Battery and Balanced Charger questions? HELP!!!
Discussion
So enough snow has melted that we can use juniors new RC car.....so go to charge the batteries!! Jeezus....need a freaking PHd to operate this balanced charger thing!!
So the car uses two batteries. The batteries we got are LiPo - they are "25C Sport" - and on the front they say " 3900 11.1v 3S"
So i've figured out that they are 3S and that they are 11.1 Volts each. Plugged them in to the charger suing the special banana clip wire and the splitter cable - as well as the balance cable with the little balance board connector thingy.
The charger says - "Select Battery type " - so I selected "LiPo"
The manual says "select the total voltage" - so I selected 22.2v - that is 2 X 11.1v - is that the right choice?
I also need to select the mAh setting - default on the balanced charger was 1000maH - but do you think the number of the front of the battery "3900" is the mAh capacity?.....and should I therefore set the balanced charger to 3900???
Jeez in my day - you plugged it in and waited for the red light to go out!!
Anyone conform I am doing it right - and what mAh I should select?
The car is an HPI Forza 1:8 scale by the way!
Thanks!!!
dealmaker said:
So enough snow has melted that we can use juniors new RC car.....so go to charge the batteries!! Jeezus....need a freaking PHd to operate this balanced charger thing!!
So the car uses two batteries. The batteries we got are LiPo - they are "25C Sport" - and on the front they say " 3900 11.1v 3S"
So i've figured out that they are 3S and that they are 11.1 Volts each. Plugged them in to the charger suing the special banana clip wire and the splitter cable - as well as the balance cable with the little balance board connector thingy.
The charger says - "Select Battery type " - so I selected "LiPo"
The manual says "select the total voltage" - so I selected 22.2v - that is 2 X 11.1v - is that the right choice?
I also need to select the mAh setting - default on the balanced charger was 1000maH - but do you think the number of the front of the battery "3900" is the mAh capacity?.....and should I therefore set the balanced charger to 3900???
Jeez in my day - you plugged it in and waited for the red light to go out!!
Anyone conform I am doing it right - and what mAh I should select?
The car is an HPI Forza 1:8 scale by the way!
Thanks!!!
Why 2x11.1V?So the car uses two batteries. The batteries we got are LiPo - they are "25C Sport" - and on the front they say " 3900 11.1v 3S"
So i've figured out that they are 3S and that they are 11.1 Volts each. Plugged them in to the charger suing the special banana clip wire and the splitter cable - as well as the balance cable with the little balance board connector thingy.
The charger says - "Select Battery type " - so I selected "LiPo"
The manual says "select the total voltage" - so I selected 22.2v - that is 2 X 11.1v - is that the right choice?
I also need to select the mAh setting - default on the balanced charger was 1000maH - but do you think the number of the front of the battery "3900" is the mAh capacity?.....and should I therefore set the balanced charger to 3900???
Jeez in my day - you plugged it in and waited for the red light to go out!!
Anyone conform I am doing it right - and what mAh I should select?
The car is an HPI Forza 1:8 scale by the way!
Thanks!!!
I'd assume it should be set to 11.1v and 3900mAh.
dr_gn said:
dealmaker said:
So enough snow has melted that we can use juniors new RC car.....so go to charge the batteries!! Jeezus....need a freaking PHd to operate this balanced charger thing!!
So the car uses two batteries. The batteries we got are LiPo - they are "25C Sport" - and on the front they say " 3900 11.1v 3S"
So i've figured out that they are 3S and that they are 11.1 Volts each. Plugged them in to the charger suing the special banana clip wire and the splitter cable - as well as the balance cable with the little balance board connector thingy.
The charger says - "Select Battery type " - so I selected "LiPo"
The manual says "select the total voltage" - so I selected 22.2v - that is 2 X 11.1v - is that the right choice?
