HK Eco 6-10 Charger fail ..Again!

[Hillhater]

Yep, yet again ( 2nd time ) the evil "Connection Break" message as appeared after a few months light use.
Failed in mid charge ..6 amps at 19 volts ( 5s) ..for no obvious reason. ! :?
Initial visual inspection would indicate a "cooked" FET ..IRF 4905 ( only the legs appear heavily discoloured ?), so i will see what happens when i replace that.
Ho Hum !

 

[ZOMGVTEK]

They sure are cheap, but probably shouldn't be failing on you that often.

I purchased 8 of them, and 2 out of those 8 were DOA. The other ones continue to work fine, 2 of those with rather heavy use.

 

[adrian_sm]

Been using mine daily for about a year (5or6s 5amps) not a single issue. Been a great charger.

 

[ZOMGVTEK]

I should note, I run 14.xV into my ECO 6-10's. Whatever the max of my 12v Meanwell clone is.

I also charge at the full '200W' with a 40AH 6S pack. The real output is closer to 170-180W... The current is set to 10A, and it just limits itself to what it thinks is 200W. It's not like I'm taking it easy on these things to make them last. Never had an issue with the ones that work. The ones that were DOA, just never worked. Same 'connection break' error.

 

[Hillhater]

Do yours run "hot" ?
This one would shut down on "Over Temperature" error if i ran it at more than 7A.
Even at 6A the heat sink was too hot to hold !
..just poor/no QC i guess !

 

[adrian_sm]

Good point I run 16V IN, form a cheap universal laptop charger that is limited to 6.5Amps, hence my 5Amp charge rate.

Never ran it at much higher power as I haven't needed to.

 

[hotrod]

I had the same charger fail on me. but i think it was a loose wire on one of my lipo packs balance leads that caused the charger to burn the fets out. i had to solder the balance wire back on the lipo pack then checked to see if the charger would work, but it was too late the damage was done. best to check all the connections your lipo packs.
i replaced the charger with a icharger it runs much cooler

 

[Hillhater]

I always charge 3 5s packs in parallel ( no balance connection).
Packs are fine , and charged on another charger without problem.

 

[neptronix]

What? a cheap hobbyking charger breaking? say it ain't so

Invest in an iCharger, hyperion, or some other brand that's known to last more than a few cycles. You won't regret it. I've been saying this on the forum like a broken record. I suppose to high cost of the quality chargers is a turn off for many.. but imho, you do get what you pay for with a quality charger.

 

[hotrod]

nice to see u have a backup charger

 

[thewall241]

I have also got some issues with this charger, I bought two of them and used a meanwell clone to power one at a time charging two paralelled 6s 5000mah zippy lipo packs. When i attempted to charge at full power the charger got very hot, I was just about to stop it when it went pop and a little smoke became visible. It continued to charge but i switched it off and took it a part. Looks like i cooked one of the fets. Last night while using the other charger all was going well until i attempted to charge my last pack and all i got was the connection break message. I have had this message before but was able to just start the process again and all was good, this time however no luck. I tried a different pack and also changed the charging leads but still the same message.
I new it was a cheap charger but was hoping it would last a little longer, Will try and take a good fet from the connection break charger and replace the popped fet in the other one.
Cheers.

 

[Hillhater]

Well,........ replacing one 4905 FET seems to have revived this charger for the time being.
No more "Connection Break" message, and seems happy to start charging.
Just need to see if it runs any cooler at higher current .

 

[maca55]

I have two ECO6-10 chargers which have been very reliable for the past 18 months with almost daily charging of 1-3S packs at up to 120W.

However in just one day I managed to damage both of them charging 5S 8000mAh packs at 200W.

It was the first time to charge anything above 3S so I was obviously curious to test out the 200W rating. Charging at 5S 8A was OK but the heat sink did get rather hot. When I tried pushing it to the full 200W at 10A the charger suddenly rebooted. I think it was two much power for the 14V 220W power supply. Soon after reboot I saw a little puff of smoke out of the left side of the charger. I lowered the charge rate to 5A and the charger appeared to keep charging OK - no connection break issues like above - but there are now problems when charging 3S or lower packs!

