Hyperion EOS 1420i NET3 14s Balance Charger...

[docnjoj]

How are you connecting the 1420i for bulk charge? It should just be the thick red and black wires connected only (no balance wires otherwise you do get "connection error"). And make sure it's set for LiFePO4 6s.

Then when you start it the "balance recommended" message comes up with 5s or 6s displaying above it. If it says 5s press the up arrow button once to change it to display as 6s then press the start button to begin the bulk charge.

Well this must be the place to rant about my new Hyperion Charger! It charged a lead acid battery fine but it wont charge my 6 cell lifepo4 A123 pack at all. It wont do it as a bulk charger! It simply says Connection error and makes ambulance noises! What could I be doing wrong. The battery reads 19.6 volts or about 3.22 volts per cell on the DVM. Help!
otherDoc

Yep it sounds good to me. So why won't it charge? I realizwd my balance wire are faulty but it should still bulk charge to 3.60 with the balancer not connected.
otherDoc

[999zip999]

Docnjoj there are alot of menu's and getting to the one I like is very hard like finding tcs %. I know that when charging asingle cell it ask for balance wires and you have to over ride it just by pushing the right button again. That over rides it.

[wesnewell]

Well this must be the place to rant about my new Hyperion Charger! It charged a lead acid battery fine but it wont charge my 6 cell lifepo4 A123 pack at all. It wont do it as a bulk charger! It simply says Connection error and makes ambulance noises! What could I be doing wrong. The battery reads 19.6 volts or about 3.22 volts per cell on the DVM. Help!
otherDoc

If you try and set too high a charge rate that your psu won't support, you will get a connection error. Only solution is to get a more powerful psu (or turn charge rate down). I saw this lots of times when I was using an old computer psu before my 24v 600W got here.

[Sacman]

How are you connecting the 1420i for bulk charge? It should just be the thick red and black wires connected only (no balance wires otherwise you do get "connection error"). And make sure it's set for LiFePO4 6s.

Then when you start it the "balance recommended" message comes up with 5s or 6s displaying above it. If it says 5s press the up arrow button once to change it to display as 6s then press the start button to begin the bulk charge.

Well this must be the place to rant about my new Hyperion Charger! It charged a lead acid battery fine but it wont charge my 6 cell lifepo4 A123 pack at all. It wont do it as a bulk charger! It simply says Connection error and makes ambulance noises! What could I be doing wrong. The battery reads 19.6 volts or about 3.22 volts per cell on the DVM. Help!
otherDoc

Yep it sounds good to me. So why won't it charge? I realizwd my balance wire are faulty but it should still bulk charge to 3.60 with the balancer not connected.
otherDoc

Still getting a "connection error"really??? Damn... don't know what to tell you doc... it doesn't get much simpler than hooking up the red and black wire between battery and charger.

You said your DVM reads 19.6v. Does it read 19.6v on the charger as well when you navigate the menus to the Stats section? Because if it reads 19.6v on the charger then it's defintely connected properly.

[Sacman]

If you try and set too high a charge rate that your psu won't support, you will get a connection error. Only solution is to get a more powerful psu (or turn charge rate down). I saw this lots of times when I was using an old computer psu before my 24v 600W got here.

FWIW... My experience is that setting the charge rate higher than the PSU can support doesn't give the "connection error". Instead... the the charger begins charging as normal but as it slowly ramps up the current and hits the power limit of your PSU, then the charger craps out and immediately exits the charging mode.

[wesnewell]

If you try and set too high a charge rate that your psu won't support, you will get a connection error. Only solution is to get a more powerful psu (or turn charge rate down). I saw this lots of times when I was using an old computer psu before my 24v 600W got here.

FWIW... My experience is that setting the charge rate higher than the PSU can support doesn't give the "connection error". Instead... the the charger begins charging as normal but as it slowly ramps up the current and hits the power limit of your PSU, then the charger craps out and immediately exits the charging mode.

It's been so long ago, I don't recall the exact message. May have been input error or something like that. I've seen connection error a few times, but it was usually something so simple a quick glance and it was obvious.