I also need to select the mAh setting - default on the balanced charger was 1000maH - but do you think the number of the front of the battery "3900" is the mAh capacity?.....and should I therefore set the balanced charger to 3900???
Jeez in my day - you plugged it in and waited for the red light to go out!!
Anyone conform I am doing it right - and what mAh I should select?
The car is an HPI Forza 1:8 scale by the way!
Thanks!!!
Why 2x11.1V?So the car uses two batteries. The batteries we got are LiPo - they are "25C Sport" - and on the front they say " 3900 11.1v 3S"
So i've figured out that they are 3S and that they are 11.1 Volts each. Plugged them in to the charger suing the special banana clip wire and the splitter cable - as well as the balance cable with the little balance board connector thingy.
The charger says - "Select Battery type " - so I selected "LiPo"
The manual says "select the total voltage" - so I selected 22.2v - that is 2 X 11.1v - is that the right choice?
I also need to select the mAh setting - default on the balanced charger was 1000maH - but do you think the number of the front of the battery "3900" is the mAh capacity?.....and should I therefore set the balanced charger to 3900???
Jeez in my day - you plugged it in and waited for the red light to go out!!
Anyone conform I am doing it right - and what mAh I should select?
The car is an HPI Forza 1:8 scale by the way!
Thanks!!!
I'd assume it should be set to 11.1v and 3900mAh.
Well its still cold enough outside to enjoy a good LiPo fire in your kitchen when you get the charging all wrong. 
Feeling quite sorry for DM Jnr not been able to get out there in the snow and have some fun with his Christmas pressie yet. Why wait for the snow to clear? Its 4wd and a very capable chassis.
Surely there's some instructions with the balance board as to what it requires from the charger when you're asking it to charge 2 3S LiPo's at once. I would guess it will be wanting 22.2V and 3900mAh, but I wouldn't be risking charging on a guess in my kitchen. I presume you are fully aware of the safety issues surrounding LiPo use?
The whole point is to supply each cell with an equal constant charge current and maintain equal voltages in each cell. As the cell reaches its max voltage the charge currect is then reduced until it reaches a nominal percentage of its initial charge rate whilst still maintaining the max voltage per cell. Allowing cells to drop below 3V each either during running or by making charging errors can cause irreparable damage to the chemical and physical constitution of your battery packs and trying to charge them after this has happened can easily lead to calls to the local fire brigade. As the voltage drops through its minimum the chemical breakdown in the battery causes the internal resistance to rise causing severe overheating should you choose to charge the pack and can lead to some quite impressive explosions and incendiary effects, hence the availability of LiPo sacks for storage and charging.
If there are no instructions I would contact the manufacturer just to be sure. but as I'm sure the board is pretty much passive I think they'll tell you 22.2V and 3900mAh.
Feeling quite sorry for DM Jnr not been able to get out there in the snow and have some fun with his Christmas pressie yet. Why wait for the snow to clear? Its 4wd and a very capable chassis.
Surely there's some instructions with the balance board as to what it requires from the charger when you're asking it to charge 2 3S LiPo's at once. I would guess it will be wanting 22.2V and 3900mAh, but I wouldn't be risking charging on a guess in my kitchen. I presume you are fully aware of the safety issues surrounding LiPo use?
The whole point is to supply each cell with an equal constant charge current and maintain equal voltages in each cell. As the cell reaches its max voltage the charge currect is then reduced until it reaches a nominal percentage of its initial charge rate whilst still maintaining the max voltage per cell. Allowing cells to drop below 3V each either during running or by making charging errors can cause irreparable damage to the chemical and physical constitution of your battery packs and trying to charge them after this has happened can easily lead to calls to the local fire brigade. As the voltage drops through its minimum the chemical breakdown in the battery causes the internal resistance to rise causing severe overheating should you choose to charge the pack and can lead to some quite impressive explosions and incendiary effects, hence the availability of LiPo sacks for storage and charging.
