New lipos from Hobbyking!

[neptronix]

Those charge adapters are not good for discharge ( they are rated at 20-30A maximum, but will probably induce plenty of resistance at the upper end of their handling ). So you'll have to make your own harnesses anyway.

Better start learning to solder if you wanna go the lipo way :] or hit up icecube57 if he's still making harnesses and you've got a little cash to blow.

[Diamondback]

i would only want the adaptors for charging.

no way would i try to draw any significant current through those small balance wires.

as as for the bullet sizes, those are not an issue either.
i would be changing the connectors on the batteries anyways.

Jason.

[wojtek]

if you give me enough quantity, i may be able to get you any product you need regarding for 7s..
for now i only have 7s balancing harness 4 /5/ 6 to 1 if im not mistaken...

[neptronix]

Huh? you never charge or discharge through your balance wires... i think you got some things confused.

changing the connectors on your packs are a pain in the ass, so it's best to make a parallel/series harness based on whatever connectors your lipos come with that will be used during charging and discharging.

You do not want to have to plug/unplug a bunch of wires every time you charge. Trust me when i say that gets old very fast. It also increases the possibility of plugging in something wrong and.. kapow!

i would only want the adaptors for charging.

no way would i try to draw any significant current through those small balance wires.

as as for the bullet sizes, those are not an issue either.
i would be changing the connectors on the batteries anyways.

Jason.

[Diamondback]

i have had more than one charger in my time that ONLY used the balance wires to charge.
and did not have main battery output connections on them. i still have one in the cupboard now.
it's a 2A mains lipo charger for 2S and 3S packs. i think it came with my RC hovercraft.

as for changing the battery connections, i have to do that for most all of the lipo's that i buy.
im using XT60 type connections on almost every RC vehicle i have. so changing 2 or 4 more really is no big deal.

as for the series harness, i already have an XT60 type series harness made up. so all i would need is to plug the one
series harness into each battery, then the other end of the series harness into the controller on the bike.

i would not be running a 14S1P setup, only the 14S and that will all but eliminate the possibility for incorrect connections.

i would leave the controller end of the harness alone, i would only have 2 plugs to contend with (one for each battery)
and that's only one more than i have now. sounds idiot proof really. and when charging happens, ill have to deal with the balance connectors.
right now, i just have to plug the ping into the charger. no balance wires as the BMS is built in.

so for charging, ill have 4 to deal connections to deal with. once again, no big deal for me.

Jason.

[motomech]

Those charge adapters are not good for discharge ( they are rated at 20-30A maximum, but will probably induce plenty of resistance at the upper end of their handling ). So you'll have to make your own harnesses anyway.

Better start learning to solder if you wanna go the lipo way :] or hit up icecube57 if he's still making harnesses and you've got a little cash to blow.

But what Sacman said would work, right?

QUOTE-"
I believe you need to use put the 4s on 1 balance board attached to Channel A,
then put the remaining 3s on another (separate) balance board attached to Channel B."

[cwah]

Would the 14s hyperion be able to balance charge the battery without adapter?

[Diamondback]

The balance board things that come with the hyperion go from 2S up to 7S.

I'm not sure if it might be possible to connect one to each port.
And have the battery charge like that. I don't think so.

If I set the Hyperion to a 7S battery but only connected say the 4S
Balance plug, it would error I think. It would see the full 7S voltage and assume that the 4S balance was over charged.

I haven't had the charger long enough to know all it's
Ins and outs. And I dont yet have any 7S batteries.

Jason.

[cwah]

Actually, if the hyperion can't charge them 'out of the box', which charger can charge them?

[Diamondback]

im not sure that any charger can.

at least until someone makes a 7S lipo with a single 8 pin connector.
until then, you either need to buy or make an adaptor.

Jason.

[Hillhater]

...If I set the Hyperion to a 7S battery but only connected say the 4S
Balance plug, it would error I think. It would see the full 7S voltage and assume that the 4S balance was over charged. ..

does it have to see the balance leads connected ?
won't it just charge 7s without balance monitoring. ?...many chargers will

[Diamondback]

I'll go dig out the instructions when I get home and have a look.

I will post my findings.

I know that it will not Balance charge with no main battery leads connected.
I tried that with some new 3S packs I got for one of my rc toys.

I had to go dig out the mains charger that only uses the balance wires.
(until I get around to changing the plugs on them)

Jason.

[wesnewell]

I don't understand. Why do they have 2 balancers cable on the lipo?

Because they are idiots. They should come with 7s balance cables, which are very common. Then they would have been perfect for a 14s pack. As it is, you might as well buy a 4s and 3s and tape it together and get the same 7s pack. You can buy 7s plugs with pigtails on ebay in bulk for about a buck each, buy a 4s and 3s pack, cuts the balance plugs off and install the 7s plug. Tape it together, connect the power leads in series and have a 7s pack you can balance charge with one of several chargers that will do 7s or more. Anyone that thinks having 4s and 3s balance cables out of a 7s pack is out of their minds.

