Solo Battery Gang Charger Help...

[CanadianSolo]

OK I think I wore out google looking for others and the Solo Gang-charger solution! I have read lots on the 3dr SOLO battery, and im NOT a Total NOOB when it comes to LiPos.

Heres what we know:
Smart battery: 4s 14.8v 5200mAh LiPo with balance circuitry built in the battery.
Power Supply is a 16.8v 3.3A Power Supply. (Thats all this is, just raw power, no smarts here...?)

What I measured on a battery after flight (Landed bird at 30% as per the APP):
SOLO Factory Power supply NO LOAD: 16.66v
WITH LOAD: 15.27v @ 1.4A

What I have: SEC1212 (12volt 12amp supply)
I happend to have one of these kicking around (my work is a dealer so I have lots of these on hand! ):
LINK: 10 Amp 120VAC to 12VDC Power Supply Switching | SEC-1212

I also have schematics for this Supply. VR2 Pot Adjusts the output Voltage, Therefore,
I adjusted the voltage adjustment pot to 16.8v and attempted to charge the battery with yellow MALE SPADE connectors (for now until I finish proof of concept). The battery senses the power is there, turns on and begins to charge... then shuts down, reboots battery and starts all over in a loop. (I presume to much voltage.) So i turned the voltage down to 16.2v While under load. Battery remained charging....
If I measure the current from my SEC1212 supply, the battery is taking a charge @ 3.14A!!!
When I measure the current from the 3dr Supply, the battery is taking a charge @ 1A and the voltage drops down to 15.27v Like I said above. WTF? Maybe I am a noob on LiPos!!

This is where I fall down, Why cant/doesn't the 3dr supply keep the voltage up at 16 like its rated for? Or is this supply smarter than I thought and it drops to battery voltage and slowly increases? Thus taking f o r e v e r to charge these packs.

Im hoping the community can help out a bit.

My end goal was/is to use this SEC1212 as it should be able to charge 2 of my batteries at once. It can handle constant 6Amps if needed no problem.

Im trying to avoid purchasing an expensive LiPo charger as I don't need the balance portion of the charger!

Thanks in Advance for your input. Lets keep it short and sweet guys!

 

[Maddog]

1) You know there are several threads here that discuss this, right?
Maybe they don't discuss your specific concern...

2) How much do you consider to be an expensive charger? You already have the power supply so you only need a charger.

Check out this site for all you would ever need to know about lipo's, Chargers, power supply's. I discovered charging lipo's takes a lot more current than I thought.
Electric RC info, how-tos and such - TJinTech

 

[RolandS888]

OK I think I wore out google looking for others and the Solo Gang-charger solution! I have read lots on the 3dr SOLO battery, and im NOT a Total NOOB when it comes to LiPos.

Heres what we know:
Smart battery: 4s 14.8v 5200mAh LiPo with balance circuitry built in the battery.
Power Supply is a 16.8v 3.3A Power Supply. (Thats all this is, just raw power, no smarts here...?)

What I measured on a battery after flight (Landed bird at 30% as per the APP):
SOLO Factory Power supply NO LOAD: 16.66v
WITH LOAD: 15.27v @ 1.4A

What I have: SEC1212 (12volt 12amp supply)
I happend to have one of these kicking around (my work is a dealer so I have lots of these on hand! ):
LINK: 10 Amp 120VAC to 12VDC Power Supply Switching | SEC-1212

I also have schematics for this Supply. VR2 Pot Adjusts the output Voltage, Therefore,
I adjusted the voltage adjustment pot to 16.8v and attempted to charge the battery with yellow MALE SPADE connectors (for now until I finish proof of concept). The battery senses the power is there, turns on and begins to charge... then shuts down, reboots battery and starts all over in a loop. (I presume to much voltage.) So i turned the voltage down to 16.2v While under load. Battery remained charging....
If I measure the current from my SEC1212 supply, the battery is taking a charge @ 3.14A!!!
When I measure the current from the 3dr Supply, the battery is taking a charge @ 1A and the voltage drops down to 15.27v Like I said above. WTF? Maybe I am a noob on LiPos!!

This is where I fall down, Why cant/doesn't the 3dr supply keep the voltage up at 16 like its rated for? Or is this supply smarter than I thought and it drops to battery voltage and slowly increases? Thus taking f o r e v e r to charge these packs.

Im hoping the community can help out a bit.

My end goal was/is to use this SEC1212 as it should be able to charge 2 of my batteries at once. It can handle constant 6Amps if needed no problem.

Im trying to avoid purchasing an expensive LiPo charger as I don't need the balance portion of the charger!

Thanks in Advance for your input. Lets keep it short and sweet guys!

@CanadianSolo its not just a "power supply" it is indeed a charger, I dont know why you think it is only a PS.
If ganged charging was as easy as connecting 16.8v 10A to two Solo batteries, somebody would have done it by now. There is more to it.

Have you pulled a Solo power supply apart to confirm NO smarts in there? I doubt it, yet you continue to say its only a power supply,...it isnt!!
The Solo charger is a 4S Lipo charger, capable of charging ANY 4S lipo at 3.14 amps.

I dont know how you got your readings, but this is what happening with the Solo "Power supply"
It will vary the voltage fed to the battery just enough to feed a constant 3.14a into the battery.
The voltage will increase as needed to maintain this 3.14a charging current.
When the voltage gets to 16.8v it holds the voltage there and tapers the current off until the current drops to zero, at which point it turns off.