If there are no instructions I would contact the manufacturer just to be sure. but as I'm sure the board is pretty much passive I think they'll tell you 22.2V and 3900mAh.
Edited by TheMighty on Friday 7th January 01:33
dealmaker said:
dr_gn said:
dealmaker said:
So enough snow has melted that we can use juniors new RC car.....so go to charge the batteries!! Jeezus....need a freaking PHd to operate this balanced charger thing!!
So the car uses two batteries. The batteries we got are LiPo - they are "25C Sport" - and on the front they say " 3900 11.1v 3S"
So i've figured out that they are 3S and that they are 11.1 Volts each. Plugged them in to the charger suing the special banana clip wire and the splitter cable - as well as the balance cable with the little balance board connector thingy.
The charger says - "Select Battery type " - so I selected "LiPo"
The manual says "select the total voltage" - so I selected 22.2v - that is 2 X 11.1v - is that the right choice?
I also need to select the mAh setting - default on the balanced charger was 1000maH - but do you think the number of the front of the battery "3900" is the mAh capacity?.....and should I therefore set the balanced charger to 3900???
Jeez in my day - you plugged it in and waited for the red light to go out!!
Anyone conform I am doing it right - and what mAh I should select?
The car is an HPI Forza 1:8 scale by the way!
Thanks!!!
Why 2x11.1V?So the car uses two batteries. The batteries we got are LiPo - they are "25C Sport" - and on the front they say " 3900 11.1v 3S"
So i've figured out that they are 3S and that they are 11.1 Volts each. Plugged them in to the charger suing the special banana clip wire and the splitter cable - as well as the balance cable with the little balance board connector thingy.
The charger says - "Select Battery type " - so I selected "LiPo"
The manual says "select the total voltage" - so I selected 22.2v - that is 2 X 11.1v - is that the right choice?
I also need to select the mAh setting - default on the balanced charger was 1000maH - but do you think the number of the front of the battery "3900" is the mAh capacity?.....and should I therefore set the balanced charger to 3900???
Jeez in my day - you plugged it in and waited for the red light to go out!!
Anyone conform I am doing it right - and what mAh I should select?
The car is an HPI Forza 1:8 scale by the way!
Thanks!!!
I'd assume it should be set to 11.1v and 3900mAh.
What charger and balance board is it?
Most chargers are designed to charge just one battery at a time.
A 3900mah pack shouldn't be charged at more than 3.9 amps (unless manufacturer explictly says you can charge at more than 1c)
As far as my charger is concerned for example, your batteries are 3S 11.1v 3900mah and should be charged at 3.9amps (one at a time).
But without knowing what charger it is I can't help further!
Most chargers are designed to charge just one battery at a time.
A 3900mah pack shouldn't be charged at more than 3.9 amps (unless manufacturer explictly says you can charge at more than 1c)
As far as my charger is concerned for example, your batteries are 3S 11.1v 3900mah and should be charged at 3.9amps (one at a time).
But without knowing what charger it is I can't help further!
PeetBee said:
What charger and balance board is it?
Most chargers are designed to charge just one battery at a time.
A 3900mah pack shouldn't be charged at more than 3.9 amps (unless manufacturer explictly says you can charge at more than 1c)
As far as my charger is concerned for example, your batteries are 3S 11.1v 3900mah and should be charged at 3.9amps (one at a time).
But without knowing what charger it is I can't help further!
Thanks to all for the helpful posts!Most chargers are designed to charge just one battery at a time.
A 3900mah pack shouldn't be charged at more than 3.9 amps (unless manufacturer explictly says you can charge at more than 1c)
As far as my charger is concerned for example, your batteries are 3S 11.1v 3900mah and should be charged at 3.9amps (one at a time).
But without knowing what charger it is I can't help further!
the charger is an "Elysium LX60B Pro"
The balance board is a " LogicRC Bal. Adapt. Board - 2/3 cell XH TP"
it also came with a lead " LogicRC 2DNS Male - 1DNS Female - DNS Chg Lead"
so you plug two batteries into the lead - and then that into the charger - the balance board plugs into the two batteries and the charger.
