Charging a 10s LIPO with 2 chargers (balance 4s and 6s conne

[marce002]

Hello All

I have a big 10s 10A lipo pack, but I do not have a 10s capable charger..(only have imax b6ac) . I wonder if I can charge it with two chargers simultaneously through a 4s and 6s balance plugs properly soldered to each cell...

Should it work with no trouble? see picture,,,,
Name: multiple balance.png

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[Hwy89]

If both chargers are totally isolated, (no voltage between negative wire of one to any of the wires of the other) it should work. The chargers should also draw their power from separate sources.
A safer method would be to cut the connection between cell group 6 and 7 and install a power plug with a matching shorted connection to reconnect the pack after charging.

 

[motomech]

Seems like a lot of risky re-wiring to Slow charge.
I would just buy a 10S balance charger, they aren't even that expensive. Watch HK for sales.
I mean really, isn't being able to use a 10S charger the main reason to stay with 10S when 12S adds so much performance for very little cost, except for this sorry time when there are no good 12S chargers available(A cost in convenience).
BTW-A 10S/10Ah pack is a small-to-medium pack.

 

[dogman dan]

You do know that if you treat that pack right, it won't need balancing that much. But yeah, buy a 10s charger, balancing kind preferred.

 

[wineboyrider]

I just use a cheap 6s Eco charger from HK to occasionally balance my 12s 32 ah pack. I just monitor the packs with a cell log and when or if one of the cells gets a bit out of balance I top it off and then balance it.

 

[ddk]

Hello All

I have a big 10s 10A lipo pack, but I do not have a 10s capable charger..(only have imax b6ac) . I wonder if I can charge it with two chargers simultaneously through a 4s and 6s balance plugs properly soldered to each cell...

of course you can do this safely as mentioned earlier, by adding a disconnect between the series connection of your paralleled battery packs.
Personally, I do this with all my battery packages by using 30A and 35A automotive switches as the disconnect making it an easy operation. In this way I can use the same power source for all balance chargers without worry.
Advantages?
faster charging! because I can apply more power to each section than my other options (bulk or whatever)

You might also invest in a way to bulk charge your battery, because as mentioned: If you don't heavily discharge your pack, it's cells generally stay in balance over most it's life.
While bulk charging is the easiest method, you do have to pay attention to the charging process and you should monitor the voltage of each paralleled cell group because I've been told (and have observed) bad things can (rarely) happen no matter which method you use.

The one advantage to (some) smart chargers is they will stop the charge process when these bad things happen. Otherwise YOU have to.

 

[marce002]

I have so many BMS 10s lying around from old bottles a friend gave me, but i do not trust them as much as my IMAX balancing and charging.... i once tried one , put it to charge, and was giving me 4.55vol in one or two cells and in other 4.3 and 4.2 just a caos....was a faulty board maybe///

 

[ddk]

I have so many BMS 10s lying around from old bottles a friend gave me, but i do not trust them as much as my IMAX balancing and charging.... i once tried one , put it to charge, and was giving me 4.55vol in one or two cells and in other 4.3 and 4.2 just a caos....was a faulty board maybe///

Although I haven't tried the newer programmable BMS(s), my earlier experiences with BMSs were similar to yours, which is why I use me as the BMS. I don't really trust the smart chargers either, because stuff has happened. (experience is a b*tch)

Plus I like to charge to 4.13-4.15V instead of 4.2V, or my batteries like to be charged there.
Happy happy battery

 

[dogman dan]

Lots of us doing that. I stopped charging with my RC chargers years ago.

I turned down a 48v charger, to max out at 4.15v per cell average. As long as the cells are all good, they tend to fill with not much more than .05 variance, So at most, the highest cell might be 4.20v.

Just because of the typical ride length, I rarely get below 3.7v, and they tend to stay balanced.

The RC charger still gets used, charging my 6s mower pack mostly. When I do need to balance, I charge up, then charge or discharge one cell at a time with the RC charger, through the balance wires. Quicker than taking the pack apart, and running an actual balance charge.

 

[motomech]

These days, I use the high quality Mean Well HLG series of LED power supplies as a bulk charger.
Fortunately, I have enough of the older "blue" Battery Medics to monitor/balance my simple 2S/2P packs;






The "black" Battery Medics that are sold today are crap.
Turnigy has a new checker/balancer, available @ Hobby King, which has received good reviews.

No more balance chargers for me.

 

[Riles]

The answer was given in a few posts, but after reading through all of them I'm not certain that it was totally clear so I just wanted to make it clear before OP pops a fuse trying to charge things.

Short answer- yes you can charge through the 4s and the 6s balance leads, but only if the chargers you're using have their own DC power supplies (or if your chargers plug in to the wall, as this would be the same thing). From a quick google, it looks like your B6AC plugs in to the wall, so you'll be fine. Just don't run the two chargers from the same DC power supply since they won't be isolated.

I ran in to this problem trying to charge a 16s pack; I ultimately charged it using two 8s chargers. I also have a 10s 10ah ebike pack, but I'm lazy so I charge it using an iCharger 1010B+ charger with a 10s balance lead, life is so much easier than splitting it. The 1010B+ was only like $50 or $60 used on ebay, so it was both the easiest and the cheapest route.

 

[eMark]

Am using two older RC LiPo/LiIo 2S-6S balance chargers at 1amp (top balance charge) setting with my DIY Vruzend 10S5P battery pack (Samsung 30Q cells). Can split into two 5S5P packs for both bottom and top balance charging (as needed) and then easilty reconnecting back to 10S5P for middle bulk charging with 2.5amp charger with voltage regulator reset so green light comes on at 39v. Then split into two 5S5P for top balance charging either with the HZ balance chargers or the HTRC Duo Lipo/Li-ion C240 digital readout for balance charging each parallel group. That way if any one balance charger goes down i've always got a backup for top balance charging (if/when needed). Sooo, have decided not to use a BMS (for better or worse).

One of the older RC HobbyZone 2S-6S balance chargers has a digital readout; while the other older HZ only has settings for 1A, 2A, etc with blinking lights indicating which group(s) of the 5S parallel cells are in need of balancing ... both HZ chargers rated at 70-80W. Only use them when present to keep a close eye on split pack voltages when top balancing to 4.05-4.07v per parallel group. Also have two cell checkers as no two cell checkers are ever exactly the same ... good to compare just to make sure all readings from balance chargers and cell checkers are within 0.1v if not 0.05v when top balance charging.

Also trying out this HTRC Duo C240 Charger at 1amp (with each 5S5P pack beginning at same time) at 39v for top balance charging (if/when necessary) each pack to 4.05v. Hopefully this 'relatively inexpensive' duo HTRC charger will last a good long time when only using at 1amp charge rate ...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NQ9K5V7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Decided on this DUO HTRC charger as one of its functions is checking internal resistance ... FWIW (?accuracy?). At least for comparative resistances as the pack ages with more and more charge/discharges cycles. The first Duo HTRC became defective after just one week ... possibly from putzing around with so many of its dual functions (free USPS return). Just received a replacement (free shipping) late yesterday (USPS Sunday delivery even though i don't have Prime). Will see how long this one lasts as the price seems too reasonable. Have been very satisfied so far with Amazon customer service with several related purchases (free shipping) since August (without Prime). This Duo HTRC balance charger is the only Chinese made item i've had to return so far. At least i was able to become very familiar with all the function settings ... so now i won't need to fiddle around and always keep it at the same setting all the time which it will remain at every time it's turned on again.