The chargers seem to have lost their ability to regulate the charge voltage and current meaning they are now dumping the full 14V at as many Amps as it can through the batteries (even on a discharge setting)! So when trying to charge some unsuspecting 18650 battery this resulted in instantly fried protection boards. On a 3S LiPo it results in a minimum charge rate of approx 4A!! Opening the chargers up revealed a shorted IRF4905 MOSFET (all 3 pins shorted). It is the one 3rd from the left, used on the high side of the BUCK-BOOST converter. Also the 100ohm SMT drive resistor for the MOSFET's gate was burned out - I suspect this was the puff of smoke I saw.

I scary thing is that the charger does not throw an alarm even though it is unable to regulate the voltage or current to the user set values. ie) The set charge current can be at 0.1A yet it will happily charges at 4A - shown both on the LCD display and verified with an Ammeter. This is obviously very dangerous and could result in a LiPo fire very quickly. I would have hoped that the microcontroller program would alarm as soon as charge current went above the user set current but it does not!

I believe the cause of failure may have been due to overloading of the 14V 220W power supply. The sudden interruption to the input supply and the spontaneous charger reboot whilst pushing 10A of current must have cause a whopping voltage spike killing the MOSFET.

Has anyone else had this kind of failure happen to their ECO6-10?
And has anyone successfully repaired it?

 

[neptronix]

Welcome to the forum.
It's well known those are crap. If you fix them, they will break another way.

The hyperion 1420i's are on sale at the moment. 14S charging ability and 550w continuous capable. Dramatically more reliable. If you can get your $ back from hobbyking, i recommend upgrading. ~$102 shipped.

http://www.amazon.com/Hyperion-EOS-1420i-Net3-Charger/dp/B004E7MQ3Y

 

[maca55]

Thanks for the tip Neptronix! Yes, I actually did some research last week and ended up at the Hyperion 1420i.

Looks like an awesome charger so I was tempted at $135 but after seeing the price of these drop to $102 over the weekend, I couldn't resist and pulled the trigger on two of these last night! Shipping to AUS obviously wasn't free but was very reasonable at $46 for two. Just need to find some decent 24V supplies.

I am planning on repairing the two ECO6-10 for use as back up chargers so will still pursue repairing them as a little project more than anything.

 

[docnjoj]

My Hyperion is relegated to back-up status, although I did replace the main 12Ga cables from my A123 12S battery. Seemed to help a bit but I still get the dreaded "connection error "message about 20% of thr time. Thunder 1220 much more reliable and never gives error messages, just charges. At $100 US the Hyperion is probably worth the gamble, cause when it works it is very accurate. Don't bother using the D/C function, as it tends to kill these chargers. I use the hot plate resistance and a wattmeter with a timer.Good luck with your Hyperion.
otherDoc.

 

[maca55]

Don't bother using the D/C function, as it tends to kill these chargers. I use the hot plate resistance and a wattmeter with a timer.Good luck with your Hyperion.

Unfortunately I've already used up all my luck with the 18months of faithful service from the HK ECO6-10s! And I had hoped that by going for a Hyperion luck would not be needed anymore!

Can you please elaborate on the problem with the "D/C function" and your use of the hot plate resistance method? I thought I was reasonably savvy regarding charging LiPos, but I have no idea what you are on about. Perhaps we should move the conversation to here?: http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=50204

 

[docnjoj]

I'm already in that thread re: Hyperion problems. I am just talking about D/C batteries. I would not use the Hyperion as it just has a tiny shunt. Maybe OK for 1 amp. I D/C test my batts with a load (hot plates or heaters and a wattmeter. Ya gotta watch it. There are ways of D/C into a lead battery, but I have never done that. Usually my hot plates in // give about 5 amps @36 volts, which is good enough to check individual cells. The Celllogs allow you to record your ride D/C and see it on the computer.
otherDoc

 

[dnmun]

did you ever open up that charger to see what caused the 'connection error' or did it only affect that one battery?

