RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Greg:

I've read over the postings and look forward to an available balance charger. Like many others I too have a mix of LiPo packs, and not because I did not want a FMA pack, but for some applications there was no pack available from FMA. You can rest assured, a majority of my packs are FMA, I can't say enough about the monster 3 cell 3200mha, for two of my applications I get great flight time. I have 1 Duralite (sp) brand pack, do you envision an adaptor for use with your new Cellpro Charger?

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Yes, I forgot to mention Duralite packs in my last post. At the WRAM show, I ran into a distributor and saw one for the first time. It appears that Duralite uses one or several JST connectors which will not be a problem to create an adapter for. I have already submitted the request to Engineering.

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Greg, does the Cellpro 4s allow for 3C charging like the BalancePro HD 6s 10A LiPo Charger?

Also, I see on the FMA web site that the BalancePro HD 6s is only recommended for 2000 mAh and high capacity packs. Is a Cellpro 1250 3s pack out of the question on the BalancePro?

Finally, any update on the availability dates for the CellPro 4s yet?

Thanks!
Todd

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Hi Greg and Fred,

A few questions about the soon-to-be-released 4-cell charger:

What is the maximum output wattage?

Does it discharge or cycle at all?

Can you explain what it means that the charger can be "directly tied" to the West Mountain discharger? What does this do that using the West Mountain CBA with a different charger wouldn't do?

Is max charge time limited? Can I adjust the limit?

What about maximum mah's of charge? Is that limited? Can I set the limit?

Does the unit have a fan?

Does the unit have an On/off switch?

thanks!

-Eric

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Hi Todd,

Sorry for the response delay. I just returned from Blaine Austin's EAC in Memphis.

You can charge packs at 3C on a Cellpro charger because the current setting can be changed from the automatic 1C rate to a higher rate using the push button. This setting resets to the automatic 1C rate on every new pack you plug in. Keep in mind that the Cellpro charger can only supply up to 3amps so your packs would have to be the Kokam SHD 340mAh, 640mAh, 910mAh, and 1250mAh. We will not officially promote the 3C rate on this charger as it is intended for an automatic 1C rate.

Keep an eye on our "Coming Soon!" page for updates. I just posted some of the new adapters for ThunderPower and PolyQuest packs. We just made a decision to make one adapter work for both TP and PQ packs for the Cellpro charger. Another adapter will do the same for the BalancePro HD adapter.

Eric,

4s voltage (4.2 x 4) of 16.8 times 3amps = 50 watts.

No discharge or cycling features

Not sure what the CBA thing is all about. Where did you see that?

Not sure about max. mAh limit...I'll find out.

No fan.

No On/Off switch.

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Hi Greg,

In another post, Fred Marks listed the features of the charger, and includes this note:

>> 20) Can be directly tied with the West Mountain discharger for complete cell by cell analysis

For the whole post, see this thread: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=490098

Thanks for your reply.

Cordially,

Eric Hart

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Greg,

Does the 4s charger not work with the 1500Mah packs?

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Eric, thanks.


Keith,

The charger works for all Cellpro Kokam packs and soon ThunderPower and PolyQuest packs up to 4s.

You can now order the Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger on-line for an early April delivery.

[link=http://www.fmadirect.com/Detail.htm?item=2116&section=45]Cellpro 4s Charger[/link]

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Eric,

Here are your answers from the designer. We'll see how close I got. :)

What is the maximum output wattage?

4.2 volts x 4 cells x 3 amps = 50.4 watts.

Can you explain what it means that the charger can be "directly tied" to the West Mountain discharger? What does this do that using the West Mountain CBA with a different charger wouldn't do?

Here is the procedure.

1) Run the Charger 4S viewer software on the PC.

2) Connect a viewer interface to a serial port or a USB to serial interface.

3) Connect the Cell Pro charger to the interface. The software will scan all the ports and find the charger.

4) Run the CBA software and connect the CBA to the computer.

5) Connect the CBA to the dean’s port of the Cell Pro pack.

6) Charge the pack on the Cell Pro Charger until “Charge Completed”

7) Select the proper number of cells and cell count on the CBA.

8) Start the discharge on the CBA.

You will be able to see the pack voltage graph on the CBA viewer, but more importantly, you can see the individual cell voltage graphs in the Charger viewer.

9) When any one cell reaches 2.5 volts, the charger will begin the charge cycle.


Is max charge time limited? Can I adjust the limit?

The time limit is 8 hours. No.

What about maximum mah's of charge? Is that limited? Can I set the limit?

Max mAH is 3 amps x 8 hours or 24Ah. This is more of a safety issue. No.

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Hi Greg...I'm a little (?:D) confused...
Will it work with my 3200's? Can I charge 2) 2 cell 3200 packs simultaneously? The 3A. limit thing is what's confusing me...

Tom

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Hi Tom,

Ok, now your question confused me too. :)

When charging with a balanced charger like the Cellpro or BalancePro HD chargers, you can only charge one pack at a time because you have to get at each node in the pack through the special connector.

You can charge a 3200mAh or higher pack on the Cellpro charger, it will simply limit the charge rate to 3 amps or <1C.

Is that what you were asking?

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

HI Greg,
i would also like to know the answer to todds question :

"Also, I see on the FMA web site that the BalancePro HD 6s is only recommended for 2000 mAh and high capacity packs. Is a Cellpro 1250 3s pack out of the question on the BalancePro? "

I purchased the BalancePro HD 6s and would need to charge some lower capacity cellpro packs (640mAh-1500 mAh) with the BalancePro HD-to-Cellpro Adapter.

