question about e-Station bc5 charger Please help!!

[M Carr]

I just received this charger, the e-Station BC5 and was wondering if anyone is familiar with it? My question is How does the cell balancing work on this charger? Is it built in and all I need to do is plug the battery into the output side of the charger, Or do I need the Individual balance port connector plus hook the power leads to it and charge it that way. The instructions are cheezy and doesnt really tell or show how to hook them up to it. Any info. would be greatly appreciated. Can you post info on how to set this thing up?

Not sure if this is a good charger or not, Can you lead me in the direction of a good charger for lipo's.

Thanks

[RC Accessory]

Hi Mike.

The BC-5 has 2 ports to the right side, the 4 mm banana plugs and the 7 pin balancing port.

To use the balancing li-poly programing you need the e-Station balancing boards. These are available for Thunderpower, Align, Polyquest, Kokam, and an open ended wiring harness to add your own packs if you like.

Whomever sold you the BC-5 should have asked you what li-poly packs you are planning to use and then you could have purchased them as well.

Here at RC Accessory, we include 1 of these boards at no charge (your choice of which one) with the BC-5.

The charger is very simple to use, you are just missing the connection for the lipoly balance board.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Regards,
Evan Chapkis
RC Accessory
Auth US Bantam Importer

[M Carr]

Thanks for your help. I think I have figured most of it out after some investigating. I have ordered the balancing boards for both the align packs and also the thunderpower packs. In fact I think you are the one that I ordered them from..

Another question which I may answer myself is, and correct me if I am wrong. When I get the board that supports my particular battery all I do is plug them into the charger through the balance connector leaving the main power leads to the battery disconnected from the charger? I program the charger to charge in balancing mode and it will charge the battery through the balance connector without having the the red and black power leads of the battery connected to the charger, Right? At least thats the way I understand it from the instruction manual.

It seems to be a good charger so far, But all I have charged with it is NiCD and NiMH batteries. Any input about the quality of this charger and its capablities with Lipo batteries? I took a chance on this charger and was hoping it was a reliable and extremely safe charger for lipo's.

Thanks again for your help...

[RC Accessory]

Mike,

The charge is one of the finest on the market!

The BC-5 balance charges the li-poly packs through the balance port, the main power leads for the pack are not used. Each cell in the pack is charged individually.

Once the charge has started, press the middle buttons, one of the screens will show you the individual cell voltages.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Evan
RC Accessory
evan_chapkis@rcaccessory.com

[M Carr]

well its been a few days and I have had the chance to charge a variety of packs including thunder power and align lipo's with this charger. I will have to say I am very impressed with it, Charges great and all features are very easy to understand. The built in balance charger with the optional balance port connectors is the hot setup. Charges great and at stops at exactly 4.20 volts everytime.

I would recommend this charger for its ease of use and the safety of balance charging built into it.

Just wanted to say thanks again for the help.