450 Chargers Or Batteries Problem??

Oh man, I wanted to hit the airfield tomorrow so I started to charge my 4 Glacier 2200 Amp packs..
What now? All 4 won't charge over about 70% before there's a CAPA code failure.

And that's with all 4 of my chargers... It wasn't long ago I flew all the packs with no problem, with exception of a flight time of only 5 minutes.. I used to get 8 to 9 with the old setup. However the performance wasn't as crisp, LOL...

Anyway, I have a feeling that I need to scrap these cheep-po chi-nee crap chargers; DOH, bad timing!...

What do you guys think?
R...

When the batteries are sitting around doing nothing, are they fully charged or did you storage charge them?. Glacier batteries are good batteries. How old is your chargers? If the chargers are charging to 70%, I don't think it's the charger...but could be wrong. Test each batteries each individual cell. Might be that you have a bad cell in each battery. I'm just throwing stuff out there.

What capacity limit have you set in the charger? It could be that the limit is too low so it's hitting it before the battery is charged. I'd either disable capacity limit or if it cant be disabled then set it the largest value that you can type in (e.g. 999999 or whatever). Don't worry, the charger wont over charge the battery no matter how high you set the limit. It stops charging once the battery is full.

On the other hand, if the same chargers used to charge the exact same batteries without any issue then possibly it is a problem with the packs, but I'd rule out the capacity limit first.

It sounded like a pack issue.

• Other chargers are doing the same thing.
  
• Reduced flight times of almost 4 minutes

I woukd volt meter the packs both the cells and the whole pack. Do it after a charge cycle. See if the packs are around 4v a cell. 3.7-3.8 is about 50% . see if the cells are balanced also.

Oh guys; this coconut screwed up again.
I was able to charge the 4 packs but only while at a 1-C rate. I usually charge at a 2-C rate -- 4.4 Amps 2200 mAh 3-s..

I forgot to reset the cut-off capacity limit from 450 to 2200 mAh.. DOE!! What a maroon! However there's more to this story than meets the eye... It's kinda confusing... If you look at the picture you will see 4 chargers. Even with the proper settings, the 3 chargers on the right don't balance good and they don't bring the voltage to full, 4.20V..

The one on the left has the best performance. Usually It will charge to 2.0, 2.0, 2.1V... At a 4.4 amp rate in a reasonable amount of time. As long as I set it right, so far... But those other three I haven't trusted them in years... While their charging, their drifting up and down. It ain't supposed to do that.

Ok, with the battery failures of the recent past, I'm really starting to think my 11 rear old cheepo chargers aren't up to the mission requirements... LOL!..... I need to start a Go Fund Me Page; HA!.. Anyway I can't wait to let her off the leash for the first time. The airfield is open now so soon she'll soar...

Thanks again for all the input, it's all good!

Good that you figured it out. The 'capacity limit' does not have to match the battery. As I mentioned in my last reply, i'd recommend disabling this feature altogether or if that's not possible just type in the largest number you can.

A quality charger is definitely a great investment. It will save you a lot of time and hassle

Thanks again Smoggie, yeah check out this; DPL8T
Is this what we have in mind,, LOL!.... Dang this virus!!.. ….
Carry on folks!!…....>>>>>>>>>>>

Yes if you have the cash for it go for it. i have the PL6 with bump and I love it. Once the tag is programed thats it. Bump and charge. If you go multiple packs just bump all the packs, plug them in and press go. It will do everything else for you based on the tag info.

I’m an iCharger man myself but you can’t go wrong either way.
ISDT chargers look good too at a nice price point

Yeah the iChargers are nice too. It's defiantly a tough choice for sure. I'm kinda leaning toward the BUMP Charger because of my dyslexia problem. I think it would great to be able to (after programming) just bump that babee and charge it without worrying about whether I set everything right. This charger has Rob written all over it...

Just one question though; there's a 6 cell and a 8 cell model.. What kind of aircraft, would I need to have, to need an 8 cell charger? I think I should just stay with the 6 cell for now, not sure though??… What do you guys think?

Ok time for a battery pack update..
I flew the 4 2200 amp packs again today for 5 minutes each.
Shut down at 3.7v...
This time I turned off the current cut off setting on the charger completely. Now I can recharge the packs at 2C (4.4 amps) again and they all just take about 28 minutes from start to finish. However,, the balancing leaves a little to be desired. The 3 cell packs are usually, not always, within 1 to 2 tenths of a volt off... And that's my best charger out of the 4... Great tip Smoggie! For now that was a big help...

I can't hit the field tomorrow because I have to go to a stupid birthday party.. Oh wait,, it's Tom's and I's birthday,, ok let's party and keep in mind I need a new charger, a very expensive charger, LOL!... Oh man I'm a bad man when I'm broke... just joking, HA!... Hey I might bring the Trex tomorrow and fly her over there if I don't have to cook..
I hope this patch holds until they start production again of the chargers. Dang virus!...……..

The 6s version is good for 90% of applications. The only time I’ve needed more than 6s is when I’m charging my two 7s packs from my 14s setup on my TDR2

A few setups use 7s or 8s packs but not very many

With the pl 8 its nit really so much about the cell count. Its about the 1400 watts that it puts out. The pilits that us the PL8 fly 700 class helis mostly. While they have smaller kits its generally used to charge 2 6s or 2 7s packs at the same time at almost max c rate.

Stick with the PL6 and bump. If you need more then all you need to do is add a plain Jane pl6 to your setup. One bump controller can operate or control upto 4 pl6 or pl8 single units. Now if you go with the duo units then one bump controller can do 2 duo units of either one.

Both PL6 and PL8 have maximum charge current of 40 Amps so the extra power of the PL8 can only be realised if charging 7 or 8s packs.
The extra power of the PL8 is useless on 6s packs because a 6s pack at 40A only needs 1000W (25v x 40A = 1000W)

in any case the only way you can use 40A charge current is if parallel charging. If you only charge single packs then you don’t need that much power. Personally I parallel charge all the time and use the full 40A my icharger will give, on both channels

Ok; food for thought!
Yeah, check'n out the manual for the duo PL6.. And think at this point, that's the winner of the competition... I like the BUMP capability and the fact that I can expand, with two more chargers if needed.. All I got to do is make sure the power supply/supplies, are up to the task at hand...………
Thanks guys!!

Hey, fun birthday party tonight. But I couldn't stay to long because I needed to get loot'n, HA! FOOLS!!! Stay safe you fellow like minded folks, LOL!...……. Crazy...………….

Hey guys, I forgot to ask,,, what is the average times you can charge these lypos??
I've heard that you should be able charge them 400 plus times, is that right? With the chargers I have, I've never gotten close to that with the 4 2200 mAh packs.

So far I'm at 45 flights with my new 4 Glacier packs... Can't wait for the production of the PL6s to begin again... I already pre-ordered.. I hope my pos charger holds out till then.

Its hard to say how long they will last. To many variables involved. Expect about 2 seasons of flying maybe even 3.

Indeed, this is usually a lipo battery problem, but if all four are the same problem, then you should replace the charger

Jamess said:

Indeed, this is usually a lipo battery problem, but if all four are the same problem, then you should replace the charger

Click to expand...

I hartley agree,, ………
I'm still waiting for my new Revo-Dual Power Lab 6 Touch SII charger that's still on back order, due to that damn(CHINESE; Covid 19 virus) to arrive.. Due date, maybe,, late July; DOE!!……….
I have a feeling it'll be worth the wait though...