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, well then.....

The Solo charger is a CCCV (Constant current / constant voltage) lipo charger, simple as that.

If you connect a power supply straight to a discharged lipo. it will draw large current, maybe 5 to 10C and cause damage to the battery in the process.
I suspect it was your power supply choking and cutting out as you had nearly a dead short on it when you were trying to charge (and damaging) that Solo battery.

Solo CHARGER running at 3.14 amps and voltage is increasing as battery charges and internal resistance increases.


Solo CHARGER voltage has topped out at 16.8 volts and is now tapering off the current until zero where it will turn off.

 

[CanadianSolo]

I have read other forums on here.... And it kind of contradicts what your saying @RolandS888. I agree with you 100% on the CCCV business, Im still after the holy grail of gang charger. Now...If I was to take my supply grab 2 of these iMax B6 Chargers: Link here I could charge 2 batteries theoretically. They have LiPo modes Balance and Charge. When these chargers are set to Charge does anyone know if they do cc then cv as mr Roland suggests above?
What Chargers is the community using? And what settings are you using?

 

[MachWun]

My dynamite 4 in 1 charger has power supply mode for each charger port. I can just set it to 16.8v and 3.3 amps... Just plug 2 wires into the battery and golden

Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk

 

[Jubalr]

I have an old CopterX B601 LiPo charger that works just as Roland describes. No special settings. I just put it on 4s LiPo 5200ma and it starts charging at 3.3a and when it gets to 16.8v it has trickled down to .01a and turns off. Same as the factory charger and roughly the same time to charge as factory.

 

[MachWun]

I have an old CopterX B601 LiPo charger that works just as Roland describes. No special settings. I just put it on 4s LiPo 5200ma and it starts charging at 3.3a and when it gets to 16.8v it has trickled down to .01a and turns off. Same as the factory charger and roughly the same time to charge as factory.

From what I've read previously, if it isn't a constant current constant voltage power source, it will only charge up to about 85%.

Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk

 

[Jubalr]

From what I've read previously, if it isn't a constant current constant voltage power source, it will only charge up to about 85%.

Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk

Nope, isn't constant current. Current drops as voltage rises. Mine charges to 100%, same as factory. And just like the factory charger, the longest time is when that last LED is blinking and cells are balancing. When complete, the battery actually disconnects the charger, just like the factory one. Once it has finished and the battery is 100%, the charger display show 'check connection', as the battery has disconnected from the charger internally.

 

[MachWun]

Nope, isn't constant current. Current drops as voltage rises. Mine charges to 100%, same as factory. And just like the factory charger, the longest time is when that last LED is blinking and cells are balancing. When complete, the battery actually disconnects the charger, just like the factory one. Once it has finished and the battery is 100%, the charger display show 'check connection', as the battery has disconnected from the charger internally.

Good info thank you.

Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk

 

[CanadianSolo]

Thanks @Jubalr! Im going to order this iMax B6 Hopefully this charger will shorting my charge time (Via 2 at the same time still at 1C though.)

 

[PdxSteve]

Is there any way to actually charge faster than the stock charger? The battery charging specs say 1-2C. Anyone charge @2C? Battery Charger Interface | 3DR Solo Development Guide

Ultimately I want to build a multicharging station that will do 4 batteries at a time. I have some of the male molex connectors for the batteries on order, although they still have several weeks to get here. I will also be able to read the smart battery data off the battery using the SMBus, which I've just started playing with. Have a lot going on these days so projects aren't moving very quickly atm.

 

[Maddog]

Is there any way to actually charge faster than the stock charger? The battery charging specs say 1-2C. Anyone charge @2C? Battery Charger Interface | 3DR Solo Development Guide

Ultimately I want to build a multicharging station that will do 4 batteries at a time. I have some of the male molex connectors for the batteries on order, although they still have several weeks to get here. I will also be able to read the smart battery data off the battery using the SMBus, which I've just started playing with. Have a lot going on these days so projects aren't moving very quickly atm.

Steve- don't know if you already know this, but this website might help you out:
The variable C and how it applies - TJinTech

 

[Kevin Evanoski]

Is there any way to actually charge faster than the stock charger? The battery charging specs say 1-2C. Anyone charge @2C? Battery Charger Interface | 3DR Solo Development Guide

Ultimately I want to build a multicharging station that will do 4 batteries at a time. I have some of the male molex connectors for the batteries on order, although they still have several weeks to get here. I will also be able to read the smart battery data off the battery using the SMBus, which I've just started playing with. Have a lot going on these days so projects aren't moving very quickly atm.

I split the wires between the charger and the battery plug. Inserted a deans connector. (Note: be careful to wire properly.)


The battery connector end can be used to plug into my iCharger 106B.



Set iCharger to "charge" "lipo" up to 10.4 amp and "14.8v(4S)". Turn battery on before pressing start.



Charges to 100% - The battery does all the balancing.

I can use the iCharger or the Solo charger depending on the situation.

 

[Maddog]

I split the wires between the charger and the battery plug. Inserted a deans connector. (Note: be careful to wire properly.)
View attachment 2593

The battery connector end can be used to plug into my iCharger 106B.

View attachment 2594

Set iCharger to "charge" "lipo" up to 10.4 amp and "14.8v(4S)". Turn battery on before pressing start.

View attachment 2595

Charges to 100% - The battery does all the balancing.

I can use the iCharger or the Solo charger depending on the situation.

How fast does it charge?