TrumpetRhapsody

I just got a 301DX and PB-5 v2 from RC Accessory (thanks!) and its working great. I just got in my new 2200mah Li-po and I was wondering what amp rate to charge it at (since the balancer can only discharge at 500mah). I want the balancer to be able to keep up. Should I go ahead and do it at 1C (2.2amps)? TIA

TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

Yes, charge it at 1C. The balancer will have no issues keeping up. I have charged at higher rates on my A123 cells with the e-Station 902 using the PB-6 with no issues.

That is the beauty of the PB-5 and PB-6, is that the discharge is 500 mah. Most are 300 mah and others are even less.

Email me if you have any questions.

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TrumpetRhapsody

Another brief question about the balancer. I've noticed that while charging, if the balancer balances the cells before the charger is done charging, the balancer will stop (the green check light stops flashing). Doesn't that mean that if the charger is still charging, it can charge them back out of balance, and the balancer just isn't paying attention anymore? I've unplugged the balancer after its finished (but still charging) and plugged it back in and it'll balance it some more, then stop again.

TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

The balancer only comes on when needed. Don't unplug it, just let the charger finish charging.

mobilegps

hi,

I am currently using 301DX. anyone know what is the temperature sensor made of? LM35 or thermistor?

thanks

TrumpetRhapsody

What does the charger do when it's done charging? The balancer will go dark, the amps it's charging at will drop to around .3, and the voltage will stop at 12.6, but it seems to just keep trying to charge. I've never let it go long enough to see what happens.

EDIT: N/M, it took 76 minutes, but it pumped 2300mah into a 2200mah battery, and finally said FULL and beeped when it finished.

TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

Almost all lipo charges use the cc/cv routine for charging. The charge rate will decrease as the voltage of the pack increases. The last 5% of the pack take a longer time to complete the charge.

If your battery pack is a 2200, you can set the capacity cut off at 2200 and the charger will terminate the charge when that amount of capacity id reached.

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TrumpetRhapsody

Right, should I though? Should I have it cut off at 2200mah, or let it put in a little extra?

ag4ever

I don't know about Li-Po, but I have a Toyota hybrid, and one of the ways they are lengthening the service life on the battery packs is to never fully charge them and to never fully discharge them. The hardest thing on most batteries is the final charge and the total discharge. That is why it takes so long to pump a battery completly full. If you are trying to get ever second of flight time available, but don't mind replacing packs more frequently, then I would pump them as full as possible. But if you wnat to care for the battery and have it last as long as possible, then stopping short of a totaly full pack might be best. This is all with a NiMH batteries as used in the hybrids, but I assume the LiPo would be the same.

ag4ever

I would like to get a Bantam BC5, but I don't know what balancing connection I need.

I have a impulse POWER battery (2S, 480mAH) sold by hobbypeople.net. I think it has the Align/Dualsky connector type, but I am not sure.

Do you know what type of connector is on it?

VERTICAL Hobby

That looks like the Polyquest connector. Too big to be Align/DualSky. So the polyquest adapter (EAC123) for the BC-5 should do it.

TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

More than likely Polyquest based on the wiring layout. The Align layout, the wiring would lined up in a row.

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jasonwang3a

whatever connector model, the key is wire sequence connected to each cell, the sequence must be accordance with the the plug on the charger or balancer, all wires must be connected from positive to negative in turn.

ag4ever

Does this mean I need to pop the one wire out and move it next to the other negative wire or can two negatives be that far apart?

ag4ever

I am new to the LiPo charging idea and need a bit of guidance.

I just got my BC5, and want to charge my "impulse POWER battery (2S, 480mAH) sold by hobbypeople.net" as shown in post number 58 above.

The wires on the balance connector on the battery don't match the colors on the balance connector for the charger.

There are two red wires on the charger connector and two black wires on the battery connector.

If I was to plug the pack right into the charger connector (Polyquest adapter) there would be a red and a black wire (on the battery) connected to the two red wires of the charger. One of the black wires would be connected to the black wire on the charger.

I guess my question is, are all packs made so the balancing connector has a common ground and seperate + leads, or could this pack have a common + lead with seperate ground leads for each cell?

Can I probe the balace lead with a volt meter to determine which lead is which without the pack bursting into flames?

