RC Lipo pack inspection, series/parallel charging, and lifespan/safety tips

Hi guys,

Just one question related to this. Im going to build a 24s 2p made of 8 6s5000mha batteries. First i put 2 packs permanent in parallel, including the balance leads, then i series the 4 groups. To charge I disconnect the series plug and charge 6s2p individual. So the question is, wen i connect my charger, he ask if i have batteries in parallel. Well, i have a 6s10mha made of 2 batteries. So...i have batteries in parellel or not ?



Take care guys
Luis.
 
The charger wants to know if the batteries are paralleled (and how many) to multiply the amount of current by that number (my powerlab 6 does that). For example, if you set it to charge at 3A 2P, it'll actually output 6A.
 
You can parallel 2 batteries (in your case amounting to 6s 10Ah) or 10, the charger doesn't care as long as your pack is 6s or less.
What you generally don't want is to push passed 1C of amps, which is 5A for 1 battery, 10A for 2, 15A for 3, etc.
Setting the PowerLab to give 5A 2P is equal to 10A 1P.
Hope this helps.
 
izeman said:
nope. any RC balance charger NEEDS the balance plug do be connected to charge. otherwise it will refuse to charge a lipo chemistry.
I wish that was true, but at least for the Turnigy Accucell6 (and any other "clone" of it, or whatever it is a clone of) doesn't--it will cheerfully charge a pack wihtout the balance connector attached at all, with just the main + - leads hooked up. Doesn't give you any alert about it either, that requires a bypass--it just starts charging as normal, in either LiPo or LiIo mode, for Charge or Fast Charge. I haven't checked to see if it will do it in Balance Charge mode--I've always had the balance plug hooked up for that one.
 
My voodoo spell to get my icharger and hyperion chargers doing bulk charges for 3 years isn't too hard to cast; you will find the instructions on how to cast the spell in the owner's manual of both of these chargers, or by poking around in the menus.

;)
 
neptronix said:
My voodoo spell to get my icharger and hyperion chargers doing bulk charges for 3 years isn't too hard to cast; you will find the instructions on how to cast the spell in the owner's manual of both of these chargers, or by poking around in the menus.

;)

Hey Neptronix. I want to bulk charge 12s. I went to the charge mode in my iCharger 3010b. I see where I can set to Lipo 4.1 and set the amps. However, the voltage only goes up to 37v 10s. Am I missing something here?
 
drew12345 said:
Hey Neptronix. I want to bulk charge 12s. I went to the charge mode in my iCharger 3010b. I see where I can set to Lipo 4.1 and set the amps. However, the voltage only goes up to 37v 10s. Am I missing something here?

As generic reply:

iCharger 3010b is designed to charge up to 10S. Some people run 10S so it may be used for bulk charging up to that cell count - pack voltage. 12S ain't gonna happen with a 3010b unless you break it down to smaller series strings.
 
So i want to take 4 packs of these and connect them in series to make packs of 59.2v and 5ah. so 3 packs of 4 lipos in series.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__15521__Turnigy_5000mAh_4S1P_14_8v_20C_hardcase_pack.html

How would i go about then connect those 3 packs of 59.2v 5ah batteries in parallel to make a 59.2v 15ah battery? What wires do i need to do this?
 
Hi can you offer my some advice on what battery's to buy for my 60 volt mid drive motor there are so many options . By the looks of it these rc battery's are the best value in just not sure if i should buy 3 x20 v or 5 x 12 vold will they stay cooler ir there split into 5 also the 5000 2s ?or 3 s ? is throwing me out a bit any suggestions would be awesome thanks please
 
super quick question and probably a simple answer:

I'm building a 12s4p pack and was going to solder up my own balance harness with a bunch of balance extensions from HK. do I just run them 4 into 1 (pin 1 on each battery balance cable into pin 1 on the balance harness). then there are 4 cells that are being balanced as one and i would occasionally break the pack and individually balance each battery.

When charging (hyperion) I was planning on doing it as one large battery and putting each 4:1 balance harnesses into the balance ports as outlined in this tutorial.

Is there anything else I should be aware of besides the 'golden rules of lipo' ?

TL;DR: making a 4 battery balance adapter is just each pin split into 4, or is there more to it?

Thanks!

SZ
 
neptronix said:
Guys, i wrote this 2 years ago but decided to never release it, after watching me and others give people RC Lipo management advice and watch it be ignored and garages get burned down often as a result. RC Lipos make for great batteries if managed properly, but please take *all* of this advice to heart and don't skip over the bits about safety. I do not want to be complicit in encouraging people to play with something that they can't handle.

If you don't think you can handle RC Lipo, don't bother.

The tips provided above have worked for me and many others for many years, but i will NOT assume any liability for what you do with the most powerful and also one of the most dangerous types of batteries you could possibly strap to a bicycle.

-D

Nepo, just found this... nice writeup, and a great contribution to the community. :D

-JD
 
If I have two brand new 3S 5000mah lipo batteries and I want to series charge them. Should I first charge them up individually and then charge them in series after I discharged them or can I charge them in series right away?
 
Tallahau said:
If I have two brand new 3S 5000mah lipo batteries and I want to series charge them. Should I first charge them up individually and then charge them in series after I discharged them or can I charge them in series right away?

I would charge them to same SOC beforehand. Of course, you can always charge via balance leads once the bricks are series wired. All that requires is a simple adapter lead with pins to stick into the appropriate JST cell tap and remember to charge less than 2-3A through the balance wires.
 
Ykick said:
Tallahau said:
If I have two brand new 3S 5000mah lipo batteries and I want to series charge them. Should I first charge them up individually and then charge them in series after I discharged them or can I charge them in series right away?

I would charge them to same SOC beforehand. Of course, you can always charge via balance leads once the bricks are series wired. All that requires is a simple adapter lead with pins to stick into the appropriate JST cell tap and remember to charge less than 2-3A through the balance wires.

Are the balance wires the ones connected to the JST plug or the i.e 4mm bullet connector? Got me one of these, suppose that would work with the appropriate charger and 4mm series adaptor?
 
the balance wires are the small wires with the jst-xh connectors. the 4mm bullets are the main discharge wires.
the linked connector will work but i almost guarantee you kff with that. it's critical to know in which female end to plug which one of the male battery balance connectors depending on which battery is in which 'series' place. if you don't take care and do it in the wrong order (50% chance) your connectors will be plasma.
 
Got a qu.

If I first put 2 - 3s batteries in series and then in Parallel With another 2- 3s batteries (these 3s are also in series) how do I connect the balance ports?

Do I first put them in series and then parallel (like the batteries themselves) or just all in parallel?

Thank you
 
BShady said:
Got a qu.

If I first put 2 - 3s batteries in series and then in Parallel With another 2- 3s batteries (these 3s are also in series) how do I connect the balance ports?

Do I first put them in series and then parallel (like the batteries themselves) or just all in parallel?

Thank you


You should parallel your batteries and balacne wires and then join them to the next two paralleled batteries in series. Dont parallel the balance wires between the series packs or it will melt.
 
Quick question on wiring a 20s4p pack:

what gauge wire should I use:
1) between individual batteries to parallel
2) For the Series connections between Parallel sets
3) from the 20s4p pack to my controller

Also, do most of you directly solder your parallel pack or use plugs between each? Plugs increase the flexibility and everything in the long run, but you can keep things so much cleaner by directly soldering them. In my current 12s6p pack I only use connectors for the Series connections.

thanks,

SZ
 
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