[itchynackers]

I don't use Lifepo4, but if the battery is discharged too much, the charger may not recognize it as a 6s battery. A way around this is to charge it at 5s for a bit (while watching) until the battery voltage comes up enough. Then change to charge at 6s. Just a suggestion.

[docnjoj]

I don't use Lifepo4, but if the battery is discharged too much, the charger may not recognize it as a 6s battery. A way around this is to charge it at 5s for a bit (while watching) until the battery voltage comes up enough. Then change to charge at 6s. Just a suggestion.

Yep I tried that too. No go!
otherDoc

[itchynackers]

Very strange. My 1420 has been flawless. Do you know anyone else who has this charger? If so, maybe you could try theirs with the same settings. Otherwise, maybe a call/email to technical support, and possibly get a replacement.

[docnjoj]

Well I finally got it to work on 1S! Whoopie. I am charging a new cell and it seems to be going fine. I will try to set up jumpers and charge 2 and perhaps 3 at a time to 3.60 and we will see. I also have to repair my balance connectors since they are not right yet. But it works, at least on 1 cell! That is progress. I can see a 24 volt power supply in my future! That may be the problem as I am charging with 13 volts but up to 24 amps supposedly! We will see if it works with reduced amps to charge the whole battery (6S) Otherwise I will charge whatever number of cells it wil let me. At least it works!
otherDoc

[Alan B]

It would be good to fix the balance leads.

I have been using my Hyperion to charge the CroBorg. I charge one 6S section at 20 amps, and the other two in 12S configuration at 10 amps. Both configurations are charging at about 500 watts. I use a 700 watt 24 volt Meanwell supply.

[docnjoj]

Well waddaya know! It must have coughed up its hairball and is now bulk charging the 6S battery! I have it set real conservatively at 3.55 volts per cell and 90 % fof that so it should be safe! I also dropped the amps to 3.5 down from 7. Once it charges to that level (prolly to 3.5 volts I will remove the safety cover and try to attach a new ballancer directly to the blocks. I really do not want to take the battery apart again so this will be completely visible just in case I make a mistake with the balance order. Since I am the one who screwed up the traces I have to use this workaround. The second battery will be much improved and I will check each trace twice for continuity. If I am not sure of a connection I will run the balance wire(s) directly from the blocks. This second build should go much more smoothly since I have already done one successfully (mostly)
otherDoc

[docnjoj]

Well another new discovery. Apparently this PSU that I am using can only put out a max amps of 4.3 and this is charging 6S LifePo4. I guess I do need more power since the purpose of using an external charger is fo a 12S battery!, This looks like it will only do about 2 amps at that voltage. Oh well live and learn
otherDoc

[999zip999]

I was charging 12s with 2-6s balance plugs. I was using one HP 600 12v 500w the charger set at 12amp. it could only supply 6a. so hook up the second P.S. for 24v1000w. It charged at 12a but the P.S started humming and shut down unpluged and it reset ( ? ). Then shut down again, so I'm using just one P.S. And reset the amps to 6amp. Does it hurt to have the amps on the1420 set higher than the P.S. can supply, is it hard the on the P.S. ? Pluged in the humming P.S. and it reset with little noise ?. Does the H.P. supply made to shut down and replug to reset ? Is the P.S. defected ? Should I start a thread on P.S. ? Also found more menu's Wahoa. Doc how many times do you flip thru menu's triing to find the one you want ? Frock all this menu's no book, but getting close. Doc fells good when it works and not just flipping menu's and going to fast and pasting the one you want just not to find it again.

[Sacman]

I was charging 12s with 2-6s balance plugs. I was using one HP 600 12v 500w the charger set at 12amp. it could only supply 6a. so hook up the second P.S. for 24v1000w. It charged at 12a but the P.S started humming and shut down unpluged and it reset ( ? ). Then shut down again,.

Robert 12A sounds a just a bit high. The 1420i charger is good up to 550W and based on 50V (or 12s) the math says you can only charge at (550w)/(50V) = 11A. But to be safe in your situation I'd set the max charge rate at 10.5A.

so I'm using just one P.S. And reset the amps to 6amp. Does it hurt to have the amps on the1420 set higher than the P.S. can supply, is it hard the on the P.S. ?

