Need some battery advice
- Thread starter electr0n
- Start date
Alan B
100 GW
I like the Anderson PowerPoles. The 45 amp rating is short term, continuous current they should be derated to about 20 amps. At 48 volts that's 1KW continuous and 2KW short term, which is enough for most setups. I've been running those shown above up to 40 amps without problems so far. They are taking some damage from charging the controller caps, a precharging resistor is going to be added soon.
I was just indicating that if you want to use heavier than #10 wire that the connectors should be sized up also. No point in putting in heavy wire that won't properly fit the connectors nor carry the larger current the wire can handle.
The bullets from HK are not designed to be crimped. The Turbo soldering pencils are under $10 on ebay.
I would only use shrouded and polarized bullets. Any other type is asking for trouble. One touch and instant destruction with these high current Lipos. Ruins the connectors, wires and sometimes the batteries. Hard on the fingers and molten copper in the eye makes for a really bad day. Too easy to make that mistake one day when you are tired. It is called Kentucky Fried Fingers (KFF) and is all too common here on ES.
I was just indicating that if you want to use heavier than #10 wire that the connectors should be sized up also. No point in putting in heavy wire that won't properly fit the connectors nor carry the larger current the wire can handle.
The bullets from HK are not designed to be crimped. The Turbo soldering pencils are under $10 on ebay.
I would only use shrouded and polarized bullets. Any other type is asking for trouble. One touch and instant destruction with these high current Lipos. Ruins the connectors, wires and sometimes the batteries. Hard on the fingers and molten copper in the eye makes for a really bad day. Too easy to make that mistake one day when you are tired. It is called Kentucky Fried Fingers (KFF) and is all too common here on ES.
Thanks for all the responses guys. All right so the only change I'm going to make is to switch from 8 gauge wire to 10 gauge wire to fit into the p45 anderson clone connectors. I didn't consider that the wires to the controller and motor will be the bottle neck so I don't need to use 8 gauge wire from the batteries to the controller anyway.
I'm glad I posted here before ordering anything! One last little thing with regard to batteries. I don't have any type of watt meter or real-time battery monitor for my bike so I wanted to pick something up. I'm planning on running 66.6v nominal so I guess that rules out the turnigy watt meter and also the watts up meter. I know the cycle analyst would be perfect but I don't want spend another $150 at this point. Can anyone recommend something basic from hobby king that will prevent me from discharging my batteries too low? I wish ebikes.ca would make a cheaper version of the cycle analyst with less features or something. The main thing I'm looking for is some kind of fuel gauge for my bike and maybe a real-time display of watts used so I could conserve energy appropriately.
I'm glad I posted here before ordering anything! One last little thing with regard to batteries. I don't have any type of watt meter or real-time battery monitor for my bike so I wanted to pick something up. I'm planning on running 66.6v nominal so I guess that rules out the turnigy watt meter and also the watts up meter. I know the cycle analyst would be perfect but I don't want spend another $150 at this point. Can anyone recommend something basic from hobby king that will prevent me from discharging my batteries too low? I wish ebikes.ca would make a cheaper version of the cycle analyst with less features or something. The main thing I'm looking for is some kind of fuel gauge for my bike and maybe a real-time display of watts used so I could conserve energy appropriately.
Alan B
100 GW
The direct-plug cycle analyst is $120. Maybe find a used one. Justin has done a lot for ebikes, this is perhaps the best way to reward him. It is also a lot more useful than a basic integrating wattmeter.
Good luck with your build.
Good luck with your build.
Alan B
100 GW
One other thought. You could homebrew an integrating ammeter fuel gauge that Jeremy Harris designed. Thread here on ES.
Alan B
100 GW
Here is Jeremy's fuel gauge thread:
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=22675
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=22675
I got my batteries. They're 6s 22.2v nominal. I measured them to be between 23.1v and 23.2v. Do I need to charge these soon as possible or can they wait a bit?
One more thing I didn't realize my icharger doesn't come with a balancing connector. Is it ok to charge these batteries without balancing them and use them until I can get a balancing connector? How critical is it to balance them? Any advice?
One more thing I didn't realize my icharger doesn't come with a balancing connector. Is it ok to charge these batteries without balancing them and use them until I can get a balancing connector? How critical is it to balance them? Any advice?
LegendLength
100 W
If you have time you can balance + charge each battery separately, until your balance cable arrives.
Alan B
100 GW
electr0n said:
Batteries are shipped at a good voltage for storage, so no hurry. If you had a new one that was low it would indicate a problem. Those appear to be fine.
