TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

Red did a review of the e-Station BC-5 model which will appear in the Nov 06 issue of Model Aviation Magazine. The BC-5 model has a 5 cell Lipoly cell balancer built in, as well as does NIMH, Nicad, lipoly, and Pb.

decay

I think I read that the BC-5, does not have cycle functions.

Is this true? What is shipping from Finland to USA approx?

Vertical Hobby, welcome to RCU, hope to see many more

posts from you!!

VERTICAL Hobby

That's true. BC-5 doesn't have cycle functions. To get those and balancing functions you have to combine the PB-5 balancer with one of the 301-902 E-station chargers. They can be linked together to get the balancer data to PC (501dx-902 and the E-station software required)
Ship costs to US for 500 g maxi letter is 11 € (approx 14 usd) priority mail.

Thanks for the support Decay!

MALC1

I have a recently purchased e 902 and I as of yet have not been able to get it to charge a battery!
I have various Li-Po`s that I use including TP 2100`s and Align 4200`s.
The charger recogises the correct battery ready for a second press of the button and then no charge or ongoing cell capacity will be displayed.
The timer will run and a varying (declining) pack voltage will be seen.
I am using a regulated 13.8 v dc 10 amp power supply and if I can get the charger to work a Hyperion LBA10 balancer.
I am awaiting a reply from Bantam at the moment but was wondering if anyone else has had similar problems.
I can`t really think that the charger is faulty staight out of the box but who knows.



Malcolm

TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

Malcom,

Let me understand. You hook the 902 to your ower supply, then the battery to the 902. Do you have the LBA10 hooked in yet?

What charge rate do you have the 902 set for? Are you sure the battery is good?

MALC1

Yes the charger is connected to the power supply without the balancer wired in for now.All my battery packs are good and all have the same no charge problem.(my TP2100 pack would be set at 2.1A for charging.

VERTICAL Hobby

Malcolm,

Does the charger detect the same number of cells that you put manually and then you accept that with enter ?

Also have you tried the charger with any other type of batteries ? And do you have the latest model, with LiPo fast and Lipo Storage functions ? And have you cheked you're not using the lipo Storage function to charge ?

TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

Malcolm, please confirm you are using the Lipo charge program and not the Lipo Cycle program.

Evan Chapkis
RC Accessory

MALC1

Yes I am using the Li-Po charge (not the fast charge) and not the Li-Po cycle.
The charger detects the same number of cells that I have manually input and lets me enter again to charge.
I haven`t tried any other type of battery only 3 TP 2100`s, an Align 1800 and a brand new Align 4200 6S 2P.
Note the set up and display which stays like that for ever!

TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

ok, what charge rate have set it for? Make sure it is set for 2.1 amps.

Have you tried to use a nicad or nimh pack yet?

VERTICAL Hobby

Have you tried that the charging wires are ok ? Bad connection could cause that it shows voltage, but can't really deliver current. But I guess the charger would then give some error message. How about if you let the 902 determine the charging current ? What happens then ? (choose auto, when selecting current)

I am personally using the 902 and lipo charging is very straightforward with it and it seems you have some problem with the charger or something else with the system. We haven't had a single customer return yet for Bantam chargers, so can't really help on similar problems.

MALC1

Exactly the same with the charger set to auto.No charge with a varying pack voltage displayed.I`ve just tried to charge a single 1.2v NI-mH cell using a different set of leads plugged into the charger.Again no charge and only the cell voltage displayed.

Kamikazi

My Feedback: (4)

Can the BC-5 charge through the main (banana plug) leads while a balancer tap is plugged in also? I'm interested in charging at up to 5 amps while balancing at the same time. Those wimpy little balancing connectors can't handle that kind of current alone

TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

I do not believe so. Balance charging is only through the balance port. What I would recommend then is the 301DX and PB-5 external balancer.

MALC1

Just an update to my problem with the 902 charger.
This has now been replaced with a brand new unit.All is now well with now problems what so ever.Many thanks to Bantam and Wattsup r/c in Australia for their help.BTW superb charger now it works.

TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

Glad to hear!

decay

The Dealers for Bantam Chargers :

WWW.TRUERC.COM For USA customers (Chicago)

WWW.VERTICALHOBBY.COM For Euro customers (Finland)

Both are full stocking sources, and can take care of all
your E-station needs with a smile!

xeliman

hi,i have a question i interesting about the 501dx i have some ni-mh battery packs that dont work good,will this charger revive them?? or do any good on them? thanks

VERTICAL Hobby

If the NiMH batteries haven't been used for a long time, then you can revive them by charging and discharging them 3 times. 501DX supports up to 5 charge/discharge cycles. But if the batteries have gone bad by active use, then I think you better get new batteries. You can try to revive them by cycling them, but I doubt it will work then.

Red Scholefield

My Feedback: (9)

R/C Assessory www.rcaccessory.com is also a dealer for Bantam Chargers.

Panzlflyer

My Feedback: (15)

Dont know if you have had chance to test the 902 yet Red.
My unscientific test (using it) have proved good.
For example 2 brand new Kan 2000 packs from Hangtime cycled, one with an Ice and one on the 902, Ice pack errored out, 902 showed 2089ma, swapped packs and leads 902, cycled the other pack at 2069ma.
Had similar results with 1950 Sanyos in that it seems more capable of handling the new packs without false peaking. ( I do monitor them to make sure it doesnt ruin my packs)
So far the 902 seems to do a better job at a 5mv detection setting than either my Triton or Ice and seeing the graph on the pc is nice.
I have also used it to balance and charge Lipos and charge my Fromeco packs, in fact its getting used more and more as my inside charger and the others relegated to field use

decay

Seems the average modeler would like to cycle packs (TX) at least, so I'd say its missing one feature.
I see it does have the upside down balance connector feature. thats handy!

darbman

Hi,
I had a question on the e-station 902. the manual says port 2 can only charge 6 cells but the silk screening on the charger says 8 cell. which is correct?
also when using the bp6 balancer can you also use the temperature probe at the same time?
also if you use two bp6 balancers can you charge two 6s lipos at the same time?
Thanks
Darbman

TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

Hi Darbman,

The 2nd port on the 902 can charge up to 8 cells and up to 2 amps for nicad or nimh.

The temp probe port on the 902 is used to communicate with the PB-5 V2 or PB-6. In this configuration, the temp probe cannot be used. The older PB-5 V1 was able to use the temp probe with the 902.

You can charge 2 6S packs at the same time when using the 902 and 2 PB-6's. The 2 6S packs must be connected via y type cable on the main power leads. Each packs balance tap is connected to a PB-6. I have never done this myself, but reading many posts here on RCU, people have done this. The posts indicate that the 2 packs should be close in voltages and not too far off from each other.

Hope that answers your questions.

RC Accessory
Auth US Bantam Importer

hokiward

301 owner, great product, using for nimh ...good for charging motor cycle batteries as well