 

[docnjoj]

It is actually working better since I replaced the 12 Ga wires in the battery and upgraded the software. The only other battery I tried it on was a 12 Volt Lead Acid and it worked fine. I really don't think it is hardware, which makes it more frustating, but it is working most of the time now.
otherDoc.

 

[neptronix]

I've heard of people blowing up hyperions but i've heard of people blowing up iChargers as well, when those were the gold standard, far before the infineons came along.
Coincidentally, i have a 3 year old iCharger that still runs great, and my hyperion is over a year old now with no problems.

One of the things i do with both chargers is let them cool off before i turn off their PSU. Their fans continue to spin along for minutes after a long charge. They are still hot.

Another thing i do is never, ever, ever use the discharge function. This will kill a lot of chargers while discharging large packs like we have. It is famous for killing iChargers. There are better ways to discharge anyway.

And lastly, i always run chargers at 90% of their rating. My packs are huge, 1-2.8kW-hr. These chargers weren't designed with that kind of long continuous load.

for the 'OUTPUT BATTERY CONNECTION' errors, there is a firmware fix for this that may work;

http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread.php?12115-Hyperion-charger-firmware-v5.82

 

[docnjoj]

I've heard of people blowing up hyperions but i've heard of people blowing up iChargers as well, when those were the gold standard, far before the infineons came along.
Coincidentally, i have a 3 year old iCharger that still runs great, and my hyperion is over a year old now with no problems.

One of the things i do with both chargers is let them cool off before i turn off their PSU. Their fans continue to spin along for minutes after a long charge. They are still hot.

Another thing i do is never, ever, ever use the discharge function. This will kill a lot of chargers while discharging large packs like we have. It is famous for killing iChargers. There are better ways to discharge anyway.

And lastly, i always run chargers at 90% of their rating. My packs are huge, 1-2.8kW-hr. These chargers weren't designed with that kind of long continuous load.

for the 'OUTPUT BATTERY CONNECTION' errors, there is a firmware fix for this that may work;

http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread.php?12115-Hyperion-charger-firmware-v5.82

Yeah my Hyperion is only run at 4 amps and I never D/C with it. I saw the size of that D/C shunt. Puny! I got time to charge. If I go over that it give error messages. Maybe my real Meanwell 24 volt S350 isn't?
otherdoc

 

[Hillhater]

Can you please elaborate on the problem with the "D/C function" and your use of the hot plate resistance method? I thought I was reasonably savvy regarding charging LiPos, but I have no idea what you are on about.

Maca.. incase you are still puzzled,..... "D/C Function" is the DISCHARGE function.
So the advice is,..never use that discharge function on your Hyperion.
PS: ...my repaired Eco-6-10 is still working,
...... but when it burns it will be replaced by either a BC 168 or a PL8

 

[maca55]

Maca.. incase you are still puzzled,..... "D/C Function" is the DISCHARGE function.

Yes silly me thought that in an electric vehicle forum that "D/C" referred to Direct Current. Fancy thinking that
I did finally click after reading otherDoc's follow up post though.

Thanks for all the advice and tips on how to look after the charger. I'll look into other methods of "D/C" discharging my packs.
I once tested the C-rating of my 3S lipo packs by driving an old car starter motor. It was good for pulling 300W or so.

 

[Hillhater]

I'll look into other methods of "D/C" discharging my packs.
I once tested the C-rating of my 3S lipo packs by driving an old car starter motor. It was good for pulling 300W or so.

Try leaving the starter motor hooked up to the engine ..that ought to kick the wattage up a bit !

I use a set of 50W 12v halogen globes configured to provide a 200W load, but others have suggested a length of galvanized fencing wire in a bucket of water for higher currents !
... watch this a the 1:03 hour mark..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUOuInwMXyo