Parallel charge with iMax B6 Lipo Balance Charger 60W

[Alastor]

Hello mates ,

I ordered 2 more 6s1p Zippy 20C 5Ah packs four in total so i can make a 12s2p configuration for my electric scooter.
I will wire each 6s1p packs in parallel so i can make two 6s2p packs and then connect them in series to have the 12s2p configuration.

I am currently using an Imax B6 lipo balanced/charger to charge up each pack and i was wondering if i can charge up each parallel pack on this charger like a bulk charger.

The charger has two options while i charge my lipos : balance and charge selection and i was wondering if the charge program is like a bulk charger and if it is and i can just plug the charge leads form my 6s2p packs and then balance them if i need to.

Also i don't know if this will work without paralleling the balance leads can i do this and balance charge each pack in between when i need to ?

Thanks a lot
Andreas

 

[Punx0r]

I use the exact setup that you are proposing and what you suggest will work fine

Using the "charge" setting, you just connect the main positive and negative leads, as you say, like a bulk charger.

When you make the 6S2P packs, you can parallel the balance leads (I did). Or you could leave them separate, and balance each 6S1P separately, although this may take more time.

Using one charger on a pack this size (12S 10Ah) will take a long time. I currently use two Imax B6 chargers, one on each 6S2P pack. It still takes about 3.5 hours for a full charge!

 

[dogman dan]

When you select charge, but not balance charge, you are "bulk charging" But the charger will slow the charge dramaticly at the end of the charge for safety, making it a lot safer than using some kind of bare bones power supply.

If you select charge, not balance charge, and connect the jst plug you still get single cell monitoring while you charge, but not balancing. This can be handy, for spotting a problem cell that charges too fast because it's capacity is low.

Well, acutally, 50w is already pretty dramaticly slow. Then you half it. :wink:

It will work fine, and safely. Particularly if you are trying to extend battery lifespan by selecting lilo charge, and only charging to 4.1v.

 

[Alastor]

That's nice thanks for the information mates.

So charging the Lipos as Lilos will make em last longer that's nice to know as well.I will try to drain them till 3.6 per cell so they can last even more.

If i parallel the balance leads then will i be able to plug the paralleled lead to the charger so i can balance charge each 6s2p pack ?
Also i am thinking of paralleling the two 6s2p packs with a charging wire so i can charge the hole pack even if it take more time.From my point of view the charging time " overall " will be the same.

Another thing i was wondering is that if i parallel the balance leads will the 6s cell meter i am having read the cells of will not work at all ? because in parallel the cells are 12.

 

[Punx0r]

If i parallel the balance leads then will i be able to plug the paralleled lead to the charger so i can balance charge each 6s2p pack ?
Also i am thinking of paralleling the two 6s2p packs with a charging wire so i can charge the hole pack even if it take more time.From my point of view the charging time " overall " will be the same.

Yes, if you parallel the balance leads you can charge the 6S2P pack as if it were one larger battery (think how you can buy packs like 3S2P from hobbyking - it's the same).

You can also parallel your two 6S2P packs and charge them as 6S4P

But obviously you *must* break the series connection (when you make it 12S to run the bike) before you parallel the balance leads - otherwise you will have a short circuit and a lot of smoke...

The LiIo setting is good Charging the pack to 4.1VPC, I see some cells near 4.2V, some only 4.06V etc. If I used the lipo setting and charged to 4.2VPC, some cells could be near 4.3V - too high. This is on the charge setting, not balance charge. Balance charging every time would take a loooooooooong time.

Charging to 4.1 and discharging to 3.6V I get 80% of rated capacity (8Ah from a 10Ah pack).

 

[Alastor]

Yea i will break the series connection in order to make the 12s2p > 6s4p and charge them up all together.

Another thing i am new with RC Lipos and i never discharged the batteries ( in total 3 cycles i used them ) do i have to do so every time ? Discharge then Charge ?

Is there an easy way to balance my 6s2p balance leads without having to buying new cables and all?
I am thinking cutting the adapters from the balance leads,make them the same length,parallel them then attach them all to the adapter?will this work ?

Thanks

 

[dogman dan]

No just charge them. For best lifespan, charge to 4.1v using the lilo setting on the charger, then stop discharging at about 3.65v. You lose 20% capacity, but avoid accidental overcharge or overdischarge better. Otherwise follow the lipo rules in my signature below my posts, to prevent creating a dangerous cell.

Many ways to do the pack charging. You can cut and splice wires to permanently paralell two packs at the balance wires. But if you do, when you wear out that pack and get another, you will have to do it again. For that reason, I now just make adapters so any pack I own can be plugged into the paralell adapter anytime I wish.

A bag of JST extensions is quite cheap, and you just cut and splice them to make inexpensive paralell rigs, for the number of packs you need to connect.

 

[Alastor]

Thanks a lot again for the help mate :wink: