mAh, 4 units parallel charging. Assuming 1C charging rate, ~90% charger efficiency.

Therefore: At 1C, 4amp capacity x 12.6V = 50.4 watts x 4 batteries = 201.6 watts.
201.6 watts @90% efficiency = 224watts charger needed

106B spec are 250W with 10A max charge current. This is where I get a bit confused. 250W = 10A x 25V.
1. So does this mean you can really only charge 2 of the above batteries in parallel at 10A charge current?
2. If so, to charge 4 of the batteries in parallel the 206B (300W with 20A max) would be needed?
3. 2C charging of a 11.1V/4000mAh battery would require double the spec of even the 206B or only charging 2 batteries in parallel?

What is considered a proper sized power supply(PS) for each of the chargers? Is the Junsi P350 (350W 15V) adequate for the 206B? Or is more better, you can never have enough W? "Better" meaning less wear on the PS.

Thanks for any enlightenment, clarification and corrections.

Because this cumbersome calculations I did the Charger and PSU calculator.

Just put in 4000mAh, 3S, 4 in parallel and it tells you the maximum C charger rate AND the power-supply that are needed for all iChargers and other chargers as well.

An 106B will allow only a 0.63C rate charging. With an 206B you can do up do 1.25C, your PSU needs at least 13.3V output and 280W.

Soko

Originally Posted by soko

Because this cumbersome calculations I did the Charger and PSU calculator.

Just put in 4000mAh, 3S, 4 in parallel and it tells you the maximum C charger rate AND the power-supply that are needed for all iChargers and other chargers as well.

An 106B will allow only a 0.63C rate charging. With an 206B you can do up do 1.25C, your PSU needs at least 13.3V output and 280W.

Soko

Soko, thank you for sharing your tool. It's really awesome.

Originally Posted by czorzella

Soko, thank you for sharing your tool. It's really awesome.

No worries, man. I've shared it already here but it gets kinda lost

Soko

Thanks RedOctobyr & Soko!

You're welcome, I hope we were able to help!

soko's tool is a really nice resource. Thank you for putting that together, I'm sure it wasn't easy.