iCharger 1010b+ shutting off suddenly at ~2.5a..

[neptronix]

So i'm charging 1 10s 5000mAh pack at 2.5a, not using the balance mode...
The fan quickly ramps up to what i assume would be max speed, producing an audible whirr..
Near the end of the charge ( 41.4v ), before the amps start to ramp down, the charger beeps and shuts itself off.
I start it again.. it happens within 30 seconds.

Now this is weird, i assume it's overheating. But it shouldn't as it's rated for 10a and 300w total.
My PSU is a radioshack 15amp at 13.8v.

So at 2.5a i am only drawing around 100watts i would assume.. and the radioshack is running probably in the 5 amp range or lower. I am not maxing anything out.

Any idea what's going on?

[adrian_sm]

Sounds like what happens with my charger when the input voltage drops too low. So I would point the finger at your power supply.
Try dropping the charge current by a fraction and see if it works.

- Adrian

[neptronix]

Hmmm..
Works fine at 2.0a, although the fan does come on at a lower speed.

The unit is not very hot either.
I will check my PS voltage and see what happens. thanks.

[neptronix]

Nope, Radioshack 15a PSU keeps outputting 14.0-13.9v throughout the charge.

I set the charger to 4.0a wondering if it would take a dump on me, and the ramp-up to maximum fan speed was actually slower if you can believe that. It ran for 17 minutes at 2.5a without shutting off, and 17 minutes at 4.0a without shutting off.

wtf?

The only difference this time is that the icharger ( bare aluminum ) wasn't sitting on top of the radioshack PS ( painted aluminum ).

Well, i'll report back if i have further problems.

[scoot]

You might get some ideas/help from the folks out on the RC Group forum. This is the thread link that addresses ongoing stuff with the ichargers: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=839657.

Might even be related to a firmware version issue... dunno... hard to say at this point.

Good luck...

[adrian_sm]

The only difference this time is that the icharger ( bare aluminum ) wasn't sitting on top of the radioshack PS ( painted aluminum ).

That makes it sound like the charger is overheating and shutting itself down.

Here is the relevant reference I found in the iCharger 10110b+ manual:

Internal temperature sensor and temperature controlled automatic cooling FAN controls the internal temperature and provides intelligent protection. When the internal temperature is over 60℃(140 oF), the output power is automatically reduced by 25%. If the temperature exceeds 65℃(149 oF) the charge cycle is stopped.

- Adrian

[neptronix]

You might get some ideas/help from the folks out on the RC Group forum. This is the thread link that addresses ongoing stuff with the ichargers: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=839657.

Might even be related to a firmware version issue... dunno... hard to say at this point.

Good luck...

Only 622 pages of forum posts to wade through. Let me call my boss and ask for a week off.. lol
I haven't upgraded the firmware however.

That makes it sound like the charger is overheating and shutting itself down.

Here is the relevant reference I found in the iCharger 10110b+ manual:
Quote:
Internal temperature sensor and temperature controlled automatic cooling FAN controls the internal temperature and provides intelligent protection. When the internal temperature is over 60℃(140 oF), the output power is automatically reduced by 25%. If the temperature exceeds 65℃(149 oF) the charge cycle is stopped.

- Adrian

Yeah, i don't see it reducing power before that happens. And it turns itself off 100% without saying a word.
Very odd.

I will try a 5.0a charge and see what happens next time.

[stew007]

You need a serious dolop of current to power this charger, the very best bang for your buck if your handy with DIY is buy 2 HP ESP114A from ebay for a few $, the ones used here http://www.rcmf.co.uk/4um/index.php/topic,67706.0.html and wire them in series as in the link, this thing kicks out some serious current, I now have 2 built with two 3010b's 2000w of balance charging for a total of $380, using lipos has never been cheaper

[dogman]

I vote for overheated, 15 amp power supply should be plenty for charging at 2.5 amps. Could be the power supply is not putting out clean power somehow.
A tiny interruption does the trick to shut off charging.

[neptronix]

Yeah, i bet an intermittent power lead would cause it to shut off ( power spikes )

Voltage drop on the power supply is only 0.2v.

But you know what?
I don't have this problem anymore. I can charge at 5A with no issues.

Maybe it was some other power problem in the house.

[Spacey]

I have the same problem with a multi voltage 5 amp power supply (universal laptop supply) and my i1010B+ charger. It keeps shutting down after 30 secs saying low input voltage error.

