e-STATION BC6 Dual Power Charger  
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e-STATION BC6 Dual Power Charger - 1/19/2008 1:56:24 AM   
HeloHurtz



Posts: 180
Joined: 5/10/2006
From: houston, TX, USA
Status: offline 		Goodness, there seems alot to learn about this charger!

So I have this battery:
e-Sky Li-Polymer battery pack 3S 11.1v 1000mAh 10C (Part # EK1-0180 )

and for the life of me have no clue how to set the charger up to of course, charge it!

My original charger [e-Sky EK2-0851 2&3 cell(7.4V & 11.1V)] suggests that it outputs 10-15v DC @ 0.8 A.

Battery pack says highest charging max is 12.6V with max current @ 1.0A.

A bit stress about the INITIAL PARAMETER SETUP screen... Will appreciate your assistance...

< Message edited by HeloHurtz -- 1/19/2008 2:23:05 AM >

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RE: e-STATION BC6 Dual Power Charger - 1/19/2008 2:43:59 AM   
HeloHurtz



Posts: 180
Joined: 5/10/2006
From: houston, TX, USA
Status: offline 		here we go again...


I seem to have connected the ALIGN daughter board correctly to mother unit by way of the included cable.
As usual, there is no documentation regards making this connection so to some extent I'm on my own (here's where you get involved!).

Regardless, the connection appear quite straightforward with the cable having a polarized ends.
In addition, the receptors on both the mother unit and the daughter board are also polarized.

With the battery firmly connected to the proper socket (4 posts and also polarized) , i start the charge by holding the START/ENTER button down for 3 seconds.
A BATTERY CHECK message is displayed and within seconds the unit is beeping with a CONNECTION BREAK message.

CONNECTION BREAK seems to imply an interruption between the battery and the unit.

Having tried and re-tried the connections over and over to no success, I've come to the conclusion that this sport is a taxing sport...

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RE: e-STATION BC6 Dual Power Charger - 1/19/2008 4:00:18 AM   
Stealth_Pilot



Posts: 168
Joined: 12/12/2007
From: Seatac, WA, USA
Status: offline 		Where are you connecting these from? The Balance plug, or the output? I own a BC6.

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RE: e-STATION BC6 Dual Power Charger - 1/19/2008 4:27:35 AM   
Missileman



Posts: 2851
Joined: 2/14/2006
From: Algonac, MI, USA
Status: offline 		Connection break can also be a polarity problem with the balance connector.
I had that happen with an Align battery. I had to rewire the balance connector.It was a 5 pin connector on a 3S lipo with one space skipped, why the battery was wired like that I don't know but I eliminated the space and it worked.
On my BC5 I set 3S and about 80%/C (about .8 amps for a 1000mah battery) and make sure you are on the Lipo Balance charge screen and not the series charge one.
Also, if any cell in your battery is over charged (above 4.21v) or over discharged (below 3v, I think) the charger will give you an error and not work. (this is a safety feature)
and lastly, Mine came with 2 boards, one for Thunder Power and one for whatever most other batteries use, including E-Sky.
The 2 boards each had there own cable to connect to the charger, the polarity is opposite on each cable and if I used the wrong one I would get connection break error.

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RE: e-STATION BC6 Dual Power Charger - 1/19/2008 5:31:31 AM   
HeloHurtz



Posts: 180
Joined: 5/10/2006
From: houston, TX, USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Stealth_Pilot
Where are you connecting these from? The Balance plug, or the output? I own a BC6.

I'm using what I believe to be the LiPo CHAGRE program with what I believe to be the BALANCE PLUG.

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RE: e-STATION BC6 Dual Power Charger - 1/19/2008 5:39:21 AM   
HeloHurtz



Posts: 180
Joined: 5/10/2006
From: houston, TX, USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Missileman
Connection break can also be a polarity problem with the balance connector.

Hmmm, the battery seemed to charge on my stocker charger but truth be told, the charge doesn't last long.
Regards polarity in general, the umbilicle cord between the BC6 and the ALIGN card consists of 8 wires, 6 red and 2 black.
I've taken a closer look at the connector of the cord and cant see that it makes a differnce regard the black pair being installed as pins 1-2 or pins 7-8.
Regardless, I've tried both.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Missileman
Mine came with 2 boards, one for Thunder Power and one for whatever most other batteries use, including E-Sky.
The 2 boards each had there own cable to connect to the charger, the polarity is opposite on each cable and if I used the wrong one I would get connection break error.

I'm using the 'other' that I believe is called ALIGN... Its what I ordered and I confirmed it to be the plug based on a battery lookup site.

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RE: e-STATION BC6 Dual Power Charger - 1/19/2008 5:42:00 AM   
Stealth_Pilot



Posts: 168
Joined: 12/12/2007
From: Seatac, WA, USA
Status: offline 		Ah...

