Built in charger

M

Mathieu

1 mW
Joined
Sep 28, 2013
Messages
19
Hey guys,

To charge a diy board on the go you always need to open the case, disconnect the battery, connect to the charger and balance leads,... You also need to have the charger+power supply. To charge it on the go and take the charger with you in a backpack its a real hassle. I was wonder if anyone had thought about a built in charger. What if we build this in the board http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__73941__Turnigy_B6_Compact_50W_5A_Automatic_Balance_Charger_2_6S_Lipoly.html And then you just need a power supply (laptop type) and connect it, just like the boosted board. I know it's only 50 watts but it still would charge a 6S battery at about 2 amps..

Any thoughts on this? Or some other charging ideas?
 
As long as you don't have any seriesed packs it would work, as long as all the riding vibration doesn't shake the charger to pieces (they're not designed to withstand that sort of thing).

You could just put a balance-and-charge plug on the board, and make a matching cable for your charger, then not have to deal with the extra weight of the charger on the board or of the charger having to handle the vibration/shock/etc.
 
But you would still need to have a charger and supply, or a charger with built in supply. But they have all the buttons and lcd and are quite large compared to a simple laptop supply
 
You would just charge at home. You would carry fully charged spare packs in a backpack or something. It's a give and take :) I ride with (2) 5S 5ah packs in series and tend to carry another 2 sets of 2x5S in a backpack for when I need to swap.
 
I'd like to have a board i don't have to open every time.. So i can make a case that bolts or screws on the board, it wouldn't be easy to take it of every day
 
Why wouldn't it be possible with a lipo? If i make 2 xt key loops, one for power and one for charging mode..
 
Im using my batteries like that since about a year and I really like it that way! for your little box you also need a ac/dc power supply I guess - I would just go with the laptop style charger, which come in many voltages! guess a start for you would be to add the right ports to your case, i.e. balancer port and/or main +-!

on my topspeed: supercheap jack (100% the same as the stock evolve board):
enclosure_vs_rocker2.jpg


and on my tesseract: charging port with simple +- gold bullet connectors (even waterproof):
tesseract_rocker.jpg


Im charging my 18650 battery with the evolve charger (not using a bms, just checking cells manually every now and then), which I take with me in a backpack when I know that I need to go more than 30km (rarely): *click*
battery_charger.jpg
 
This thing:
http://www.banggood.com/3-in-1-Battery-Meter-Balancer-Discharger-Battery-Balancer-LCD-Display-p-91370.html?currency=USD&createTmp=1&utm_source=bing_cp&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=saul&utm_campaign=heli-US

Paired with this:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=mean+well+320

I find using these compared to my icharger. really easy. Especially when doing 12s. Use the single main big plug to charge bulk while connecting the ballancer at the same time to different packs depending on what's over-charged. u don't have to push the balance plug in all the way to make a connection, may seem insignificant but the little balance lead plugs can be really annoying when they need to go all the way in to make a connection because getting them out...frustrating.

The balancer I've been told can be hooked up to bulbs to balance or discharge faster...and it's risky without them as it gets hot,..and it's slow. None-the-less easier.

Plan to make a 12 volt charger I can hook up to a single pack so instead of discharging A pack to balance I can charge ...one of the four packs.

That evolve charger..I wonder what voltage it does.

I read on their site that the remote uses Bluetooth. Thought that was a bad connection. Not safe.
 
