would you dare to go to bed ?? ;) - un-a6plus charging setup

[izeman]

of course not, i don't even look away from it
i just received those two UN-A6PLUS+ chargers together with this "nanny" as the call it. this is a test run to see if everything works fine. and so far they are very nice. it's almost impossible to find a manual in english. it seems they are made for the chinese market only

[youtube]O-9jmdth3J0[/youtube]

this is what the whole setup looks like:

 

[cal3thousand]

Sweet setup!

 

[izeman]

this thing is really super cool. all those packs are around 3.82v. so i started to charge to 4.15v and when it was done it jumped to the second pack and started to charge this. i stopped the charging.
then started to storage charge to 3.85v. you now would expect that it discharges pack 1 down to 3.85v and do nothing on the other packs. but i was wrong. once pack#1 was 3.85v (super accurate within 3mv) it jumped to pack#2 and started to CHARGE it.
so you just set the voltage you want ALL of those packs connected to the nanny to dis/charge to, and you're set. when done ALL cells in ALL packs are super balanced. SWEET

 

[dogman dan]

Nice looking balancer for sure. Really nice if you end up only needing to actually use it about once a year. Seems like a lot of plugs to hook up.

Worth using more often of course, for performance use, fun hog, hooligan ride stuff.

Wait for good weather, put it out in the backyard, and then sleep ok.

 

[parabellum]

Can those 8 batteries be series connected while charging in process?

 

[izeman]

what do you mean by series connected? this nanny handles each battery one after the other as if it was directly connected to the charger. once #1 is done it hops on to #2.
you may connect one 6s or 2x 3s or 3x 2s battery at the same time in one of those 8 ports. so you may connect 24 batteries at the same time. of which only 3 will be charged at the same time of course.
it's a strict one after the other mechanism. not too complicated.

 

[izeman]

Seems like a lot of plugs to hook up.

it can't be any fewer connections. the other way you could do it: put all in parallel and charge them at the same time. takes exactly the same time but needs the same amount of connections - if you use one of those balance port chargers. if you use a regular icharger you have to parallel connect the main leads as well. so even more connections.

 

[11spokes]

You could use a bms

 

[izeman]

You could use a bms

sorry. this doesn't make sense. i do use a bms. still there may be the need to balance charge single cells/packs. and this is not a special ebike charger. it's a nrc charger. and for what it does it does it best. i use lipo for rc cars and helis as well

 

[dogman dan]

Yes, to balance all the packs, you have to hook up all the plugs. It's just that you got a huge pack there, about 1500wh. So lots of packs, and lots of plugs. I'm in the same boat with my huge cargo bike pack, and it led me to start bulk charging.

I just meant to say, I'd hate to have to do all that twice a day to commute. Treat your battery well, after sorting out any that won't stay balanced because they suck, and you could go months without having to use that setup.

Or, have to only plug in half the packs, because the others remain ok even after months of use.

But if the use is a performance bike, then it's well worth the hassle to be sure you have the pack tip top for each ride. I'm assuming in that case the use will not be mild, and it will need balancing more often. I was quite amazed how well a transportation bike's RC packs stay balanced compared to a racing bike. Off road riding pretty close to as bad as racing, but not quite as frequent amp spikes.

One thing I really like about this rig, is that it does charge only one pack at a time. Potentially, one pack per charger at risk of fire at a time. That could be safer than bulk charging for sure. But not so safe you go to bed with it in your house or attached garage.

I don't see why you could not leave them connected in series and use this. It's charging each pack one at a time through the balance port, so it won't care if the main wires are in series. So rig your pack with a large multi prong plug, and the balancer with the same, and you could just plug in one plug, and start charging.

Only thing you can't do, is unplug and ride off partially charged.

 

[parabellum]

what do you mean by series connected? this nanny handles each battery one after the other as if it was directly connected to the charger. once #1 is done it hops on to #2.
you may connect one 6s or 2x 3s or 3x 2s battery at the same time in one of those 8 ports. so you may connect 24 batteries at the same time. of which only 3 will be charged at the same time of course.
it's a strict one after the other mechanism. not too complicated.

I have 24 s pack and can separate balance plug/s in what ever manner but power wires are already undesconnectable. So, could I connect this entire pack splitting only balance leads in to 4x6s or 6x4s but the pack still in 1 peace?

I don't see why you could not leave them connected in series and use this. It's charging each pack one at a time through the balance port, so it won't care if the main wires are in series. So rig your pack with a large multi prong plug, and the balancer with the same, and you could just plug in one plug, and start charging.

Only thing you can't do, is unplug and ride off partially charged.

There can still be common negative on all balance connectors. You know what happens when you plug second JST.

 

[friendly1uk]

It's charging through the balance wires. Why would you do this? The plugs are not designed for any meaningful amount of power and the charger will see 4.2v before the battery gets there if any voltage is dropped across them small wires (as we have seen happens). The balance wires are a safety feature, charging through them is abuse that may well damage them and screw up the balance.

It's interesting, but so are natural disasters.

 

[izeman]

@dogman: i agree. this charging setup was not bought for regular charging. it was bought because out of interest. i already own a bc168 charger and quite like it. i wanted to see how this "nanny" is working. and i like it
normally all batteries are left at the bike and i use a bms to charge it and take care of lvc and balancing. but sometimes you may need to check the batteries and maybe they are really out of balance. what ever. then it's nice to have this. and as i said i have a lot of rc stuff where this will be used as well.

@parabellum: sorry. i didn't read your question correctly now it's clear. afaik YES. you can connect this to a big pack. i have a 12s setup and 4x 6s packs are connected parallel. there is also a seperate balance plug to connect this charger to. just in case i want to
the product description says that every output is totally seperated from the others, and that you can even connect two chargers to the same power supply and charge a multi pack.

@friedly1uk: this was discussed in all length in the hyena's bc168 charger thread. i know that those jst-xh plugs are certified for 3a. so charging with 3a is TOTALLY ok for them, and i don't exceed 4a. voltage drop is no issue at all, as like all other chargers it does CC/CV charging. so when it reaches it's desired voltage current drops until zero. and as you know: the lower the current the lower the voltage drop so that no issue here.

 

[parabellum]

It's charging through the balance wires. Why would you do this? The plugs are not designed for any meaningful amount of power and the charger will see 4.2v before the battery gets there if any voltage is dropped across them small wires (as we have seen happens). The balance wires are a safety feature, charging through them is abuse that may well damage them and screw up the balance.

It's interesting, but so are natural disasters.

I would consider it as balancing solution, not actually default charging mode, for example.

 

[izeman]

parabellum i agree with you. even though it's capable of 8a charging even the chinese restricted it to 6a max per
default and you have to enable it first.
and with 4a it just takes too long to fully charge this. i prefer my 15a bulk charger, and if i ever need to balance a heavy debalanced pack i can charge it with the bulk charge and then top balance with the un-a6 or bc168.

 

[Tench]

Very nice! what a lovely bit of kit to have, a very neat way to prepare cells for assembly into a pack.

 

[izeman]

another great use case. separate charging of my led lamp batteries. because of the low current it's no issue at all. i have single battery holders with 4mm banana plugs and they are good for single cells, but if you need to charge 2 or four of them it's easier that way: