What charger for bulk charging?

C

cwah

100 MW
Joined
Jul 24, 2011
Messages
4,256
Location
Between paris and london
Hello there,

I'm quite new to lipo and I'm trying to the following 18.5V8AH Zippy pack:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=16227

The configuration would be either one of the following:
- 4 X 18.5V8AH pack. It's a 20s pack for a total of 74V8AH. (fast run)
- or 2p 3 X 18.58AH pack. It would be 2 X 15s pack in parallel for a total of 55.5V16AH. (long journeys)

I need a charger able to charge that in bulk. For now I have this one:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=12105

I have to charge the lipo 1 by 1 and it's really not convenient.

Do you have any idea how I can do bulk charging? If I have to purchase a new one, I would strongly prefer a quiet one.

Thanks for your help :)
 
You can of course, paralell your packs and charge them 4 at a time with what you have. It would still get er done in 2-3 hours.
 
( insert meanwell threads here )

3 hour charge time is optimistic because these cheapo RC chargers are not designed to do 100% wattage constant for many hours. Heat build up gets quite bad.

32AH at 10AH constant would make for about 3.5-4 hours at best, if you have to derate the charger some, down to 150w or so due to heat, you get into the 5 hr. zone.

Meanwell ( or some other big current limited power supply ) plus a quality balancer for when balancing is needed would be highly recommended here.
 
Ok, shall I get this one icharger 10s at 300W:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__6609__iCharger_1010B_300W_10s_Balance_Charger.html

And this 350W power supply/meanwell?
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__17424__HobbyKing_350w_25A_Power_Supply_220v_240v_.html

To charge my 15s lipo, I'll have to charge the last 5s with my initial charger:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=12105

Is it working? how long would that take to charge that?
 
Hobbyking power supplies are junk, so stay away from those..

iCharger puts out a realistic constant of 200w for long periods of time. What it does best is balancing, testing batteries, and a few dozen other things.. they come in excellent calibration from the factory and can be calibrated later down the road if some of the components drift.. it's the swiss army knife of chargers, it really does everything, and does everything well.

It's the only charger i would recommend to someone who is new to lipo. It has all sorts of failsafes to prevent you from blowing up your house. And it survived my abuse early on when i had no clue :D

You can also use it to charge the auxillary 5S unit like i do. it's kind of a pain, but it works.

So get one of those and start browsing the meanwell threads on here. There is a new 'NES' model that is a little problematic, but useable.. here is a relevant thread:

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=32343

Go hunt down more meanwell threads though.. there are tons out there. The gist of it is that they need their current to be limited to a safe level to be used as a battery charger. They come shipped to do approx 120% their rating, so you have to do some electrical mods to lower the current, otherwise they blow. When properly modded, they are a reliable, cheap, and powerful battery charger.

You can also run multiple ones in series. This would be a good way to make yourself a 15S charger. Or put two together and make a 20S charger.
 
Take your pick. All have adjustable output voltages.
http://www.bmsbattery.com/18-alloy-shell
 
wesnewell said:
Take your pick. All have adjustable output voltages.
http://www.bmsbattery.com/18-alloy-shell
Click to expand...

What's the reliability report on these? are they tried and true like the meanwells are?
I've heard a lot of mixed things. But i haven't heard of someone using one long term and having good results.

Definitely more convenient than a meanwell setup, don't require modification, and a bit cheaper.. that's a major bonus.
 
neptronix said:
wesnewell said:
Take your pick. All have adjustable output voltages.
http://www.bmsbattery.com/18-alloy-shell
Click to expand...

What's the reliability report on these? are they tried and true like the meanwells are?
I've heard a lot of mixed things. But i haven't heard of someone using one long term and having good results.

Definitely more convenient than a meanwell setup, don't require modification, and a bit cheaper.. that's a major bonus.
Click to expand...

Between the BMS chargers, Meanwell PSU's, HK chargers and lipo, even your beloved icharger,.... i can recall reading failure and repair reports for all of them.
but most are accepted as tolerable for various reasons,
..Lipo for its power/weight,
..HK chargers for their low cost
.. Meanwell for their value/power
..ichargers for their features
BMS chargers because they are some of the only integrated high power bulk chargers.

...but NONE of these would be rated as "reliable" by any normal assesment. :cry:
 
Only one refutation to that...

I have not heard of a properly modded *genuine* meanwell failing for any reason other than user error.
There are a ton of clones that have gone up in smoke, and some geniune units that have died under extreme abuse.
My genuine meanwell has taken some serious abuse.. reverse polarity, overheating from the fan not being connected from the factory.. O_O...

I'd say that from what i've seen, the iCharger is one of the most reliable chargers out there, but that's not saying much.
Main failure modes: not derating it for multi-hour use, discharge+ mode, voltage spikes from bad power supplies, running it at or +/- 2v near it's maximum input voltage.. all the while, mine has tolerated reverse polarity, having the balance cables swapped ( big ol' spark ), multiple overheats ( before i got smart enough to not run it at max power ), etc.

Nothing is perfect in the RC charger world, but a 1 year warranty helps quite a bit.
Meanwells are supposed to come with a warranty too.