Hu. I thought Bluetooth wasn't so secure


I know the op is looking for on-board charging and I've slightly detoured into my own wants which are similar just maybe higher voltage.
This one:
http://www.tritondatacomonline.com/products/polycom-48v-power-supply-2200-17670-001?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googlepla&variant=287266288&gclid=Cj0KEQiArJe1BRDe_uz1uu-QjvYBEiQACUj6ohON74iV7S2lUNtFLFCjSqKXtm69wSgUzPkWC8vGUOMaAuZJ8P8HAQ

Very cheap and super slow charge rate but ...i think you can bulk charge with it and monitor the packs to make sure they're balanced. I'm not sure though and there's something about constant current or voltage that's important. I'd like to know if this would be doable because if I simply put an xt90 plug on I could put it in a pocket and charge to 4 volts a cell to get home and maybe higher. This is not as safe as a charger and it won't have a machine constantly overseeing the charge but I like to watch and balance so not a problem

I'm sure there's some other lower voltage power supplies out there that would suit. But this isn't a "charger" but a "power supply" with no computer oversight as I say. You can blow your stuff up if it were unbalanced and overcharged a cell
 
Hey guys, I feel running a charger in the deck is not worth it weight wise - Better to run a BMS and have a charger separately.

Speaking of, anyone know a good power supply for a 6s lipo pack? would be after 25v at 5-6A? A neat little setup like a laptop charger would be better than a meanwell type deal.
 
Bandero I think 25 volts is awkward. Maybe you could modify something or maybe it puts out 25 anyway. That amperage is a lot more than a small phone/computer charger puts out from what I've seen.

Im sure I'll be doing this one day and see how small I can get it:
http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2009-12/build-simple-dc-power-supply

6s bms..I read that there's good and bad ones out there but don't know.
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/21-6V-22-2-Li-ion-LiPo-Battery-Charger-25-2V-2-5A-Auto-Stop-Intelligent-EUT5521-/321106187542?hash=item4ac36b9516
Something like this in combination with a BMS?
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Protection-Balance-Module-BMS-PCM-21A-for-6S-22-2V-Li-ion-Li-Po-battery-6S21W004-/221809115255?hash=item33a4da8077:g:WhYAAOSw0JpV5rfV BMS like this?
 
And if i would switch to 18650 later on i could still use this right? I currently have LIPO so i don't want to buy a new battery yet
 
Hummina Shadeeba said:
Bandero I think 25 volts is awkward. Maybe you could modify something or maybe it puts out 25 anyway. That amperage is a lot more than a small phone/computer charger puts out from what I've seen.

Im sure I'll be doing this one day and see how small I can get it:
http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2009-12/build-simple-dc-power-supply

6s bms..I read that there's good and bad ones out there but don't know.
Click to expand...


The power supply build like that (modifying a meanwell) are pretty common, there is a lot of into in the right sections on these forums.

As for the charger, I have found a few that should work, I was just wondering if anyone had used one and would recommend it. I have my BMS all wired up, and 2x3s packs to plug in, was after a neat charge solution that wasn't "pull them out, apart and balance charge them" as I have done before I bought the BMS. The charger I was thinking is this one: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/252046603880?var=550904589539 It's 24v 5A, that will get the cells to 4v each and leave me with a bit of safety in case the supply voltage can fluctuate being a cheap unit. I may end up modifying a meanwell for 25v and only using that one on the go, I'll see how things work out. I was also going to hard wire a voltage checker into the unit so I know what is actually going into them. Alternatively, I can spend about $60 and get a decent looking 25 volt source.


Any good recommendations for a 6S BMS? -LIPO
Click to expand...

Hey, I got this BMS: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/221844012026?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT I haven't used it yet (still wiring/working charge options) but I'll let you know how it goes. It should do the ion and po. It came with a wire diagram and is pretty straightforward, with some common sense if you are using a slightly different setup. You could also get a 10A one for half the price and wire it up to only support the charge through the BMS with the esc separate so you don't blow it when the esc draws more power. Again, with the diagram that comes with the BMS's it's pretty easy to work out how to do this. It would require the ESC to have a voltage cutoff/alarm though.
 
It's not a Meanwell modification it's a DIY power supply. It looks really simple. No safety features and I wonder what happens when you hit the desired voltage.
 