Pressure is off a bit - was using the RC car today for the first time (charged batteries separately for time being - 3900mah at 11.1v) - BLOODY powerful - Dealmaker junior was really getting the hang of it - ....until I tried and did a bit of showing off ..."watch this" .....as the car went headlong (admittedly in a beautiful powerslide) into the gate - side on - now we need ......new hub carrier, new wishbone, new front spindle set, new ball end set..........DOH!!!!! I am not popular !!!! Ordered all of these (with extras ! from Modelsport - should be here tomorrow - fingers crossed...did I say how BLOODY fast it is??!!!!
Edited by dealmaker on Friday 7th January 15:02
dealmaker said:
PeetBee said:
What charger and balance board is it?
Most chargers are designed to charge just one battery at a time.
A 3900mah pack shouldn't be charged at more than 3.9 amps (unless manufacturer explictly says you can charge at more than 1c)
As far as my charger is concerned for example, your batteries are 3S 11.1v 3900mah and should be charged at 3.9amps (one at a time).
But without knowing what charger it is I can't help further!
Thanks to all for the helpful posts!Most chargers are designed to charge just one battery at a time.
A 3900mah pack shouldn't be charged at more than 3.9 amps (unless manufacturer explictly says you can charge at more than 1c)
As far as my charger is concerned for example, your batteries are 3S 11.1v 3900mah and should be charged at 3.9amps (one at a time).
But without knowing what charger it is I can't help further!
the charger is an "Elysium LX60B Pro"
The balance board is a " LogicRC Bal. Adapt. Board - 2/3 cell XH TP"
it also came with a lead " LogicRC 2DNS Male - 1DNS Female - DNS Chg Lead"
so you plug two batteries into the lead - and then that into the charger - the balance board plugs into the two batteries and the charger.
Pressure is off a bit - was using the RC car today for the first time (charged batteries separately for time being - 3900mah at 11.1v) - BLOODY powerful - Dealmaker junior was really getting the hang of it - ....until I tried and did a bit of showing off ..."watch this" .....as the car went headlong (admittedly in a beautiful powerslide) into the gate - side on - now we need ......new hub carrier, new wishbone, new front spindle set, new ball end set..........DOH!!!!! I am not popular !!!! Ordered all of these (with extras ! from Modelsport - should be here tomorrow - fingers crossed...did I say how BLOODY fast it is??!!!!
Edited by dealmaker on Friday 7th January 15:02
Not sure about the current setting though.
LOL, I did think that just running 11.1v would be interesting enough!
The advantage of running one battery at a time is that you can charge one whilst running the other = loads of runtime!
Reading through the instructions it looks like you have a nice charger there and it can balance charge the two packs as though they were one.
I have to admit though that whilst my earlier advice of only charging at 3.9 amps is still valid, I am only guessing that the charger should be set to a 22.2v 6S pack.
I'd post the question on the MSUK forum or max bashing to find someone with the charger who knows how to do it - assuming you want to charge both packs at the same time!
Have fun!
The advantage of running one battery at a time is that you can charge one whilst running the other = loads of runtime!
Reading through the instructions it looks like you have a nice charger there and it can balance charge the two packs as though they were one.
I have to admit though that whilst my earlier advice of only charging at 3.9 amps is still valid, I am only guessing that the charger should be set to a 22.2v 6S pack.
I'd post the question on the MSUK forum or max bashing to find someone with the charger who knows how to do it - assuming you want to charge both packs at the same time!
Have fun!
I think Ive got the same setup as you, right down to the charger and batteries. It is outrageously fast isnt it 
I charge mine at just 2000 mh but still it charges them within 30 min or so.
