Recommend a charging station for me!

[Benjamin Kenobi]

Great choice! Thanks the charger I want/need :nevreness:.

I don't really know what an acceptable IR is, but my 6S 5000mah lipos read between 1.3-2.1mΩ per cell after 1 year of use if that helps.

 

[kloner]

you have two ways to measure your IR, either through the main plug that shows the overall ir including the plugs resistance or the individual cell ir with the balance plug in..... alot of new cells i see come 2-4 on individual cells, 30 ish on the tap. i start watching with retirement in mind by the time i see that tap rise to 25% over new or 5-6 per cell,,, usually by then there really out of whack like 3-3-3-6-9-3 by then..... over discharging makes them do that.

a new 10c pack might be in excess of 50 new, have seen 30c packs that were 18 new.... main tap ir is all i watch till i suspect a problem

 

[Scott Drysdale]

Excellent choice Quinton, I purchased the 308 duo and am just about to try it out with brand new 6S 6000 maH batteries.
IMHO establishing the IR at time of battery purchase and comparing it to the manufacturer's spec seems like a good way to start.

Re: your final question.... There is a statement in the following online tool that may answer that question (although most chargers try to calculate IR while charging or discharging which seems to suggest a brief 2nd try is needed when the charge is close to completion.

.. http://www.jj604.com/LiPoTool/

In any case here is, what I believe, is a very informative document that could answer these questions better....
http://www.maac.ca/docs/2013/lipo_b...e_max_current_draw_true_crating__rev3_toc.pdf

Subsequent to this somewhat dated article, the IR functionality was incorporated into some of the better battery chargers, e.g., iCharger etc.
In any case I hope this document is useful to you and others.

OK I got my charger today, I decided on the 406 Duo instead of the 308 as it was capable of 40A each channel on 6s the same as the 4010 duo.
This thing is really light/small and silent compared to my other charger.
Now I see I have Internal resistance measurement which is nice, however I noticed 1 of the cells was "slightly" higher than all the others on 1 lipo.

Can anyone who has some knowledge on IR let me know what an acceptable limit would be for IR, and what it would read when I should look at replacing batteries?
Also can IR be taken into account the same when I am charging or discharging

 

[Mojave]

you have two ways to measure your IR, either through the main plug that shows the overall ir including the plugs resistance or the individual cell ir with the balance plug in..... alot of new cells i see come 2-4 on individual cells, 30 ish on the tap. i start watching with retirement in mind by the time i see that tap rise to 25% over new or 5-6 per cell,,, usually by then there really out of whack like 3-3-3-6-9-3 by then..... over discharging makes them do that.

a new 10c pack might be in excess of 50 new, have seen 30c packs that were 18 new.... main tap ir is all i watch till i suspect a problem

In your experience does the over all IR from the main red/black leads automatically add up to the IR measured via the cell balance leads?

 

[Quinton]

Thanks for that, don't think I need to worry, the packs are about 9 months old and 5 cells were around 1.6 and one was at 2.5

@Scott Thanks for the link, I just skimmed through it for now, but it may well answer any further questions I have, will bookmark it for future reading.

@Mojave
it does show in the manual (page 14) that it will give you 1. Cells internal resistance, 2 Pack Internal Resistance and 3 Line resistance, maybe that's why you can see a slight difference..
http://www.progressiverc.com/media/iCharger 406Duo Manual.pdf

Not 100% sure exactly what is meant by "line" resistance yet.

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

Hi all,

Thanks for all your replies on this thread!

I now have an iCharger 4010 DUO, two 110AH leisure batteries and a 3000W PSU (48V) from Coolice.

I tried the leisure batteries on Sunday at a shoot and they were brilliant!!! I flew about three times longer than normal and didn't have to find a plug socket, so I could drive around whilst charging. The freedom I felt was fantastic!

Thanks again! :nevreness:

 

[Quinton]

Hi all,

Thanks for all your replies on this thread!

I now have an iCharger 4010 DUO, two 110AH leisure batteries and a 3000W PSU (48V) from Coolice.

I tried the leisure batteries on Sunday at a shoot and they were brilliant!!! I flew about three times longer than normal and didn't have to find a plug socket, so I could drive around whilst charging. The freedom I felt was fantastic!

Thanks again! :nevreness:

Nice one, sounds like a real good setup.
How'd you manage a 3000w one, they aren't even on the site
Can it only do 48V or do you have the option of having less in case you want to use different chargers?

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

Hi Quinton!

Alas it only does 48V. Fine for me as it is just to power the one charger. He has 3000W which are one complete unit. I am actually still waiting for it to be delivered but it shouldn't be too long.

Thanks for your many recommendations! I think i've done exactly as you've suggested in this thread! :nevreness:

 

[henrysj]

Hi all,

Thanks for all your replies on this thread!

