Designing the ultimate charging station / battery caddie

[mkovalcson]

I can now carry it by the handle and wheel it around.

All the electronics are connected and working.

Now I need to work on hinged battery charging wings.

[ronm3313]

Very nice.

[Rotorious]

I really like how this thing is coming along. Keep the updates coming.

[smsodhi]

I have a couple of those FMA parallel charging boards. One time one of the fuses blew while charging 6 batteries. No power went down the main charge cable into one of the batteries. I was unaware of this, and that the battery failed to charge. I flew that battery and it needless to say died .

I don't know if you routinely check the fuses post charging to see if everything went as planned but it would seem a little awkward the way it is encased. There is no easy way to monitor this.

I use it as a balance board only and use a squid now to supply power to the main leads.

Nice job so far.

[mkovalcson]

Originally Posted by smsodhi

I have a couple of those FMA parallel charging boards. One time one of the fuses blew while charging 6 batteries. No power went down the main charge cable into one of the batteries. I was unaware of this, and that the battery failed to charge. I flew that battery and it needless to say died .

I don't know if you routinely check the fuses post charging to see if everything went as planned but it would seem a little awkward the way it is encased. There is no easy way to monitor this.

I use it as a balance board only and use a squid now to supply power to the main leads.

Nice job so far.

I've never had a failure yet. Fortunately with the telemetry I'm getting back I have a fail safe.

Nightflyer made a great suggestion that I make the battery charging wings hinged and I've come up with some good ideas on how to just have them pop up when needed. I'm also thinking of a self stowing bifolding platform for the bottom MPA board.

[mkovalcson]

This will be set up for both AC and DC power at the airfield.

I'm waiting for a high current diode that I ordered for protection against connecting to the deep cycle batteries at the airfield backwards. I verified with Meanwell that there was no problem applying battery voltage across the output leads. The rectifying bridge pretty well protects the rest of the PS.

I will also be wiring in an LED voltage display with dual USB chargers so my cell phone won't get low when I'm at the airfield

[tsoebirk]

Looks like it's shaping up well. Really cool!

[Uriah]

mkovalcson, when you get a few minutes of free time, can you post a pic of the wire diagram for that A/C input/switch? I've got one of those coming in the mail soon for a charge box I'm working on, and want to make sure I wire it to my PSU correctly.

[mkovalcson]

The switch has two sets of leads, both will work. I used the ones furthest away.

[Uriah]

Excellent. Thanks much!

[Grimmy]

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

I will also be wiring in an LED voltage display with dual USB chargers so my cell phone won't get low when I'm at the airfield

Just get a duplex outlet with USB ports in them. That's what I put in my charging case, so I can plug in whatever and something usb at the same time. I did this as if someone else wanted to plug their charging setup in, they could plug into mine, and I could monitor the current they were pulling (I had 2 amp gauges, one for my whole case, and another for the duplex outlet) I'm going to be redoing my case this winter though. Much bigger case to house 2x 4010 duo's.

[mkovalcson]

Originally Posted by Grimmy

Just get a duplex outlet with USB ports in them. That's what I put in my charging case, so I can plug in whatever and something usb at the same time. I did this as if someone else wanted to plug their charging setup in, they could plug into mine, and I could monitor the current they were pulling (I had 2 amp gauges, one for my whole case, and another for the duplex outlet) I'm going to be redoing my case this winter though. Much bigger case to house 2x 4010 duo's.

I looked at those, but this will be AC/DC.

AC Wall or Generator -> Meanwell PS - 27V DC -> PL8's

Solar powered deep cycle batteries at my airfield -> 13V DC -> PL8's

The LED will tell me how the deep cycle batteries are doing, and I can charge my cell phone at the airfield without running a generator.

[mkovalcson]

This morning I was eating some left over pizza and I started thinking about the folding charging wings for the charging tower.

So after finishing off the pizza, I started cutting on the pizza box and came up with this.

It folds flush with the sides of the charging tower and should pop up pretty quickly. Now I need to figure out how to make something similar that fits in the drawer...

[mkovalcson]

The drawer charging wings are now folding up and will fit into the drawer when it closes.
I need more small hinges and then I will make working prototypes.

[ShaneJourdan]

Dang Mark, nice job so far.

[mkovalcson]

I've just been sitting on the floor in my den all morning playing with cardboard while my wife and kids have been watching the old traditional Christmas cartoons

I've added a small locking latch to hold the folded wings in place snug against the charging tower.

The Charging case is now tall enough that there is plenty of room for 12/14S sticks.

The entire battery storage will be hinged initially on a 1" dowel and removable.
It will lean in slightly normally, but swing out just enough to make room for the hinged charging wings.

I'm thinking Lexan hinged on the inside lower than what is shown.
Configurable battery storage for different sized batteries.

Here is a cardboard prototype of my 3rd iteration on the battery storage.

[mkovalcson]

Thanks for all the kind words !

I'm having a blast working on this!

I have a bunch of hinges ordered and a wide assortment of screws ordered from McMasterCarr. When that arrives I'm going make the first iteration on fully functional folding charging wings.

I can work on the hinged battery storage first since I have everything I need except the right sized clear lexan. I'll make my first cut with plywood and get it all sorted before using lexan. My new heat gun is here and I can finish soldering up the Charging cables too.

If that all comes together well, I'll take my first stab at a finished look on the outside and order some textured ABS plastic.

[foolforspeed]

Man you're moving pretty quick. Looks like it's gonna be a short winter LOL. I wonder how well rigid sheet foam would work for the wings? You can get it at office max pretty cheap. You could use hinge tape instead of hinges. If it would hold up it would save some weight as well as $. Just a thought.

[el guapo]

if we are talking "ultimate"

I'd recommend some attention to the balance lead extensions. The pin end is not a cable connector, its a board mount connector. the pins will eventually push in from insertion force.but yours do have the nice PVC jacket wire. potting that end of the connector might fix it.

if you look at the buddyrc version, the pin end is soldered to a board. the board supports the pins. but, i don't like the silicon wire, its too flexible and doesn't protect the conductor. I get a lot of conductor breaks in these. http://www.buddyrc.com/12-6s-jst-xh-...ion-cable.html

I think maybe someday, when I have some spare time, I'll solder the nice EPbuddy connectors to the pigtails with the durable wire.

[mkovalcson]

Interesting thoughts on the balance leads. I have had one of these fail on me over the last year. If the buddyRC versions will hold up better, the $24 to switch over is negligible on this project.

I think 8" leads would work better for my application. 12" is a bit long with how well the batteries will be positioned.

http://www.buddyrc.com/8-6s-jst-xh-extension-cable.html

If I order up a bunch of cables from them, I'll get 4 x 7S extenders as well thinking ahead to Spring

http://www.buddyrc.com/12-inch-7s-js...ion-cable.html