I was always using my "Proper" RC charger to charge my board lipos, then , when I switched a friends board to 10s I started looking at different options as 10s hobby chargers get very expensive, and you need a hefty power supply. Then I thought, "what do people use when they buy read made boards?" - simple chargers of course.

i,.e,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/42V-3A-Smart-Charger-36V-Liion-LiPo-battery-Two-wheel-self-balanced-vehicle-US-/221559318476?hash=item3395f6e7cc:g:p2MAAOSwVFlUJP9Y

that's a 42v (10s) lipo charger that shuts itself off when the charge is done. The same seller sells them for 6s , 7s, 8s etc etc. They are small, light, no need for a power supply. Typically they take hours to charge your board but it's no bother, I charge mine after use and never sit there waiting.

I've tested the 10s one and it chargers to 42v exactly, and then stops. All you have to do is fit a 3.5mm DC power socket to your battery box and wire it up inside.

You can obsess with lipo balancing and BMS's, but I've been using Lipos since they arrived on the RC scene, and they really dont need constant balancing, if ever. If you have balancing issue your packs are faulty. Parallel packs will self balance bwtween themselves.
 
RogerD said:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/42V-3A-Smart-Charger-36V-Liion-LiPo-battery-Two-wheel-self-balanced-vehicle-US-/221559318476?hash=item3395f6e7cc:g:p2MAAOSwVFlUJP9Y
Click to expand...

thats basically the evolve charger. been using that without a BMS for nearly a year now on 2 DIY batteries. mine does cut off at 41V though, which I think is good :)
 
Would a cheap ebay charger or something else be a safe solution. Onze with auto cut Off. Something line this http://m.aliexpress.com/item/32303974045.html?productId=32303974045&productSubject=25-2V-2-5A-Charger-for-22-2V-21-6V-6S-Li-ion-LiPo-Battery-Smart&spm=2114.40010508.4.30.zxQHMT&tracelog=wwwdetail2mobilesitedetail
 
Looks good to me but I want to be sure the chemistry can take the constant voltage or something before I do the same thing but with 48 volts. Someone on here told me to avoid a lead-acid battery charger I think it was.

How are both of u balancing? I have a Meanwell with a watt meter wired to it. And use this balance discharger which is slow and I haven't figured how to hook up the bulbs yet.

I potted the wires to the plug. There was no room for shrink wrap and I like it!
 
Whitepony - cutting off at 41 volts costs you a lot of capacity. Your operating range is 42v at full to 36v flat, so that's 6 volts from full to flat, and you are losing 1 volts. That's 16%....

Hummina - there is no "constant voltage". The 42v lipo charger I linked charges at 42volts, 2 amps but only until the pack reaches 42 volts, then it backs off and tops up the pack until it will rest at 42volts. At that point the LED goes green and the charge stops completely. NEVER use a lead acid battery charger on Lipos. The charging method is totally different. The simple charger I linked IS a lipo charger :) It's not just a 42v power supply which I'm guessing you've assumed it is. These types of charger are built into a billion cordless drill chargers :)

I don't balance charge - there really is little need to do it. The packs in parallel (I use 4 packs at the moment) will self balance between them - thsi is natural, during charging. The individual cells will mostly do the same. I've been charging lipos for a long time, and unless you drain them too low, they stay in balance until perhaps a cell goes bad, and then no amount of balance charging will save them. They key is never take your cells below around 3.3 volts. I aim for 3.6v at rest, minimum.

Mathiu - they will be safe as long as they cut off at max voltage. The 1st time I used my ebay charger I kept an eye on the voltage to make sure I was happy with it. It really is simple stuff charging lipos.

As an aside - the model heli world was obessed with balance charging lipos (they revolutionised the RC heli world) at first (and still is) - but lots of us realised after a while that the packs wear out long before their balance state becomes an issue, and if you do get a badly balanced pack, it's pretty much good for the trash anyhow. Not saying balancing is not a good thing, it's just not as vital as many think.
 
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