Thanks, Pat

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Yeah Greg, that answers my question...thanks.
I'm converting my Funtana S40 and plan on using 4) 2 cell packs of 3200's...that would be a 4S2P- 6400 mah set-up right?

I'm thinking that the CellPro 4S won't be quite what I want/need?

Maybe the BalancePro?

I don't want to be waiting forever out at the field for my batts. to re-charge...
Can I charge at least 2 packs at a time w/ the BalancePro?

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Pat and Tom,

I think some of our confusion has been refering to the "BalancePro" as the BalancePro HD 6s charger and not the BalancePro HD line of packs. Additional confusion comes from our marketing decision to only promote a 3C charge rate on the BalancePro HD product line.

Tom,

You can certainly use a 4-cell Cellpro Kokam 3200mAh or 4800mAh (soon to be available) pack in your Funtana 40 e-conversion. Obviously, you can charge them much faster using the BalancePro HD 6s charger with the BalancePro HD to Cellpro Adapter at 10 amps than you can using the Cellpro 4s charger at 3amps. Although the Cellpro packs come with a 1C Charge Rate warning label, there is no problem charging the Kokam 3200mAh or 4800mAh cells at 10 amps when using the FMA balancing chargers. We have proven that this combination of Kokam SHD cells and our chargers does not reduce longevity below 500 cycles.

Pat,

The BalancePro HD 6s charger can be turned down to 0.5amps. Both your Cellpro 640mAh and 1250mAh packs are Kokam SHD cells so you can still charge them at a 3C rate, if desired, using this charger. I'm not sure about the older Kokam 1500mAh (8C) cell but certainly a 2amp charge rate will not hurt it.

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

any info on a release date ? cant wait!

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

The Cellpro chargers will ship mid-April but you can pre-order them now.

I just posted the new ThunderPower and PolyQuest adapters on the [link=http://www.fmadirect.com/new_applications/comingsoon/index.htm]Coming Soon![/link] page.

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

I have a question about the cellpro 4s charger. I have a (3) 3s2p4200 pack (not fma etc). This pack has 3 ballance taps, one tap on each two cell bank. That means each tap is meant to ballance one 2 cell parrallel bank. Hope that makes sense.

These three packs have been over discharged. No cells are puffed. But when charged they quickly deplete and will not carry much of a load at all. I was going to throw them away but I saw a few posts about the new cellpro 4s charger. It was mentioned that this charger may be able to revive packs that have been damaged. If I could create the correct wiring harness for the cellpro 4s would it possibly revive my damaged packs?

Thanks!

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

One way to tell if rebalancing the pack will "revive" the performance is to measure the voltages of each node on the connector looking for each single cell voltage. If the cells (or nodes) are not within a few hundreths of a volt of each other then perhaps rebalancing could help.

If the pack is still in balance then it is likely the capacity of one or more cells has been damaged...which is permanent.

Any 2s, 3s, or 4s pack can now be converted to Cellpro using the [link=http://www.fmadirect.com/Detail.htm?item=2121&section=45]Cellpro Battery Pigtail[/link].

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

The Cellpro 4s Charger manual is now on-line [link=http://www.fmadirect.com/support_docs/item_1215.pdf]here[/link].

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Hi Greg,

If it hasn't already gone to press, you may want to check out two seeming internal discrepancies in the manual.

1. The "charger specifications" section says that balancing is within 6mv, while the "Features" and "Practical information" sections say that balancing is within 10mv.

2. The "Charging a pack" section says "you don't need to cool a pack before charging it" while the "Precautions" section says "allow a pack to cool down before charging it".

Cordially,

Eric

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

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Greg,

Are the CellPro's on track to ship this week?

Also, since I've been waiting for two weeks on this charger, I've added the pigtails and another battery to my order. When I added the extra battery to my (back)order, the sales department insisted on upping the shipping charge by $8.00. Was that because of the extra weight or extra hassle or adding to my backorder?


Thanks!!
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RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Keith,
I did the same thing. I added pig tails to a previous order of two chargers. I did this on-line but with a note requesting that they be shipped with the chargers and to delete the additional $8. . I got a e-mail from Cindy Marks saying that this had been done.

Jim

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

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Greg,

What is the new estimate for the arrival date of the Cellpro charger? I called today and Sales told me the end of the month (I'm assuming this month).
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RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Eric,

Thanks, we'll check it out.

klhoard,

That doesn't make any sense. Perhaps it was the on-line Web system which always tacks on a generic $8 shipping? Most customers complain about it until they receive their order and see the shipping charges were much less. Perhaps it was an $8 total shipping cost? Anyway, it's a sales issue and our new policy doesn't let me talk about that here in the forums. Please call FMA for clarification.

Ahhh...now I see Jim's post. :)

As far as I know, the date is still mid-April for shipping Cellpro chargers. I'll be leaving for Toledo tomorrow morning and be off-line until Monday. I'll have a few days to talk to the V.P. of Engineering and get a firm update.

See you all next week!

RE: Cellpro 4s Balancing Charger
 

Eric,

Nice catch. Those errors made it past the final check of the manual.

The accuracy is 10 mV. The pack does not require cooling. This should be removed from Precautions section.

Thanks.