Yes it's definitely hard on the PSU that's why it keeps shutting off. The 1420i also has an input current limit setting (search the menus). You can use this with a single PSU to keep it from trying to kill itself.

[docnjoj]

I finally got mine working by dropping the amps in to about 4. I'm only using a 14 volt source. I even got my A123 pack to balance with quite a bit of jury rigging. See my post under the kit build so I don't have to continuously cross post. Anyways it works but all the connections really have to be perfect!
otherDoc

[999zip999]

Sacman read your post and ran down the find my 1420 set at 12a is 16a. so I turned down to 10amps. First time when I set to 10a it jump to 11a after start. So reajusted to 10a and it stuck. Was down at the harbour and a complete woman ask me for a Hawian cheif I was tempted to give your # as you might pull it off. No problem your welcome. HaHa. Pimp daddy.

[mistercrash]

Here’s a vid of a port on the B channel showing weird readings. The cell starts off equal to the others and then all of a sudden, the voltage reading for that port alone drops and it goes into balance mode for ever. In the vid, the charger shows that cell to be at 3.92V but if I check it with my Fluke, it shows 4.36V . Also if you add all the voltages shown in the vid you get 57.61 V and the charger shows that the total voltage is 58.05V. Something is off with that charger. I'm also getting ''output circuit errors'' when connecting either a LiIo 14S or LiIo 7S. I plug in the 14S and the charger asks if it's a 13S and goes into error. I plug in a 7S and the charger asks if it's an 8S and goes into error. I'm presently in discussion with the dealer but they are waiting for a response from the supplier (Hyperion) who are taking their sweet time to answer.
http://youtu.be/NuJlNi28e7U

[Ossielocal]

Hi guys, i have my new setup up and running just wondering best settings for the charger like how much amps and other settings ? Cheers

[999zip999]

Oss is that all the info you can give ?
Mistercrash my 1420 ask 11s as 12s was plugged in as two 6s ? I turned it down to 10a from 12a for a 12s A123-20ah pack with two hp 600 power supply's for 24v 1000watt 47a.. But one supply humm and shut down, Sacman told me to turn it down and whalaaa. !0amp. Thanks Sacman

[Ossielocal]

Gday 999zop999 , This is what i got 4x8000mah zippy 22.2v lipos and i'm doing a bulk charge ,my power supply has no trouble it's rated 60amp just wondering whats the best settings for the charger ! Charger is set to 12s 44volt ,8amps.Are there any other setting i need to know ?

Oss is that all the info you can give ?
Mistercrash my 1420 ask 11s as 12s was plugged in as two 6s ? I turned it down to 10a from 12a for a 12s A123-20ah pack with two hp 600 power supply's for 24v 1000watt 47a.. But one supply humm and shut down, Sacman told me to turn it down and whalaaa. !0amp. Thanks Sacman

[itchynackers]

If you want to be safer, use the timer, use the 1c max rate, use the "LiIo" setting, not the "Lipo", use the end charge stop (not continue). Basically, go through the manual. It is fairly easy to load the software on your computer, and hook up the charger to that. Then you can program the 20 different slots for whatever batteries you want.

[Ossielocal]

Back again should i balance charge as well ! Or just balance charge once every couple of days i use my bike to get to work.

[wesnewell]

Back again should i balance charge as well ! Or just balance charge once every couple of days i use my bike to get to work.

If it's no trouble, balance charge every time. Otherwise, just when needed. It doesn't hurt anything to balance charge every time and it is safer.

[mistercrash]

Oss is that all the info you can give ?
Mistercrash my 1420 ask 11s as 12s was plugged in as two 6s ? I turned it down to 10a from 12a for a 12s A123-20ah pack with two hp 600 power supply's for 24v 1000watt 47a.. But one supply humm and shut down, Sacman told me to turn it down and whalaaa. !0amp. Thanks Sacman

I tried that and it seems to stop the error in the number of cell detection so thank you for that. Now I still have the problem of the single port on channel B that shows the cell to be at 3.9V when it's really over charging it to 4.3+ volts in the never ending balance charge mode.