Ykick
1 GW
This guy offers a wealth of great RC tech information including adapting computer power supplies. Spend some time there, it's well worth it...
http://sites.google.com/site/tjinguytech/home
All new bricks should 1st be balanced before connecting to parallel charge boards/cables - put each brick individually on your iCharger and balance charge. I would not charge to 4.2V/cell though - change that parameter in "settings" to around 4.1-4.15V/cell or perhaps use Lilo chemistry setting.
http://sites.google.com/site/tjinguytech/home
All new bricks should 1st be balanced before connecting to parallel charge boards/cables - put each brick individually on your iCharger and balance charge. I would not charge to 4.2V/cell though - change that parameter in "settings" to around 4.1-4.15V/cell or perhaps use Lilo chemistry setting.
Thanks for the tip. I'll check out that site.
I found a super easy pc power supply tutorial. It just involves cutting two wires and soldering them together to trick the power supply into thinking its connected to a pc. It says no resistors or loading of the 5v line is necessary. Anyone have insight on whether or not the 5v line should be loaded? Some people say loading the 5v line increases the output voltage on the 12v line.
I found a super easy pc power supply tutorial. It just involves cutting two wires and soldering them together to trick the power supply into thinking its connected to a pc. It says no resistors or loading of the 5v line is necessary. Anyone have insight on whether or not the 5v line should be loaded? Some people say loading the 5v line increases the output voltage on the 12v line.
I got my atx power supply to run the charger for a bit. It says it's rated for 12v and 18amps. So I tried to set my charger below that. However after a few minutes the charger turned off and there was a burning smell. I checked the charger with a 12 volt battery and it looks fine. The power supply is dead though.
Any guesses as to what happened? All I did was connect the green and black wires to trick the power supply into turning on. Then I used the yellow and black wires on the 12v line to the charger. I measured 12.4 volts unloaded.
I'm thinking about just buying a proper power supply now. I don't want to risk frying my charger and possibly damaging my batteries trying to save a few bucks using cheap pc power supplies. However I also would rather avoid spending too much for a power supply. Any suggestions on a good power supply that isn't too expensive.
Any guesses as to what happened? All I did was connect the green and black wires to trick the power supply into turning on. Then I used the yellow and black wires on the 12v line to the charger. I measured 12.4 volts unloaded.
I'm thinking about just buying a proper power supply now. I don't want to risk frying my charger and possibly damaging my batteries trying to save a few bucks using cheap pc power supplies. However I also would rather avoid spending too much for a power supply. Any suggestions on a good power supply that isn't too expensive.
Ykick
1 GW
If I were outfitting today I'd take close look at this:
http://epbuddy.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=28&zenid=ofdl9bs1gt1007pns3utfs1070
Or, the other day I saw super cheap 12 volt'ish MW type clone on eBay for under $30 shipped from China but good luck if it needed warranty service.
Myself, I bought one of those A20 chargery 15A or so supplies. Sags above 7.5A, 6S on iCharger 106B+ but lasted over a year so far and judging by reviews that's above average.
http://epbuddy.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=28&zenid=ofdl9bs1gt1007pns3utfs1070
Or, the other day I saw super cheap 12 volt'ish MW type clone on eBay for under $30 shipped from China but good luck if it needed warranty service.
Myself, I bought one of those A20 chargery 15A or so supplies. Sags above 7.5A, 6S on iCharger 106B+ but lasted over a year so far and judging by reviews that's above average.
Yes that is what I had in mind.
I managed to get a second atx power supply working. I balance charged all three of my 6s 8ah lipos. This supply says its only good for 12v and 12amps so that's less than half the potential of the icharger 206b I have which is supposed to handle up to 300 watts. It looks like I'll have to series connect a couple atx power supplies or get a mean well.
I hacked together some connectors on my batteries today. I've got three 6s 8ah Zippys in series for 66.6v nominal It was showing 73v after balance charging. Took the bike out for a quick test ride to play with the higher voltage and it was a lot of fun. There is a big increase in torque and acceleration. I upgraded from 48v nicad pack on its way out. The lighter weight is really nice too.
I managed to get a second atx power supply working. I balance charged all three of my 6s 8ah lipos. This supply says its only good for 12v and 12amps so that's less than half the potential of the icharger 206b I have which is supposed to handle up to 300 watts. It looks like I'll have to series connect a couple atx power supplies or get a mean well.
I hacked together some connectors on my batteries today. I've got three 6s 8ah Zippys in series for 66.6v nominal It was showing 73v after balance charging. Took the bike out for a quick test ride to play with the higher voltage and it was a lot of fun. There is a big increase in torque and acceleration. I upgraded from 48v nicad pack on its way out. The lighter weight is really nice too.
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