Upgrading from Imax B6 (copy)

I

iovaykind

10 kW
Joined
May 16, 2011
Messages
572
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United States
Okay, so I'm on my first charge cycle and I already can't stand how slow charging at 50w is.. my 10x 4s1p 5000mah hardcase packs need something juicier and I need to save time, not so much money in a case as extreme as this. It should take about 8hrs to fully charge the packs, I want to cut that time down to 2-3hrs. I've looked into alternatives, which I should look into? I still want to save money and not spend a crazy amount on a charger, but if I can get away with charging in 2-3hrs, that's a lot less monitoring time than 8hrs.

Also, in the event OF a fire, what do I even do? I'm watching the charging but I'm not sure I would even know what to do if a fire started other than try the fire extinguisher (is that even a good idea for lithium fires)?
 
icharger
icharger
icharger

:)
fork over the extra dough for a quality charger and you won't be looking for another one ever.

Also you would be best to get a meanwell or two for your bulk charging for a fast rate. Using an RC charger to put out all the juice you need gets expensive quick.

What's the cell count you are running?
 
20s2p, 4s1p turnigy hardcase 5000mah packs. So the charger sees 4s10p, 14.8v nominal packs with total of 50amp hours.

Basically looking at the ECO6-10 or Turnigy A-6-10, which is the better charger? The reviews look good, and charging at 10a for either one puts me at 5hrs if the cells are fully discharged which they should never be. I never plan to run the batteries under 3.5v/cell anyway, and will only charge to 4.15v/cell
 
iCharger 3010b...or just a pair of Meanwells.

I charge a 20Ah 20s4p pack from 3.6 volt per cell to 4.1v per cell ( 72 to 83 volts in about 3 hrs using my pair of Meanwell S-350-48s.

No need to reconfigure the pack just plug it in.

As for balancing...well you can still take the pack apart to balance with the other charger ...or the iCharger if necessary...

If you got an iCharger, you would still need a power supply to run it...something like a pair of Meanwell S-350-48's in parallel turned down to to 36 volt each. Ok so that is only 650 watts or so, and not the full 1000W that the icharger 3010b COULD put out if you had a big enough supply.

So if you buy an icharger...you still need to buy a power supply for it. That same power supply can charge the pack just as quickly without the iCharger..and less hassle

Search the forum for Meanwell and CC/CV Fechters Mini Meanwell limiter board and similar terms...
Hang on ..here is my list of favourites...



hope this works
 
You could also get the FMA Powerlab 8 and charge at 40A. You could make adapters so you could charge your pack as 8s5p. Warranty service is excellent with FMA. Software and firmware updates are also available. The Powerlab 8 also has balanced discharge capability. Nice feature to have to see how your cells behave during discharge and when they exactly they go out of balance.

You can also build your own 24v 1000w+ PSU with a pair HP server power supplies for less then 40 bucks.
 
iovaykind said:
Also, in the event OF a fire, what do I even do? I'm watching the charging but I'm not sure I would even know what to do if a fire started other than try the fire extinguisher (is that even a good idea for lithium fires)?
Click to expand...

BIG pile of salt or sand. You want to smother a lithium fire. As Y said, an extinguisher should help reduce the spread of fire, but will not affect the lithium fire.

And get some Meanwells or server supplies. Hobby chargers are toys...
 
iovaykind said:
.... looking at the ECO6-10 or Turnigy A-6-10, which is the better charger? The reviews look good, and charging at 10a for either one puts me at 5hrs ....
Click to expand...

My first EC06-10 blew up within the first 30 mins.
The warranty replacement (long delayed) cuts out on over temp fault if i try to charge at more than 7 A
It may work better for you at 14.8 v or if i used an 18v PSU rather than a 12v for my 18.5v packs ??
for the $35 cost its hard to complain, but i would look for a better solution. :cry:
 
I think I need more options of PSU rather than charger. Right now the ONLY "PSU" that works is my car battery. None of the transformers I use work.. always leads to error on the b6. How about someone recommend me a good cheap power supply that's at least 200w so it can also handle an upgrade to a better charger in the near future.

Edit:
Would this work well? I'm afraid I'll buy it and it'll cause problems with the imax b6 like all the other PSUs I had. Anyone know the cause of such problems?
 
HKing sell power supplies specifically for chargers.
Most of us have some form of PSU from a computer or server (higher power) which can be picked up cheap and repurposed if you have the tech know how.
Search the forum for info.. lots of it on here.
 
Meanwell S-350 is a good 350 watt power supply. Excellent to use with chargers up to about 300 watts, or as I do, a pair of 150 watt chargers. Why two? two 150 watt chargers was cheap at the time.

Double your speed by having two of these, running two 300 watt chargers, or chargers set to use only 300w.

The meanwells come in different voltages, so pick the voltage your charger likes. Bigger chargers like more than 12v.

Personally I like the idea of still using chargers. I want to take the packs off the bike for safe storage every charge, I'm not charging daily or twice daily, and like the idea that I have the ability to monitor the voltage of each cell as it charges if I want to.
 
Can anyone tell me why the PSU I use don't work? I've used a. a car battery charger b. a household transformer and c. a PSU made specifically for the imax b6 (though it was cheap chinese stuff so i think that was the cause of it breaking)
 
iovaykind said:
How about someone recommend me a good cheap power supply that's at least 200w so it can also handle an upgrade to a better charger in the near future.
Click to expand...

Already have done, A Meanwell S-350-48 or id the Imax can't handle voltages above 12 volt input a Meanwell S-350-12 volt

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Mean-Well-S-350-12-5-DC-Power-Supply-/280512973187



iovaykind said:
Can anyone tell me why the PSU I use don't work? I've used a. a car battery charger b. a household transformer and c. a PSU made specifically for the imax b6 (though it was cheap chinese stuff so i think that was the cause of it breaking)
Click to expand...