One thing that caught me out, make sure the ESC on the car is set to Lipo mode. It explains it on P29 of the Vorza manual. Either mine came set to off or I managed to do it myself while fiddling but I wrecked one of the lipos by discharging it too far which was annoying.
These are the settngs I use.
I charge mine at just 2000 mh but still it charges them within 30 min or so.
One thing that caught me out, make sure the ESC on the car is set to Lipo mode. It explains it on P29 of the Vorza manual. Either mine came set to off or I managed to do it myself while fiddling but I wrecked one of the lipos by discharging it too far which was annoying.
These are the settngs I use.
Edited by Moreymach on Friday 7th January 18:35
TheMighty said:
You say "Charged batteries seperately" does this mean you ran the car on one 3S pack at a time? ie: the car on 11.1V. Or did you then put the two packs into the car and then run on 22.2V with the battery packs unbalanced?
I had "charged" and balanced the batteries with the charger with the charger set at 3900 and 22.2v - and I ran with two batteries - seemed to work OK (until the crash!)Moreymach said:
I think Ive got the same setup as you, right down to the charger and batteries. It is outrageously fast isnt it
I charge mine at just 2000 mh but still it charges them within 30 min or so.
One thing that caught me out, make sure the ESC on the car is set to Lipo mode. It explains it on P29 of the Vorza manual. Either mine came set to off or I managed to do it myself while fiddling but I wrecked one of the lipos by discharging it too far which was annoying.
These are the settngs I use.
Thanks! Yes its that charger!I charge mine at just 2000 mh but still it charges them within 30 min or so.
One thing that caught me out, make sure the ESC on the car is set to Lipo mode. It explains it on P29 of the Vorza manual. Either mine came set to off or I managed to do it myself while fiddling but I wrecked one of the lipos by discharging it too far which was annoying.
These are the settngs I use.
Edited by Moreymach on Friday 7th January 18:35
So all the mAh setting does is control the rate of charge?? So if I set it to 2000 mAh it will take slightly longer, but put the same charge in, as if I charge them at 3900 mAh???
Thanks for the tip on the ESC setting - I will double check that!
.........and yes it is totally, outrageously FAST!
Now maybe I'm just being a fool here... But surely if you charged two 3s packs seperately, each one would be charged at 11.1V and you may have balanced each of the three cells in each pack, but then the two packs are not balanced one against the other so you have three cells that are balanced and three cells that are balanced, but you do not have 6 balanced cells.
I can feel my hands getting warm already!
I can feel my hands getting warm already!
TheMighty said:
Now maybe I'm just being a fool here... But surely if you charged two 3s packs seperately, each one would be charged at 11.1V and you may have balanced each of the three cells in each pack, but then the two packs are not balanced one against the other so you have three cells that are balanced and three cells that are balanced, but you do not have 6 balanced cells.
I can feel my hands getting warm already!
If they're all balanced to the same voltage tolerance, on the same charger, then aren't they both, to within that tolerance, identical?I can feel my hands getting warm already!
I think i might be learning this game the hard way!
First battery charged OK last night - went to charge the second one - Battery Charger went into a hissy-fit - "Battery Voltage too low" - which, I think?, means I have screwed one of the cells in the second battery pack by depleting it too far??? Don't know how that happened - I though I had set the ESC to LiPo setting - will check again - so maybe one cell has not been balanced because of my charging method (charging the two batteries separately) - and has been somehow damaged as a consequence!
Can I run the car on just one battery??
Damn!
Chaps...! Be careful charging Li-Po batteries at less than 1C (ie: a 4000mAh pack should be charged at 4.0 Amps minimum).
For two 3S packs hooked up via a harness, the normal charge config is double the number of cells but keep the charge rate (eg: two 3S 4000mAh packs charged via doubler harness as 6S at 4000mAh = 4A).
For two 3S packs hooked up via a harness, the normal charge config is double the number of cells but keep the charge rate (eg: two 3S 4000mAh packs charged via doubler harness as 6S at 4000mAh = 4A).