Keeps doing it even if I run it at 14 volts or 16 volts, really confusing?

[neptronix]

5amps @ 14v is real low. How many amps do you have the iCharger set to?
My 15.8amp 14v power supply is an amp or two shy of being able to provide the power i need to charge 10s at 5A.
If you are charging 10S, your highest amps would be 1-2amp.

Also i notice when i get the thing running at high watts ( 10S, and over 3A ), i get this smell, and i suspect it is cooking off some kind of thermal goo.

Once the warranty period is up, i am opening the damn thing and installing a copper bar on the FETs.
I heard that DoctorBass opened up his 3010+ and was disgusted to see FETs pressure mounted to the case.

[Spacey]

Usual cheap crap build quality lol, I shall turn the charge rate down to 1 amp and see if that helps. I only use it to balance charge the last 1Ah on each 10 cell pack of my Headway 20 Cell pack. Works better than a Bms so far.

[neptronix]

Compared to everything else on HK, the build quality of the iCharger line is top notch.
I am really happy with it thus far.

Principle of using anything from China: consider it overrated in every spec by 25%!!

[Spacey]

I set the charger to 1amp and now it works

[neptronix]

Allright, so it happened again and i got pissed.
After many months of this not occurring, bam. i get a shutoff at 2.8 amps, and had to reduce it to 1 amp.
Not acceptable.
The worst part is that it hasn't been telling me it's overheating or reducing the current like it says it will in the manual, so it is shutting down some other way.

Apparently i have been resting the hottest part of my iCharger on top of the hottest part of my radioshack PSU.



I was not aware of this until i opened my power supply and iCharger up.



Now look at this crap. The fan seems to only blow air off of the resistors for the balancing section. It really contributes minimally to actually cooling the fets, which are obviously encased below the board, not allowing heat to naturally rise upwards.




FETs are pressure mounted ( badly ) just like the iCharger 3010b+. But there seems to be a good amount of variance in how badly they are mounted.
I cannot tell how bad they are mounted due to the fact that the circuit board is glued somehow to the aluminum. I only see one FET not looking so good, the others look okay. No idea how many there are though.

Now i understand why i get a funny smell charging above 150 watts. I've had to stay below about 3.1 amps to avoid the funny smell. It is probably the little heat pad burning, because this unit is overheating and not telling me.

Now there's also a problem with the heat sensor - it's on the power input side and not the other side. If your FETs are overheating on the other side, it may not detect that and trip the alarm. I think that is what's happening here.

This is terrible thermal design. The heat is in the worst place, and doesn't really even transfer to the top part of the case.
I guess i will keep this unit elevated now, with some rubber feet or something.. And i am going to find a massive industrial power supply / audio amplifier heatsink for it. I want to get closer to the full 5-7 amps at 10S that this unit promises on the box. Now that i have a 20AH pack, this is pretty imperative.

I still love this charger but it seems to be engineered for repeat business . This explains why some people have their higher power units violently explode and some people have flawless operation forever.. keeping the unit elevated and luck of the draw with the pressure mounted FETs is paramount to a long life with these.

[Spacey]

I have the same charger, will keep an eye on it. What I do though is place the charger on top of a power supply that is large and turned off to use it as a heat sink for the charger.

[neptronix]

That's a smart idea. However, i've found that even on a source that is not generating heat, the iCharger is best kept off a surface.

I bought some rubber feet to get it about 1/3rd an inch ( maybe 4mm? ) off the ground. I can run it up to 4.7amps now. But it gradually climbs up to about 7 degrees within the cutoff temperature. So it needs some additional help

When charging 10s, that's only 195 watts out of the total 300w the unit is rated to handle.

Theoretically, it could be good all the way up to 7 amps.
I think with about 10mm legs and some additional heatsinking / fans it could do 5.5 - 6 amps.

[Spacey]

5 amps is the max I get out of mine also when charging 8 cells.

[neptronix]

Really? on a 1010? that's no good. You should be able to do at least 7 amps.

I found out the other day that if you hit the left arrow while it is charging, you can cycle through some good info.. temp.. amp draw and power supply voltage.. etc. Good for diagnosing stuff like this.

100F is where the unit automatically turns off. So that's a good number to watch.
If the unit is pretty hot to the touch on the bottom, then it's burning up inside.

Bought these today for the iCharger. But since i can get the iCharger up to about 4.5a no prob now, i think i will reserve them for the meanwell that's on it's way