CellPro 10S, 2 pack charging question

[WBFAir]

Hello all

I've read through the owners manual regarding the charging of two pack but I still am a little confused so I was hoping someone could clear this up for me.

I've read that the CellPro 10S will treat two packs essentially as one pack in series but is that only when you charge them using the banana jacks and the packs discharge leads ?

I have several packs of different cells and mAh and C output rates that I all charge via the balancing ports only. The one constant is that I charge and only intend to charge them all at 1C

So with the 10S unit can I not say connect and charge (via the correct balancing adapter or course) 1 FlightPower 2500mAh 3S 11.1V pack via the six pin charging node 1, and then 1 DN Power 850mAh 2S 7.4v pack via the six pin charging node 2 ?

How about lets say the FlightPower 2500mAh 3S 11.1v on node 1 and a LightingPower 2650mAh 3S 11.1V on node 2 ?

Also if this is possible does anyone know how the usb software monitoring works with two packs of different types like this, does it actually show once you have two packs connected two completely different records of pack charging info and history or does it still treat it like one pack ?

I guess one things that has me confused is that many have said that since the packs get installed in series that they have to be started and stopped at the same time. I can see how they can be started at the same time but stopped?

So does that mean if hook up one pack that is at a 20% charge and one that is at a 50% charge you have to monitor it and when the 50 is done you have to disconnect them both quickly and then reconnect the 20% as a single till its done, which as well loses all of the history info?

Thanks all

[astroflyer]

I don't have my charger yet, but this is what I understand from research...

two packs of different amounts of discharge (or cells) can be charged at the same time. when the one with the least discharge finishes, the charger continues with the second one. You don't have to monitor that. You do have to set the charge rate to correspond to the smallest pack so that you don't charge it at too high a charge rate. a 1500mah and a 2500 mah would see the charger set at 1.5 amps (supposing a 1C rate) to correspond to the smaller pack.

you have to always stop and start the charger when you either add or remove a pack. you can use a two pack setting and only charge one pack. if you add the second pack, you have to stop the charge, add the pack and then restart the charge. Unfortunately this does lose all the history of this charge.

you only need the banana jacks when you want to read the resistance value of the packs. The charger cannot give a resistance reading without the banana jacks being used.

you also need the banana jacks attached anytime you charge at a rate over 4 amps as the smaller balance leads cannot handle the current.

the unit shows you when two packs are being charged ...lets say two three cell packs...by giving you the voltage etc of six cells numbered one through six. Cells four, five and six would be from the second pack.

still waiting for my unit!

[WBFAir]

I don't have my charger yet, but this is what I understand from research...

two packs of different amounts of discharge (or cells) can be charged at the same time. when the one with the least discharge finishes, the charger continues with the second one. You don't have to monitor that. You do have to set the charge rate to correspond to the smallest pack so that you don't charge it at too high a charge rate. a 1500mah and a 2500 mah would see the charger set at 1.5 amps (supposing a 1C rate) to correspond to the smaller pack.Thanks for the reply astroflyer. OK so if I understand you correctly, the user, has to manually set the rating to the lowest pack level? So if I use two packs of different ratings I can not longer use the 1C auto-sensing mode anymore?

See I guess that is why this is a bit confusing to me as since I am a bit new to all this battery tech stuff it's still a little hard to understand such things but I'm getting it more and more.

Essentially though because of that, thats what I really I like about the CellPro4 as I didn't have to understand things as much with its automatic sensing of the packs feature, or as well now I should say that now that I do understand it a bit more, I don't have to think about it and remember to reset the charge rates for all my different packs, just plug them in an let the charger do all the work.

So if I understand you correctly lets say for a 2500mAh pack and a 850mAh pack I would have to manually set the charging rate to .85 till one pack is done then I could set it back to the 1C auto sensing mode and let it finish charging what ever pack is left.

If this is correct do you know how or if it still performs that reduced balancing charge when a pack is almost done?

If you don't know what I mean, with the CellPro4 on the auto-sensing mode even at 1C, once the pack gets to be at around 90 to 95 % charged it will ramp down the rate depending on what is needed in a balancing charge mode to correctly balance each cell out as the last step of the charge.

So does this somehow still happen in the manual set mode when one of the two packs getting charged gets to that amount?

you only need the banana jacks when you want to read the resistance value of the packs. The charger cannot give a resistance reading without the banana jacks being used. Resistance value?

As I only have used the CellPro4 to this point I haven't used a charger that has banana jacks so I don't know what that is important for.

you also need the banana jacks attached anytime you charge at a rate over 4 amps as the smaller balance leads cannot handle the currentJust out of curiosity, if I understand things correctly, putting two cells together even via the node connectors is still connecting them in series so lets say I left the charging mode in auto 1C and hooked up two 2500mAh packs, could this mean that I could see 5 amps as a rate? If this is so would that mean that if I wanted to do that I would need to hook them up via the banana jacks as well?

Thanks for the help

[astroflyer]

Here's a link to a page that has three videos showing the cellpro use and setup. very helpful.

http://www.trextuning.com/blog/?page_id=324

and here a link to the FMA page where you can get the cellpro manual. there's a link to the manual in the last paragraph on that page.

http://www.fmadirect.com/detail.htm?item=2247&section=45

from what I can see you have to set the charge rate manually when charging two packs. this is easily done though. there are two presets in the charger where you can store your settings, and if you hook it to your computer there are six presets you can set up.

and yes, as the packs reach full charge the rate of charge decreased even using the manual mode. the 10s works exactly like your 4s. I personally don't use the automatic mode in my 4s chargers and find the manual mode works exactly like the auto mode......it ramps up to what you set your rate at, the ramps down slowly as the charge completes.

The banana jacks are only used if you want to see the resistance reaading, or if you're charging larger packs at amp rates over 4 amps. If neither of these are your requirements the charger works the same as the 4s through the balance plugs only.

check the video links above. it will explain a lot of thing for you.

[WBFAir]

Here's a link to a page that has three videos showing the cellpro use and setup. very helpful.

http://www.trextuning.com/blog/?page_id=324

and here a link to the FMA page where you can get the cellpro manual. there's a link to the manual in the last paragraph on that page.

http://www.fmadirect.com/detail.htm?item=2247&section=45

from what I can see you have to set the charge rate manually when charging two packs. this is easily done though. there are two presets in the charger where you can store your settings, and if you hook it to your computer there are six presets you can set up.

and yes, as the packs reach full charge the rate of charge decreased even using the manual mode. the 10s works exactly like your 4s. I personally don't use the automatic mode in my 4s chargers and find the manual mode works exactly like the auto mode......it ramps up to what you set your rate at, the ramps down slowly as the charge completes.

The banana jacks are only used if you want to see the resistance reaading, or if you're charging larger packs at amp rates over 4 amps. If neither of these are your requirements the charger works the same as the 4s through the balance plugs only.

check the video links above. it will explain a lot of thing for you.Thanks for the replies and the links astroflyer, when I get a chance I'll go over them.

I have downloaded and pretty much gone over the manual though and basically been asking the same questions to a guy named Howard at FMA who has also bewn very helpful in his responses as well, its just nice to get verification from a third party too.

All in all it keeps seeming to me that I might be best to just go with two more CellPro4's as there really wouldn't any of this stuff to worry about then.

I already have two now and a strong 35 AMP Pyle power supply so that I could feed all four so it actually would be cheaper too, its just that there are some nice features that the 10 has that would be nice to have but really the most important thing for me is not to damage a battery so all in all it seems like it might the best choice.

Thanks for the help