That Balance plug isn't gonna charge your batteries. You have to get the power output from your battery into the output of the BC6 (which are the female banana plugs on the right). The charger won't even detect your battery by only the balance plug, and thus displays the "connection break" message. So you might have to buy (or solder) an adapter that will make the connection between both outputs. You should look into the battery power connector to see what you need to make the connection. I might recommend an adapter if I can find out what connector your battery has.

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RE: e-STATION BC6 Dual Power Charger - 1/19/2008 9:14:30 AM   
faquer


 

Posts: 14
Joined: 11/17/2004
From: mylo, USA
Status: offline 		Hey
Anyone know what the new features are if any on the Bc6? Other than the new square shaped buttons and less yellow markings?
Almost made the mistake of buying one of the copycat versions but didnt think i would deal well with all the inconsistancys and crap shoot of getting a working model.

Thanks in advance

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RE: e-STATION BC6 Dual Power Charger - 1/19/2008 9:16:09 AM   
faquer


 

Posts: 14
Joined: 11/17/2004
From: mylo, USA
Status: offline 		oh sorry i mean the new latest version of the BC6

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RE: e-STATION BC6 Dual Power Charger - 1/19/2008 11:50:04 AM   
jlkonn



Posts: 1255
Joined: 1/2/2003
From: Planet Earth, IA, USA
Status: offline 		You really need to give Evan a call at RC Accessory. I own a BC-6 and charge everything I have on it...NiMh, LiPo, garden tractor battery.... It works great. When you have the balance program called up for LiPo's and want to charge that way you have to connect to both the balance and charge plugs on the battery pack. I am attaching the only picture I have doing this with mine. Unfortunately it's confusing because I'm charging two 3S pack in series...like one 6S pack. The harness is an experimental one that Evan made up for me. Anyway, look closely and you'll get the idea. If you click on the picture it will enlarge. This is how the BC-6 balances. There are different balancers with different schemes but this is how this one is done.
Hope it helps.
Make sure you select the right cell count and charge current.
Good luck!
JLK

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RE: e-STATION BC6 Dual Power Charger - 1/20/2008 3:17:07 AM   
HeloHurtz



Posts: 180
Joined: 5/10/2006
From: houston, TX, USA
Status: offline 		This seems quite counterinutive since, the original charger did NOT use the battery output terminal as input.
Instead, I used the balancer plug (4 posts) which connected to the charger directly... The battery output was NOT connected to the charger.

I've spliced the lines and am abot to connect it... wish me luck!

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RE: e-STATION BC6 Dual Power Charger - 1/20/2008 3:41:42 AM   
RC Accessory



Posts: 607
Joined: 12/7/2001
From: Tampa, FL, USA
Status: offline 		All batteries charged with the e-Station BC-x chargers go through the main power output to the discharge leads of the battery.

When you also want to connect the balancer, then you also connect the balance tap of the battery to the connection board which connects to the balance port on the battery.

Connection break error as listed in the manual is a break in the electrical circuit or the circuit is not completed. If you look at John's picture, the 2 batteries are connected together with a Deans serial cable which is connected to the chargers output. The balance taps are connected together using a prototype balancing harness that I developed earlier in the year. That balancing harness has been developed into a pcb board that will be available in less than 2-3 weeks. In any case, you MUST hook the battery to the main power output.

Evan Chapkis
RC Accessory, Inc
Auth US Bantam Importer

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RE: e-STATION BC6 Dual Power Charger - 1/20/2008 4:09:23 AM   
HeloHurtz



Posts: 180
Joined: 5/10/2006
From: houston, TX, USA
Status: offline 		The manual in front of me does not say that. It refers to the error as a state that occurs AFTER the charge has started and somewhere along the way there was a problem. A purist might argue that the charge starts after the START button is pushed but I'm hard pressed to buy that... The unt would be better served with a NO BATTERY message within seconds of pushing START... also, the manual is poorly written in just above better than broken english so who knows what the techs really meant by the message. Still not clear imho.

Regrdless, I performed 1st charge and just after 36 minutes, the charger reports full.
The pack did not heat up nor bulge and certainly did not explode so, looks like I'm good

Does the charger have the abilty to report battery problems?
For example, this battery seems not to last in my heli very long and I don't know if perhaps a cell is malfunctioning.
Or for example if the problem lies instead with the stock charger.
Or finally, perhaps the motor is shot and atfer warming up it loses performance... Don't think this is the issue since the 4-in-1 seems also to go from red to green much sooner too.



< Message edited by HeloHurtz -- 1/20/2008 8:39:29 AM >

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RE: e-STATION BC6 Dual Power Charger - 1/20/2008 8:41:01 AM   
HeloHurtz



Posts: 180
Joined: 5/10/2006
From: houston, TX, USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: faquer
Hey
Anyone know what the new features are if any on the Bc6? Other than the new square shaped buttons and less yellow markings?
Almost made the mistake of buying one of the copycat versions but didnt think i would deal well with all the inconsistancys and crap shoot of getting a working model.

Thanks in advance


Well, that si s depressing... I guess I have the old one since it has yellow markings AND round buttons and I just bought it!


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