Hyperion 1420i as 1s charger

[wesnewell]

Needed a single cell charger. Opened the ends and broke the top tabs off a balance socket so I could plug it into any cell in a pack. Set the charger for 1s and charged individual cells through the balance plug. Now here's the good part. These low cells would charge up fast and the charger would tlc end, and then the cells would rop back down pretty fast. How ever, after setting charger for 100% charge and to continue instead of stop, when then end came, shortly thereafter I noticed the voltage start to climb again til it reached 4.199 and sit there. Leaving it charging while displaying TCL: End. Checking the cell some time later after ending the charge cycle, it was showing 4.181V and didn't drop for the short time I watched it. Will this cell charge last? Don't know for sure yet, but at least I ound a way to force the cell to at least 4.199V

 

[whereswally606]

thanks for posting this.i have a hyperion and a load of zippy flightmax cells, currently im sat in my garage waiting for the duff two cells in two different 3s packs to balance up. Its a 0.3v delta and im not really hopefull. Its doing some work though slowly. just gave this ago but my charger wants to detect the battery on its main charge leads and I dont want to use them on the balance taps. Basically 1 cell in each 3s pack is 0.3v lower than the rest. The balance charge is literally taking forever.

 

[Ykick]

Charging through the balance plug becomes one of those revelations you appreciate. In some instances, it's the only way to bring a low cell into true balance with the rest of the series cells.

Think about how the usual RC charger balance routine works: It bulk charges series cells until one hits HVC, the RC charger then discharges that high cell while the others rest and/or sit idle. Charge is burned off the high cell, the bulk charge is applied to all cells again until one cell (usually the same one) hits HVC again and again, over and over. Eventually, more and more cells reach HVC until the last one. At which point the charge terminates.

Aside from the obvious fact this is very slow, the practical result from this type of balancing is that lower voltage cells will almost always remain lowest voltage cells in the pack. Higher voltage cells (often lowest capacity in the pack) will always be the cells reaching full and repeatedly drained by the bleed resistors inside the RC charger during balance charge cycle.

As you discovered, once you understand basic balance plug wiring and adapt a connection, it's very quick and easy to raise consistently low cells up enough to better balance the overall pack. I rarely use the iCharger balance function anymore and prefer instead to go with 1S (or, whatever S number makes sense for the number of cells in a brick I'm working with). Keep charge current under 2A and you should be good to go...

 

[dogman dan]

Same thing I've been suggesting for awhile. Ypedal was the one that clued me in, he made a harness that had a balance plug on one end, and andersons on the other end that can charge any single cell or pair of adjacent cells, whatever.

My method of connecting was just a plug end for the charger on one end, and a bare jst male prong on the other. I just plug in the bare prongs of the jst to the cel I want, set one of my lame B6 chargers to 1s and 1 amp, and top up the cell. This is done after the other charger has already fully charged the rest, so at the end all cells are at full voltage.

 

[whereswally606]

Got this working today finally managed to balance up two susPect 3s packs thanks wesnewell.