Buying checklist for 44v 25ah flightmax battery

[SniperGaulois]

Is this list for a battery correct:

10x
6s 22v 5ah packs
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=8586&Product_Name=ZIPPY_Flightmax_5000mAh_6S1P_25C_

3x
quattro 6s chargers
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=11170

2x
Cell-Log 8M Cell Voltage Monitor 2-8S Lipo
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=10952

 

[neptronix]

Depends on how you want to charge.
Sounds like you want to disconnect every battery in your pack and balance charge each one inbetween charges.

Let me tell you right now, that is a severe pain in the ass and you'll end up re-deciding in short time.

Here's an idea.

Run 14S,
Consisting of a serial string of 2x 5S packs and 1x 4S packs.

Buy yourself a hyperion 14s net duo charger ( ~$170 ) and charge the whole set connected in serial.
If you can live with this voltage ( 52v ), it will save you a LOT of hassle.

Get a turnigy watt meter if you don't have one already.

And a 5s cell checker.

Get yourself about 50 or so 4mm HXT bullet connectors and make yourself some serial & parallel wiring harnesses.
Don't buy the wires from hobbyking, those are aluminum which IMHO is kinda junk.
Go get yourself a meter or two of 1oga. wire, and a meter or two of 12ga copper wire from radioshack/frys/local electronics store.

Buy a bunch of those 5s & 4s pack balance lead extenders, 1 for each battery and 6 spares.
Use those to make a battery parallel harness

Run that big ol' pack in parallel once you have confirmed that all that batteries are good ( HK does ship out some duds from time to time ), run those in parallel, with the balance leads paralleled also, and have a nice day.

Oh, and don't forget a power supply for the hyperion charger. Read the specs but i think a 600w power supply is appropriate.

 

[dogman dan]

Correct for a 12s setup?

Assuming so, since you are buying two cell monitors, charge with two of these. Or the hyperion.

http://epbuddy.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=4&zenid=0m4p2kjfkfrp1tdlh9lp913q46

And two 350 watt meanwell power supplies. That's a setup to charge 12s 25 ah FAST.

You will leave your batteries permanently paralelled in two 6s blocks. Then charge them as two batteries.

If you don't need so fast, then one meanwell, and two 150 watt chargers. You can see my setup in my thread on one way to charge 12s.

Screw those piece of crap quattro chargers. too slow.

 

[neptronix]

Screw those piece of crap quattro chargers. too slow.

What he said. Those are basically 4 junky chargers all hooked together. I am sure the charger itself has little to no options or safety-proof functionality as a larger, better charger has.

And two 350 watt meanwell power supplies. That's a setup to charge 12s 25 ah FAST.

Is there a suitable 600w meanwell out there that will do? i would say running serial / parallel power supplies would be less ideal.

And for 150w.. dear lord that would take forever.

 

[SniperGaulois]

Thanks, the Hyperions are fantastic, adapting the wiring and all the connectors, THAT sound like a totally more sly way of going about it! those are the best explanations!!!!!!!

 

[MitchJi]

Hi,

Thanks, the Hyperions are fantastic, adapting the wiring and all the connectors, THAT sound like a totally more sly way of going about it! those are the best explanations!!!!!!!

Hyperion with or without Meanwells described here:
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=23362

You could use one Hyperion with two MW's to get faster charging.

I just used two 7-pin pigtails and crimped some VAL-U-LOK socket connectors on the ends, and stuffed them into a 14-pin VAL-U-LOK 4.2mm PE Series plug that matches up with the connector coming from the LVC boards in my 12s3p packs. To power the 1420, I used two unmodified S-350-24 MeanWell supplies, wired in parallel:

Requires two MW's set to 27v connected in parallel:

...in order to get the full 550W out of the 1420i units, you need a supply that can put out 650-700W, and they need to be about 26-28V. By far the cheapest/most readily available MW options are the SP-320-24 and S-350-24 models....

 

[Philistine]

I agree about going straight to the Hyperion 1420i. I started with the Quatro chargers and now have upgraded to the Hyperion as described. As noted, make sure the PSU you choose, however that is done (rather than using meanwells I have a dedicated PSU that puts out 30 amps/26 volts, but the Meanwells parralleled is the cheapest option), make sure you have enough current from your PSU to use the full 550W of the Hyperion. On the Quatros it was taking me several hours to charge my 20ah pack @ 50% DOD, the hyperion (550w) does it (including balancing) in about an hour. Totally worth the extra money and a dream in terms of accuracy and quality.

 

[dogman dan]

Hyperions for the win seems to be the word.

For those with no money though, two 150 watt chargers and one cheap 350 watt meanwell is not so bad a choice for a pack of two 6s sections. Will charge two 10 ah sections in a couple hours. Fast enough for a charge while you work for sure. One good 300 watt 6s charger would do the same thing, but require you to paralell the block of batteries first.

 

[SniperGaulois]

How much does the charging current affect the durability of RC batteries?

how many cycles should i expect out of some flightmax ones?

 

[neptronix]

How much does the charging current affect the durability of RC batteries?

how many cycles should i expect out of some flightmax ones?

1. All i know is that if you charge them at a higher C than they're rated, you reduce their life. If you charge them at a lower C, you may extend it.. dunno.

2. 300 is the number given to people who are using them for RC flight and such, but those guys discharge abuse those batteries like none other. I have heard of someone on here getting 600 cycles out of a pack.. probably because they did the shallow discharge thing and charged only to 4.10-4.15v.

There aren't a lot of long term tests frankly.. haven't heard of anyone needing to replace all their batteries yet though. Maybe poke around on rc-groups.com a bit to find out more?

Anyhow many of us chose these batteries not for their longevity, but their low weight, high discharge, size, and flexibility of pack arrangement. Lifepo4 doesn't put out much C and takes a lot of room, so you can only fit so much AH/Volts on your bike. That is a big problem.

 

[MitchJi]

Hi,

How much does the charging current affect the durability of RC batteries?

Not sure about charging current but I think even if you max the Hyperion (~12A which is about .5 C) you will be fine. Two things will make a big difference:
Set the Hyperion to charge to 95% or even 90%.
Limit your discharge to 80%.

 

[dogman dan]

If you are worried about cycle life, then lifepo4 has the best potential. Supposedly 2000 cycles is possible, by low discharge rates and discharge depth less than 80%. Makse sense to me treating lipo the same would help it do better.

But bottom line, It took me 2 full years of hard riding to put 500 cycles on my first ping, so I wouldn't sweat the cost of lipo's shorter cycle life if you are only charging once a day. The ability to run a smaller pack can make up any difference.

My commute is so long, the ping still works the best for me. 15 miles, charge, 15 miles home, charge. About 3 days a week for 11 months.

 

[SniperGaulois]

Yes there are lots of advantages to RC packs, the fun, making custom proportions, weight, troubleshooting, high tech balancing, being able to upgrade just the packs when it's time.

300 cycles is ok, 600 would be very nice, it's pleasant that a pack lasts 2-3 years, i expect some people on here are up 1000+ cycles on ping cells by now.

hopefully we will have access to car cells soon! makes you want to go to a lifepo factory and climb through the window!