HeloHurtz

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...

HeloHurtz

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...

Stealth_Pilot

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

Missileman

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.

HeloHurtz

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

HeloHurtz

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.

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.

Stealth_Pilot

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.

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

faquer

oh sorry i mean the new latest version of the BC6

jlkonn

My Feedback: (1)

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

HeloHurtz

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!

TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

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

HeloHurtz

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.

HeloHurtz

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!

jlkonn

My Feedback: (1)

Helo,
Don't despair!
Look up RC Accessory and give Evan a call.
The BC6 is a great charger. It's the only thing I use now unless I'm trying to do something like form several NiMh's
I'll bring out an old Ace DMVC to speed up the process because of shear numbers.
The flow chart in the front of my manual is worth a thousand words. Especially in the beginning when you are trying
to learn to navigate the menus.
Don't give up!
But please be careful!
Good luck!
JLK

jlkonn

My Feedback: (1)

I should have done this yesterday.
Here are two pix... One shows the charger balancing and the other normal charge.
You can see the cell voltages displayed on the balance screen. A neat feature. Both pix were taken
of a fully charged pack. Sorry for that. I go to an indoor flying session this morning in Iowa City.
Not much outdoor around here now. Temp is -6F as I write this!!!
Yikes!
Hope these help.
JLK

HeloHurtz

You are refering to the PROGRAM flowchart?
Perhaps it helps you but I'm quite at a loss especially since I have experience with only one battery and it's a LIPO.

jlkonn

My Feedback: (1)

Helo,
Go to the RC Accessory website and look at the new review posted there for the BC-6.
It is really good!
The guy doing it, not Evan, used a LiPo for the example so you should enjoy reading it.
Good Luck!
JLK

HeloHurtz

Thanks all!

I have a new Lipo coming in few days and common sense suggests that I charge it before using it.
Is there a practical guide regards 'breaking in' a new LIPO?

mkoutnik

When you first get a Li-Po battery, you'll first want to cycle your new battery 3-5 times only running it for about 3 minutes, let it cool, charge/balance, repeat. This will prevent any battery puffing that may ocuur if you push it too hard right away.

After break-in, I use the rule of thumb to run the battery down to about 80% of its original capacity (this prevents any possibility of discharging the battery too low)...e.g. 11.1 V, 2200 mAh, 3S battery is made up of 3 cells wired in series and will charge up to about 12.6 V. So, 12.6 x 80% = 10.08 V. You definitely don't want to run the cells below 3.0 V per cell or 9.0 V total!

This should help... http://thunderpowerrc.com/PDF/THPSafetyWarnings.pdf

HeloHurtz

If I'm using a LIPO back comprising of batteries in series, will I always be using the balancing charge rather than the straight charge?

Please recall that my battery is:
e-Sky Li-Polymer battery pack 3S 11.1v 1000mAh 10C (Part # EK1-0180 )

and BTW, I've two new battery pack per the above model and they are still in their respective wrappers... I don't expect to be using them any time soon since my chopper is still SOL (in the middle - hopefully tail end - of a rotor head upgrade) so no need to use the others yet.

Should I charge them for storage? Discharge them per the LIPO discharge program? Full LIPO balance charge them first - then do LIPO discharge programe and then a LIPO storage charge ??????

jlkonn

My Feedback: (1)

Helo,
Let me start off by saying my connection with RC Accessory and the BC-6 is as a very satisfied customer. I am the volunteer ad manager for the NSRCA, the AMA special interest group for pattern. After I bought my BC-6 and paid full webpage price I was so satisfied that I agitated Evan in to becomming an advertiser in the K-Factor. So, I have no personal interest or benefit in the company. That being said it's a heck of a charger. I can't say that I am aware of any other charger as versatile. I did buy a similar charger, not RC Accessory, that has similar features without the internal power supply but will do up to 10S LiPo's. I bought it from China[]. It would probably retail in the US for at least what the BC-6 sells for. It is NOT the charger the BC-6 is plus I don't have the support from Evan. I am sorry I bought it.
Even though you can get some very good advice on RCU I would email Evan your questions about the BC-6. I did when I first got mine and his replys became my second manual for it. That being said in my opinion I would never use the "discharge" LiPo function on this or any other charger. I would try never to discharge below 80% capacity. I WOULD take advantage of the "storage" charge for any LiPo, brand new or otherwise, that I won't be using for an extended period of time.
Try writing Evan.
You won't be sorry!
Good luck!
JLK

Hiflyer001

Which bc6 is the latest version. The one with the touch pads or buttons. I need a charger with both ac and dc input but want the latest version...tnks

jlkonn

My Feedback: (1)

I'm sure if you ask Evan it would be the latest version but I would ask him direct.
JLK

TampaRCGuy

My Feedback: (282)

The one with the square buttons is the latest version.

RC Accessory, Inc
Auth US Bantam Importer