Fast charge stock batt. with Icharger question.

naturecannon · 07-09-2012, 08:55 PM

I have an icharger 106B+.

Its has a fast charge mode but seems to take the same amount of time to charge as regular charge mode, must be my settings on fast charge which are set the same for regular charger. I assumed it would auto fast charge for me If I put the battery info/specs into the charger

My settings (stock eflite): Lipo .30A 7.4v(2s)

What setting do I change to safely fast charge? Bump to 3s?

Maypole · 07-09-2012, 09:15 PM

Blade rates these at a max of 3c charge, which would be .90 amps. That will get it to fully charged from storage voltage in around 15 minutes. I prefer to charge at 2c for all my batts, which at .60 amps will go from storage to full in around 24 minutes.

naturecannon · 07-09-2012, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maypole

Blade rates these at a max of 3c charge, which would be .90 amps. That will get it to fully charged from storage voltage in around 15 minutes. I prefer to charge at 2c for all my batts, which at .60 amps will go from storage to full in around 24 minutes.

Got it. Thanks for your time and input! These battery numbers are overwhelming when one first starts out in the hobby.

Cullen Colapietro · 07-09-2012, 11:18 PM

Fast charge works like balance charge mode except it will not spend as much time balancin (if ay, don't recall) and it will charge to a lower voltage (rather than 4.2V per cell). Use this in conjunction w/ a 3C charge rate for really quick charges as low as 12 minutes depending on state of discharge of cells.

koi-fish · 11-02-2012, 02:03 PM

Probably wrong form, but I have a couple of questions since we're talking batteries:

I have a 208b/350w ps.....

1). At .9a, how many batteries can I safely parallel charge? I have a para board that can hold up to six batteries. Can I do six at once I they have roughly the same charge?

2). What about the mcpx 300 mah batteries, same type para board. What rate do I use?

3). What about pick (nano,etc) size? Same question

What's the max charge on each battery as well? I know that the mcpx is 4.2v.

Thx for the patience, just got this thing and the manual is a stinker. Been using the stock chargers up till now.

Fooferdoggie · 11-02-2012, 02:09 PM

Parallel charging you add the amps of each battery together. So if one is charged at 1 amp 2 would be 2 Amps and so on. I balance charge them at .9 it takes 25 minutes.

syzygyQ · 11-04-2012, 07:48 AM

You can charge each stocker at 0.9A if you do six in parallel you can do them at 5.4A.

When amping up your charge cycles, I would recommend watching the charge curves carefully via LogView, and amping down if you're getting less capacity than at one C. Expect shorter battery life charging at higher C, and avoid parallel charging lipos with gapped starting points.

That being said I see a high end charger as a way to get it right, not as a way to get it fast. What you lose in the “because I can" category you make back in military grade certainty about your expected flight time capability.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

chuck-o · 11-04-2012, 09:15 AM

If you are parallel charging six two cell batteries on the icharger paraboard with the balancing wire what happens if one cell suddenly reads too much charge? Does the charger stop current to that one cell or does it reduce charge to all six on that circuit?
I could never answer that question to my satisfaction. My charge needs are relatively low volume, I just charge one at a time to make sure each pack is balanced.

jent · 11-04-2012, 09:24 AM

No, that's the problem. The charger has no way to know what each cell is at, just the average of all the cells.

That's why when you do parallel charging the batteries need to be very close to the same current before you begin.

For me personally this is not a problem (I just land when the transmitter alerts me every time, and the voltages remain close). Before charging I plug them all into the charger, putting the charger in monitor mode as I connect the batteries (seeing how much the voltage changes lets me know how far they are off). I then leave them all connected for about 15 to 30min before I start the charging cycle. This time gives the batteries time to continue to equalize (higher voltage ones will send current to the lower voltage ones). That way once the charging starts, and the charger can only read the average value, it should not be a problem because all the cells should be very close to each other.

**edit**
After re-reading your last post I should mention that everything I talked about was just about parallel charging. With balance charging everything above is still true (it just looks like two large cells averaged out between the batteries). But the charger is still able to balance between the two large cells.

My understanding is that, when the charger has one cell which arrives at 4.2 volts (this is configurable, with the iCharger you can also start to do this process when the first cell reaches storage voltage (3.8 volts)....But this will make your charge times a bit longer), the charger will drop it's charge voltage to both cells. So that way the full cell pretty much stops charging at all (while the lower voltage cell will accept the charge much more readily).

chuck-o · 11-04-2012, 09:37 AM

Thank you, that sheds some light. I also had not thought of using monitor mode that way. That will come in handy for charging a bank of msrx batts.