I'd love to switch over to the BMSBattery / king power units, but i've heard of multiple units being dead outta the gate, and you know how dealing with China companies is.. some feedback from users of those would be nice.
 
I'd love to switch over to the BMSBattery / king power units, but i've heard of multiple units being dead outta the gate, and you know how dealing with China companies is.. some feedback from users of those would be nice.
Click to expand...

I can only say good things about my dealings with BMS Battery. I know some people have had issues, but my 1200W bulk charger from BMS battery was posted quickly, arrived well packed, and has worked flawlessly.
 

I use a 1500w 120VAC input, 125VDC output BMSbattery charger for bulk charging with a monthly balance charge using a 1000w iCharger 3010b powered by paralleled SE-600w 38v Meanwell power supplies for my 30s2p LiPo setup. This setup works very well. Easy bulk charging with the BMSbattery charger and flawless periodic balancing using the iCharger periodically. No problems to report.
 
Thanks guys. I'll get the icharger and the meanweel then.

Do you know if bmsbattery meanweel are configurable? For 15s I need a charging at 62.5V(4.166/cell) and at 20s I'd need charging at 83V(4.15/cell)
 
cwah said:
Ok, maybe the simplest solution is to get an icharger and to charge the batteries in parallel?
Click to expand...

Process for that would be:

1) unhook your serial harness.
2) plug in parallel harness.
3) plug parallel balance harness to all 4 batteries. ( if balance charging )
4) charge.
5) unplug the parallel balance harness. ( if balance charging )
6) unplug the parallel harness.
7) hook up the serial harness
8) connect to bike.

That gets old pretty quick :\

You can do this easily with andersons, but it requires a few special harnesses to be made and/or a lot of soldering and extra connections.
 
Yes, but most of the time I suppose I'd only do simple charge.

So initially:
1) unhook your serial harness.
2) plug in parallel harness.
3) charge.

And when it's over:
4) unplug the parallel harness.
5) hook up the serial harness
6) Ready :)

It's maybe not that long.

Is 250W enough? If I charge at 250W, at 74V8AH= 592Wh. So about 2 hours for full charge... Hmm.. seems ok?
 
1 thing to consider again, about the iCharger series, is that they are not rated for their top wattage constant, just like most RC chargers. You may get more like 200w out of it.

It would be a good start for you though. I started out on the iCharger 1010b+ with a cheap but reliable 'radio shack' power supply.. the slow charging got old ... later on upgraded to meanwells :)
 
Ok I'll get something bigger then. 350W minimum.

I've just seen a good deal for zippy pack in uk:
- 6S8AH for 50GBP: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120843989591?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_500wt_1415

In hobby king, I have a 5S8AH at 46GBP excluding shipping cost and taxes: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=16227

I already have 2 5S8AH, and I'm wondering if I can mix that with the 6S8AH batteries... But if I do that I don't know how I'm going to charge that :lol:
 
11S would be pretty weird to charge.

Start out with the basic iCharger 106 or 1010b+ setup, and get yourself a bulk charger later on.
 
Thanks guys. That's what I'm planning to do.

I've just check the shipping price and if I buy:
- 2 X 6S8AH I would pay 100GBP. The shop is in UK so shipping cost is very low (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120843989591&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:GB:1123#ht_500wt_1413)
- 2 X 5S8AH I would pay 124GBP + potential taxes.

Battery are similar in every points except that one is 1s and the other is 2s.

The price difference is quite high, and I can get higher capacity lipo for cheaper. So I think I'm going to buy the 6S8AH because it's really cheaper.

But now I'm stuck... how can I charge 5s and 6s lipo together? Any idea?


ps: Another possibility is to sell my actual 5S8AH on ebay and only purchase the 6S8AH?
 
You'l have to charge your paralelled block of 6s in one go, then set up and do another go with the 5s stuff.

One of the reasons for the poplularity of a 12s pack is that whether made up from 6s or 4s, either way you can paralell and charge in one big block most of the time.

I've been pretty happy with my 150w chargers. Turnigy cheapo's usually not in stock at HK nowdays. At 150w each, I run them on one 350w meanwell clone with a little headspace. Because they only pull 150w, I haven't had trouble with em overheating at all. Typical run is about 3 hrs, with 5s 20 ah on each charger.
 
Foret iCharger
Buy this one instead, much better solution and almost for the same prise
I wanted to buy an iCharger 1010b+ but went with this EOS instead!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HYPERION-EOS-1420i-NET3-CHARGER-1S-14S-20A-MAX-550W-/290653635917?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43ac4e854d
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Skyler
LFP reverse polarity.
2 3 4 5
Replies
105
Views
4,524
DaLanMan
DaLanMan
X
    • Like
Custom 15,000W eBike 60+ MPH 100.8V LiPo Powered
Replies
3
Views
1,229
Xform
X
electroneg
New to LiFePo4 and New Member - Battery, charging and BMS Questions.
Replies
24
Views
2,421
john61ct
J
A
low speed, high torque motor and Ligo battery choice help
Replies
10
Views
1,524
amberwolf
amberwolf
R
54.6V charger on a 58.4V lifepo4 pack
Replies
8
Views
1,280
redwing0001
R
Back
Top