Like I said... You didn't balance the batteries
You balanced one pack and then balanced the other. This is just the same as running 1 two cell pack unbalanced. You have 3 balanced cells plus three balanced cells, NOT 6 balanced cells.
If as was suggested it is perfectly ok to just charge the packs seperately to within the tolerance of the charger's "fully charged" limit, everyone would just split their packs into seperate cells and charge them in the same manner and then put them back together to run them.
When you run the cells unbalanced it is quite possible for the small voltage and capacity difference between the two to become greater as the batteries discharge. The voltage of the slighty less charged pack may then drop below the lower voltage limit while the other pack stays well above it meaning your overall voltage doesn't drop below your alarm/cutoff voltage on your ESC. If it drops significantly below the lower voltage limit, it will undergo chemical changes which make its internal resistance rise which will mean that the way it charges and discharges will become more and more different from your other pack in each cycle it is unbalanced. Go two far and it will never balance properly anyway, or as I said before you'll have a nice little LiPo fire on your hands.
Although many get away with not balancing LiPo's on every cycle it is only wise to do this when you have significant experience of these batteries and are not thoroughly discharging them down to their lower limit on each run. Racers who don't balance their LiPo's every race only do so when they are using very little battery capacity and any non-balanced charge is just a top-up which actually changes the voltages between the cells very little and then they will still regularly balance their batteries properly once the race meeting is over.
If you have charged the two packs seperately as you stated on a 22.2V setting you have probably killed them anyway.
1 pack is rated at 11.1V and 3900mAh and should be charged as such when in isolation
2 of these packs in series would be 22.2V and 3900mAh
2 of the same packs in parallel would be 11.1V and 7800mAh
and this is the question you should be asking the makers of the balancing board... When connected to the balance board do you charge them as if in series on 22.2V and 3900mAh or do you charge them as if in parallel on 11.1V and 7800mAh.
You balanced one pack and then balanced the other. This is just the same as running 1 two cell pack unbalanced. You have 3 balanced cells plus three balanced cells, NOT 6 balanced cells.
If as was suggested it is perfectly ok to just charge the packs seperately to within the tolerance of the charger's "fully charged" limit, everyone would just split their packs into seperate cells and charge them in the same manner and then put them back together to run them.
When you run the cells unbalanced it is quite possible for the small voltage and capacity difference between the two to become greater as the batteries discharge. The voltage of the slighty less charged pack may then drop below the lower voltage limit while the other pack stays well above it meaning your overall voltage doesn't drop below your alarm/cutoff voltage on your ESC. If it drops significantly below the lower voltage limit, it will undergo chemical changes which make its internal resistance rise which will mean that the way it charges and discharges will become more and more different from your other pack in each cycle it is unbalanced. Go two far and it will never balance properly anyway, or as I said before you'll have a nice little LiPo fire on your hands.
Although many get away with not balancing LiPo's on every cycle it is only wise to do this when you have significant experience of these batteries and are not thoroughly discharging them down to their lower limit on each run. Racers who don't balance their LiPo's every race only do so when they are using very little battery capacity and any non-balanced charge is just a top-up which actually changes the voltages between the cells very little and then they will still regularly balance their batteries properly once the race meeting is over.
If you have charged the two packs seperately as you stated on a 22.2V setting you have probably killed them anyway.
1 pack is rated at 11.1V and 3900mAh and should be charged as such when in isolation
2 of these packs in series would be 22.2V and 3900mAh
2 of the same packs in parallel would be 11.1V and 7800mAh
and this is the question you should be asking the makers of the balancing board... When connected to the balance board do you charge them as if in series on 22.2V and 3900mAh or do you charge them as if in parallel on 11.1V and 7800mAh.
Edited by TheMighty on Tuesday 18th January 20:59
Edited by TheMighty on Tuesday 18th January 21:04
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