07-09-2012, 08:55 PM	#1
naturecannon Registered Users My HF Map location Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Oregon City	Fast charge stock batt. with Icharger question. I have an icharger 106B+. Its has a fast charge mode but seems to take the same amount of time to charge as regular charge mode, must be my settings on fast charge which are set the same for regular charger. I assumed it would auto fast charge for me If I put the battery info/specs into the charger My settings (stock eflite): Lipo .30A 7.4v(2s) What setting do I change to safely fast charge? Bump to 3s? __________________ MCPX- V2, 300x, 450 3D DX6i Dx8 Flamewheel 550-Naza/GPS

07-09-2012, 09:15 PM	#2
Maypole Registered Users Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Austin, TX	Blade rates these at a max of 3c charge, which would be .90 amps. That will get it to fully charged from storage voltage in around 15 minutes. I prefer to charge at 2c for all my batts, which at .60 amps will go from storage to full in around 24 minutes. __________________ Nano CP X, mCP X BL, 130 X (Love the little ones)T-REX 500 Efl Pro DFC Phoenix Sim, DX8, Gibson Les Paul, AMA #987871 I really think this "Internet" thing is going to catch on. You can quote me on that.

07-09-2012, 11:18 PM	#4
Cullen Colapietro Registered Users Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Reynoldsburg, OH	Fast charge works like balance charge mode except it will not spend as much time balancin (if ay, don't recall) and it will charge to a lower voltage (rather than 4.2V per cell). Use this in conjunction w/ a 3C charge rate for really quick charges as low as 12 minutes depending on state of discharge of cells. __________________ 6HV\|Warp 360\| Compass Models \| Prostar Hobby \| MKS \| EP Buddy \| Team KBDD

11-02-2012, 02:03 PM	#5
koi-fish Registered Users Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Houston, TX	Probably wrong form, but I have a couple of questions since we're talking batteries: I have a 208b/350w ps..... 1). At .9a, how many batteries can I safely parallel charge? I have a para board that can hold up to six batteries. Can I do six at once I they have roughly the same charge? 2). What about the mcpx 300 mah batteries, same type para board. What rate do I use? 3). What about pick (nano,etc) size? Same question What's the max charge on each battery as well? I know that the mcpx is 4.2v. Thx for the patience, just got this thing and the manual is a stinker. Been using the stock chargers up till now. __________________ /MSRX, MCPX, Nano, 1SQ, several 130x, Gaui X2, 300x, 450x, DX8, Harley Road King To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. "It's not getting any smarter out there, you have to come to grips with stupidity and make it work for you" - Frank Zappa

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11-02-2012, 02:09 PM	#6
Fooferdoggie Registered Users Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Portland or	Parallel charging you add the amps of each battery together. So if one is charged at 1 amp 2 would be 2 Amps and so on. I balance charge them at .9 it takes 25 minutes.

11-04-2012, 07:48 AM	#7
syzygyQ Registered Users My HF Map location Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Vancouver, BC	You can charge each stocker at 0.9A if you do six in parallel you can do them at 5.4A. When amping up your charge cycles, I would recommend watching the charge curves carefully via LogView, and amping down if you're getting less capacity than at one C. Expect shorter battery life charging at higher C, and avoid parallel charging lipos with gapped starting points. That being said I see a high end charger as a way to get it right, not as a way to get it fast. What you lose in the “because I can" category you make back in military grade certainty about your expected flight time capability. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

11-04-2012, 09:15 AM	#8
chuck-o Registered Users Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Fitchburg Ma.	If you are parallel charging six two cell batteries on the icharger paraboard with the balancing wire what happens if one cell suddenly reads too much charge? Does the charger stop current to that one cell or does it reduce charge to all six on that circuit? I could never answer that question to my satisfaction. My charge needs are relatively low volume, I just charge one at a time to make sure each pack is balanced.

11-04-2012, 09:24 AM	#9
jent Registered Users Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Colorado	No, that's the problem. The charger has no way to know what each cell is at, just the average of all the cells. That's why when you do parallel charging the batteries need to be very close to the same current before you begin. For me personally this is not a problem (I just land when the transmitter alerts me every time, and the voltages remain close). Before charging I plug them all into the charger, putting the charger in monitor mode as I connect the batteries (seeing how much the voltage changes lets me know how far they are off). I then leave them all connected for about 15 to 30min before I start the charging cycle. This time gives the batteries time to continue to equalize (higher voltage ones will send current to the lower voltage ones). That way once the charging starts, and the charger can only read the average value, it should not be a problem because all the cells should be very close to each other. edit After re-reading your last post I should mention that everything I talked about was just about parallel charging. With balance charging everything above is still true (it just looks like two large cells averaged out between the batteries). But the charger is still able to balance between the two large cells. My understanding is that, when the charger has one cell which arrives at 4.2 volts (this is configurable, with the iCharger you can also start to do this process when the first cell reaches storage voltage (3.8 volts)....But this will make your charge times a bit longer), the charger will drop it's charge voltage to both cells. So that way the full cell pretty much stops charging at all (while the lower voltage cell will accept the charge much more readily).

11-04-2012, 09:37 AM	#10
chuck-o Registered Users Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Fitchburg Ma.	Thank you, that sheds some light. I also had not thought of using monitor mode that way. That will come in handy for charging a bank of msrx batts.