Plug & forget battery charger with zero/one time configuration

[mihlit]

Hi,
I'm looking for a battery charger that I can configure once (or smart enough that it requires no configuration) and later just plug in, no setting it up every time I want to use it.

What I want to achieve is that when I return home with my ebike I use for commuting to work and back, that I plug it in, do nothing else and next morning find my bike ready for another ride.

ATM I use iCharger which is fine charger, but it requires too much attention from a lazy person like me

I use friction drive with 5S 15 Ah LiPo. I was thinking about simple CC/CV charger with a BMS, but I did not find any BMS that would have decent balancing capability (current). As I want to charge that pack with at least 3.0 A and 50-100 mA balancing won't achieve anything here.

A bonus feature would be a possibility to set to end charging at 4.18 V +-, but that seems asking a bit too much I guess.

As I want something that has "less" features, I don't want to pay for that more than what I paid for the iCharger.

I checked things like BID and BattGo, but that still requires too much of my attention. If I don't find anything, I will probably build one myself (charger that can be controlled by uart/BT + arduino + rfid), but I'd prefer something ready to use.

Any ideas welcome

 

[eee291]

Balance curent has nothing to do with charge current. When the batteries reach a set voltage the BMS starts balancing/draining the cells that are a bit higher than the rest, this can occur even when the Batteries are being charged. And since the charger is in a CV stage, the charge current is much lower than 3A anyways. Even when the charger cuts off it can still balance the cells.

So, since you only have 5 Cells its really easy to find a cheap charger like this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-21V-3A-Power-Supply-Adapter-Charger-tip-5-5mm-x2-1mm-2-5mm-Positive-Inside/162851658792?hash=item25eab71c28

Then you just slap on a BMS and you're done.

 

[mihlit]

I meant balancing current relative to battery capacity and de facto charging current for other cells when first one is full.
Maybe I get it wrong, but what I see on the iCharger it charges the pack with the set current (3.0A) until first cell reaches the termination voltage (4.18 V in my case) while it is still being charged. It lowers the charge current so the cell voltage stays below the limit and it opens "bypass" so some current flows throw the balancing circuit. In this stage the balancing current allows other cells to be charged by what this cell can consume while staying bellow the limit + balancing current and after the cell is fully charged, all other cells charging current is limited to balancing current only. From what I was able to find, most BMS have 50 mA balancing current. For 15 Ah battery if 1 cell (parallel block) is 2 % off, it would take 6 hours to balance it. Assuming my math is corract. That's why I like that icharger can use much higher balancing current.