They probably just can't supply the current the charge is asking them to supply, so the output voltage is dropping...then the charger gets upset and gives an error...or the PSYU shuts down because it over current protection kicks in
 
I had similar problems, a cheap 12v charger would not power my B6. It supplied what I was told is called dirty power. No way do I understand it, but attaching even the smallest and worn out sla to the charger then made the power clean enough to use.

So you could likely use a 12v psu, if you connect it to a lead battery first. Careful though, it's not a charger, and could blow up a lead battery.

Even when using a 12v charger and a fairly big marine battery, I still had issues with the 150w chargers. They'd suck the voltage down below the threshold the charger ran on. So the chargers can shut down if they are running at too many watts relative to the psu. This is part of why I chose two 150 watt chargers for my 350 watt meanwell. Theoretically I have plenty of power to run both without maxing the output of the meanwell. I'm hoping the psu might last longer that way.

BTW, the 5 amp psu's for RC chargers seem to be extremely flaky. Them blowing smoke right away seems to be standard. Not much better for meanwell psu clones too. I had one die pretty fast.
 
Can anyone tell me why the PSU I use don't work? I've used a. a car battery charger b. a household transformer and c. a PSU made specifically for the imax b6 (though it was cheap chinese stuff so i think that was the cause of it breaking)
Click to expand...

The $10 psu that came with my imax died right away as well.

Save yourself the trouble, and just jump to bulk charging with a meanwell. Cheaper, quicker, and simpler.

In the mean time, dig out the power supply in that old computer you have and use it as a 12v power supply for the Imax.
 
auraslip said:
In the mean time, dig out the power supply in that old computer you have and use it as a 12v power supply for the Imax.
Click to expand...


Yep, a brilliant suggestion. I am doing much the same on my bike as ghetto charger at the farm workshop


Try this thread, about half way down I mention how to connect various wires together to make a single supply work as a basic 12v PSU...most will easily supply 10 or 15 amps...on the 12 volt line

Quick guide to making a PC PSU run when not connected to the PC



z_mbconatxmain.gif


A pc supply should run your iMax just fine. Would not attempt bulk charging from one till you get more experience with charging though..they tend to have no current limiting and it gets complicated

Just a quick search of some of my posts and a few PC supply suggestions here...ideas at least.


http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=8357&start=15


http://www.wikihow.com/Convert-a-Computer-ATX-Power-Supply-to-a-Lab-Power-Supply


http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=28632


http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=28632



http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Mean-Well-S-350-12-5-DC-Power-Supply-/280512973187
 
A bulk power supply will not allow you to deal with a severly unballanced pack or ballancing our new/old packs before assembly... either way if you are playing with lipo you need a programmable charger in the workshop.
Click to expand...

Indeed. I even find the imax lacking for balancing - as I can't change the preset voltages on it.
 
Looks like it will do the job.

Connect the mains voltage to the screw terminal on the front, and any pair of the '+' and '-' will do , they are usually all common...just check with a volt meter first
 
That's a meanwell clone. I have had two. One burned out very fast, the other is lasting better. Like the other chargers, etc from china, it's always a toss of the dice how long they last.

There are numerous connetors on it, so you can power up several chargers. Just connect chargers to one of the + and one of the - terminals.

On the AC input terminals, put the + black wire to L and the white wire to N, and if you ground it, the green wire to the ground symbol. Ground is a bunch of horizontal lines, no letter G on mine.

Get one, or a real meanwell, in 12v. It's what you need to run a B6 or other less expensive chargers that run on 12v. If you plan on a real expensive high powered charger, you may want to hold off and get a 24v meanwell. The higher power chargers may not run on only 12v. Some require 18-24v.

Some dig the bulk charging thing. Often they are charging daily or more. I like actually using RC chargers because my lipo runs recreational bikes, and I don't mind removing the packs from the bike to charge. I just prefer storing the lipo till the next use in another place. So charging the "hard way" is not hard for me in any way. With some long wires on the charger, you can of course, charge with the bikes attached to the bike using an RC charger. You just have to have the right adapter plugs made up, for how you plan to do the charging. So you'd unplug a series harness for running the bike, and plug in a paralell harness for charging.
 
In fact, at least one of the bigger chargers run at up to 38 volt...the iCharger 3010b for instance...may be others but this is the only one i have experience with
 
I can't justify the cost of the icharger 3010b so I doubt I'll ever need a crazy PSU. If anything, later on I can series a set of these meanwell clones and power the higher end chargers. I'm planning to get another charger, something in the 200w range. Is it possible to parallel chargers so that they add up in terms of amps going into the batteries?

Just purchased the 360w version of the PSU, willing to take a gamble since these chinese companies back their products because they want good feedback.
 
Well if you run two chargers, then you are going to need a bigger psu

iovaykind said:
Is it possible to parallel chargers so that they add up in terms of amps going into the batteries?
Click to expand...

Probably, but seems a lot of hard work, extra wires and expense, not to mention increasing the risk of plugging in something in wrong...but you would need diodes to prevent one charger from sending a reverse current back up the other one

So you are gong to have two chargers...so really need two power supplies to try and charge one battery, sounds a complicated and time consuming way to do it and will probably cost more in the long term than just biting the bullet now and buying something that will do the job in one go

Two S-350-48 Meanwells in series turned down to 41.5 volt each will charger your pack in the required time...$37 USD each
http://cgi.ebay.com/MW-48V-DC-7-3A-350-4W-Meanwell-Power-Supply-S-350-48-/250873157226?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6934966a#ht_3378wt_1066

and with far less complication than you are trying to make for your self
 
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