my first lipo pack -- bulk charging possible?

[jondoh]

Hi everyone,

Here it is, my first lipo pack. I used the 6s5000mah turnigy cells from hobbyking. http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=9176#

video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KOmPAZqhnw

video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rPakXuia5U

I have yet to test it out but it's raining right now

It's actually not mine exactly. I'm building a prototype for a friend wholes building a custom bike. Lipo wasn't my first choice but the bike has a custom gas tank and lipos are the only batteries that will fit. I believe llipos or some hybrid in performance between lipo and lifepo is the future chemistry of ebikes anyway.

I hooked up some BM6 battery monitors and the alarm went off for high voltage.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbycity/..._Cell_Voltage_Monitor_2-6S_Lipo_(New_Version)

Apparently the voltmeters on the chargers are not calibrated-- or they're not the same as the BM6. Fortunately the voltmeter on the chargers can be adjusted. Once i take a ride, i'll be able to get the BM6 intalled.

I just completed the first balance charge today. I've never used Lipos before so I didn't realize how messy things look when you have to plug a charger to each pack and use balance plugs. Has anyone tried bulk charging? I'd like to have a bulk charger for my friend and then have to balance charge every once in a while. The BM6 has an upper voltage alarm set at 4.22v and a programmable low voltage alarm set between 2 to 4 v (default is 3v).

I plan to get a bulk charger from bmsbattery.com to try out. They're off for new years so maybe in about a month. If anyone else has suggestions, i'd like to hear them.

 

[kefa]

how fast do you need to charge your batteries?

you could always put your lipos in parallel and then charge them as one pack using a RC 6-cell lipo charger. if you parallel the balancing taps you can also balance charge in parallel also.

 

[AussieJester]

You can do what above poster suggests, rather than using the RC Charger you could use a power supply unit. This is what alot of
us are using to charge Lipo packs. Meanwell sp-320 and S-350 PSU. Available on ebay for under 50 bucks. You will need to either parallel the
packs or get a parallel adapter board (which are currently out of stock) if you would like to charge in parallel/series config<--highly recommended. The boards when available can be purchased from GGoodrums website (see TPPacks link in my sig) Gary will have a new adapter board with LVC and built in BMS out soon, will then be a plug and play scenario, all the battery and balance taps plug into the board leaving you with a single balance tap (or 2) and discharge leads.

Best of luck lipos ROXz

KiM

 

[jondoh]

what's the advantage of paralleling all the balance taps? It would mask weakness in any single cell but isn't that a disadvantage as well? Is it ok or better to parallel all the balance taps and then charge all batteries to 50v or so (12sx3p) at the same time?

 

[kefa]

if you parallel the taps it just means the charger will treat your parallel batteries as one battery. so you could get away with having less chargers.