[neptronix]

The only charger i know of with a 7S port is the hyperion lineup.

I dunno why they chose this method either, i'd think of using an 8S connector and have it be missing a pin.. that would work with more chargers, overall. But then that wouldn't work with the hyperions, lol.

This is just a weird voltage, but at least there is a 4s + 3s adapter mentioned above.

[wesnewell]

The only charger i know of with a 7S port is the hyperion lineup.

I dunno why they chose this method either, i'd think of using an 8S connector and have it be missing a pin.. that would work with more chargers, overall. But then that wouldn't work with the hyperions, lol.

This is just a weird voltage, but at least there is a 4s + 3s adapter mentioned above.

Any charger that will charge 7s and above will take a 7s plug. Even HK sells an 8s charger that will charge them direct without an adapter. Other 7s and above chargers will also charge them though you may need a a 7s (or generic) balance port. Like I said, just buying a 4s and 3s and taping them together would be better than a 7s pack using 4s and 3s balance plugs. Anyone wanting to run 14s would probably buy a Hyperion 1420i anyway, but they could use the under $40 HK charger with a 7s plug.

[Diamondback]

ok, just read through the instructions for the EOS 0720i SD3.

the instructions say that if you try to charge a lithium type battery with no Balance tap fitted,
the charger will display "NO BALANCER" and it is not recommended to do this.

i tried it on a 2S lipo that i have, and the message does come up, but you can override it.
it then gives a second warning that says "BALANCER ADVISED" you can override this too, and it does start charging the pack.
so it seems that it the Hyperion will charge with no balance plug fitted.

i wouldn't feel safe just charging a lithium type pack with no balancing happening.
i know that a lot of people here will say it's ok, but id rather not.

it's only a matter of time till a 7S pack shows up that has a single balance tap.
i am hoping that the battery manufacturers start making batteries with a single 8 pin balance plug
before i want / need to buy my next batteries......

Jason.

[motomech]

WOW!!!
A whole new line-up of Compact 8S and 9S.

18S with only two bricks!

This is getting really exciting!

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... PoConfig=9

[cwah]

They still have 2 balance plugs. So not really handy to balance/charge.

[Hillhater]

so it seems that it the Hyperion will charge with no balance plug fitted.

i wouldn't feel safe just charging a lithium type pack with no balancing happening.
i know that a lot of people here will say it's ok, but id rather not..

I would guess that the majority of Ebike Lipo users only charge with the balance leads connected once every 10 or so charges once they "know" their packs are stable.
Generally its not necessary unless you are looking for 90%+ DOD ( like the Aero RC users) ...
....and it simply takes too damm long !!

Personally i never balance charge, but simply monitor individual cells and occasionally "boost charge" any cell that may be lower than the others.
It also helps that many of us run multiple packs in parallel, with the balance wires connected so that the packs tend to automatically "balance" their paired cells.

[keysersoze310]

Actually, if the hyperion can't charge them 'out of the box', which charger can charge them?

Oh, here's a weird way I think you could charge two of these 7S batteries with a hyperion charger with no additional parts or adapters. I don't really recommend this, lol.

This works because the hyperion balance board connectors are all paralelled - ie all the pin 1's are connected, all the pin 2's are connected, etc.

First you would need to figure our which balance plug comes first in series. The last pin of one connector is paralleled to the first pin of the other connector. For this example lets say the 4S connector pin 5 is paralleled to pin 1 of the 3S connector. If this is incorrect, just reverse the two connectors in these these instructions.

What you can do is first plug the 4S connector into the hyperion balance board's 4S connector slot, like usual. Then you would connect the 3S connector on the right side of the 7S connector on the same balance board. There alignment guide of the balance board connector will not fit correctly, so you will have to trim a small slot into the 7S balance board receptacle connector to get the 3S connector to fit. This should be fairly easy.

Do this procedure on both balance boards and viola, you can charge two 7S batteries with the hyperion charger with no adapters.

Or you can do it the much better way and just use a 7S connector...

[motomech]

Like this one mentioned earlier.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/7S-JST-XH-Conne ... 1e5dcef2fc

[cwah]

4.30USD + 2USD shipping cost just for a balance plug?
Isn't it a bit expensive?

[wesnewell]

4.30USD + 2USD shipping cost just for a balance plug?
Isn't it a bit expensive?

Yes. I found them in bulk for about $1 each about 6 months ago on ebay bulk section.

[wesnewell]

Under a buck each with free shipping. take your pick.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid= ... t&_sacat=0

[neptronix]

^-- pure win

Wouldn't be hard to convert these over to 7S, just a bit of a pain in the butt of soldering.