I did I say LiPo is new to me?

Tram

My Feedback: (6)

ag4ever-

Here is a good link with some great information..

http://www.commonsenserc.com/page.ph...education.html

Jeff
www.CommonSenseRC.com

scoobiedoo

Am I the only one that could not get a Bantam BC5 charger to work in balance mode, after reading the insructions saying you don't need to connect the battery output lead. WELL I FOUND YOU DO, then it will work see photo on connections

TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

Red is always positive and the black wire on the end is always negative.

Unless the balance tap configuration has reverse polarity, all you need to do is plug the balance board into the BC-5, then the balance tap from the lipo into the appropriate socket on the balance baord, then the charge cables from the charger output to the battery discharge leads.

Evan
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TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

There was a change in the balance boards, not the charger. The newer boards do not connect the main positive and negative leads for charging through the balancer, they come from the main chargers output port. The reasoning for this is that the 20 AWG wire is at its limits with a possibility of 5 amps being pushed through it. Much better to have the charge rate through the heavier gauge charge leads and battery discharge leads.

Bantam as well as my web site, www.rcaccessory.com denote that all of the BC-x chargers require 2 connections to the charger. The manual should be updated on the next production run.

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ndutz

Hi,

I'm a newbie at this. I just got a Bantam e-station 701 charger not knowing that I had to get a power supply as well. D'oh! I just got back into this hobby again after several years absent from the rc scene, the last time I left, all the chargers already have their own in-built power supply and they only need power cables lol

Can anyone please shed some light as to what I need to know about getting a power supply for the charger?

Please bear in mind I'm in Australia so I would most probably need to get something different than you guys in America.

I was looking at this:
http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/produc...ducts_id=22627

Would that be a suitable one for the charger?

Thanks guys..

FlyMor

My Feedback: (8)

i just bought a bantam 301dx and a bantam pb-5 ballancer. do i need a cable to join the two together for the charging process??

TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

No. Just connect the charger to the batteries discharge leads and the balancer to the balance tap.

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TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

Due in this coming week is the new Bantan e-Station BC8DP High Power AC/DC charger.

http://www.rcaccessory.com/index.asp...ROD&ProdID=459

The all new Bantam e-Station BC8DP sets the standard for AC Powered chargers with features and functionality with an ease of use that is well known for Bantam e-Station lipo balance chargers.

The e-Station BC8DP is a TRUE dual power (AC and DC Power) lipo balance charger. A huge 128 x 64 backlit LCD display that will not just show you your battery statistics but also you can view the charge and discharge graph's right on the chargers display! Included with the Bantam e-Station BC8DP is the EAC300 software graphing kit as well as 1 Temperature probe, EAC110.

 <big><big>SPECIFICATIONS:</big></big>

<big>Lithium battery charging</big>

The Bantam e-Station BC8DP supports the 3 lithium battery types used in RC applications. Lithium Polyer, Lithium Ion, and Lithium Iron Nanophosphate (A123 Systems). Each lithium type has its own low voltage and high voltage parameters and the Bantam e-Station BC8DP has these preprogrammed for you. Just select the lithium type and you are ready to go. The Bantam e-Station BC8DP supports several charging/discharging programs for all lithium battery types including Normal, Balance, Storage, Fast, and Discharge.

<big>Nicad / NIMH battery charging</big>

The Bantam e-Station BC8DP supports both charging, discharging, cycling, and formation charging of Nicad and NIMH batteries, up to 22 cells. The Bantam e-Station BC8DP supports 3 types of Nicad / NIMH charging. Nomal charging, Linear charging, and Reflex charging. Each treat the Nicad / NIMH differently. Batteries with high internal resistance the Bantam e-Station BC8DP has the ability to delat the peak detection from 1 minute up to 15 minutes. The Delta Peak sensativity is also has 3 parameters, Default, Disable, and Delicate. The Delicate setting allows the charger to detect very minor variations in the delta peak voltage which some NIMH batteries may require.

 

<big>Screen Display While Charging</big>

The Bantam e-Station BC8DP during the battery charge or discharge program will show you the battery information on the LCD display. On display graphing of the battery charge or discharge curves, individual cell voltages, as well as temperature, capacity, time, and mah input and output are all viewable.

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