I now have an iCharger 4010 DUO, two 110AH leisure batteries and a 3000W PSU (48V) from Coolice.

I tried the leisure batteries on Sunday at a shoot and they were brilliant!!! I flew about three times longer than normal and didn't have to find a plug socket, so I could drive around whilst charging. The freedom I felt was fantastic!

Thanks again! :nevreness:

Hi Benjamin,

I'm just about to deck out my van with some leisure batteries and was going to go for 4 x 12v 60ah Sealed Deep Cycle batteries run in series to give an output of 48v 60ah. According to the duo 4010 manual 65ah is the max it can take - I know if I go over the max voltage it stops the charger from working is this not the case with the amps as well? trying to find 60ah batteries is quite difficult so if I can up this to 110 or so as you have done it would make like much easier.

Cheers,
Henry

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

Howdy,

Not the case with amps. They are simply the capacity (like a bigger fuel tank rather than a more powerful engine). The DUO can handle up to 50V, there's no maximum capacity.

I would definitely recommend a higher capacity battery. I drained a 110ah one in a couple of hours of continuous charging.

Next on the list is a generator to charge all the accessories (and make my tea!).

 

[henrysj]

Howdy,

Not the case with amps. They are simply the capacity (like a bigger fuel tank rather than a more powerful engine). The DUO can handle up to 50V, there's no maximum capacity.

I would definitely recommend a higher capacity battery. I drained a 110ah one in a couple of hours of continuous charging.

Next on the list is a generator to charge all the accessories (and make my tea!).

\

Ah thank you - saved me from making a massive mistake. Been looking at gene options too, think I'm gonna start with just using the van engine and fitting a bigger alternator but I'll also have the ability to plug in to an external power source to charge the batteries so on most jobs will just be able to pinch power from the sparks

 

[Fat Corgi]

Can't recommend having your own gene enough. I'm one of "the Sparks" that you steal power off, and while we can supply you most of the time, having your own gene and a way to plug in your van, has been the best option in my experience.

 

[cbuk]

[MENTION=9737]Quinton[/MENTION] and [MENTION=3211]Benjamin Kenobi[/MENTION]
How are you guys finding the Coolice PSUs. I'm looking to upgrade my charging facilities and this seems a good buy.

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

Great! I got the 3000W 48V one which is humming away next to me now. Only works with the iCharger 4010 DUO since it's 48V. It's a thing of beauty! (although it's as long as my entire arm!)

 

[kloner]

I've finally gotten some time with the 4006 icharger, it's absolute money. Also the first time i've tried the meanwell psu.... enjoying it all, with 2 of these and 6 packs i can fly non stop all day as long as i get a genny big enough to run em all

 

[jfro]

I've finally gotten some time with the 4006 icharger, it's absolute money. Also the first time i've tried the meanwell psu.... enjoying it all, with 2 of these and 6 packs i can fly non stop all day as long as i get a genny big enough to run em all

I got the iCharger 406 duo and I'm liking it. In regards to flying most of the day with 3 sets of 2 batteries, I'm curious to what is reasonable for taking 2- 8000 mah 6s batteries off my MR, when they are warm, but not too hot, and immediately putting them on my charger and hitting them with 18 amps (3s) for charging.

I have been giving them a little time to cool off, but when out a ways from home to fly, it would be nice to spend more time in air. I fly x8 with 2 batteries around 14+ minutes and a heavy quad with 1 battery at around 14-18 minutes depending what gimbal I use.

Guess I'm asking, what is too quick or too hot to start charging 6s batteries again?

I just got my broken iCharger 306 replaced, so now have that as a backup or another charger to be able to charge a 3rd battery in balance mode with all being perfectly balanced. Maybe next we need a cooling setup for the batteries ... lol....

As to generators, my little used Honda 1000 is running a long time in eco mode on 1 gallon of gas. Best investment I've made. This just needs a little motor and wheels to follow me up the hills.......

 

[kloner]

if there hot when you take em off you might wait a bit or not fly them so low. That indicates stress, could be a rising IR or just under rated for the rig.... heat indicates damage

We generally land at half discharge, 7-8 minutes on the jib with an epic, 10 minutes on the hex u7...there 10 amp 6s and go straight to 30 amp charge. haven't even tried 40 amp charge thought here rated for 50 amp charge rates

if there warming from the environment, get them in a cooler

 

[Quinton]

@Quinton and @Benjamin Kenobi
How are you guys finding the Coolice PSUs. I'm looking to upgrade my charging facilities and this seems a good buy.

Can't fault the boxed version at all really good, along with my 406 Duo its a great combination, (Is that what you lot mean by 4006?) more than enough power.
Before I could hear my old chargers and PSU down the street, now I can just close the lid, and you can barely hear a thing right beside it.

 

[kloner]

yea, 406 duo....

 

[jfro]

What do you consider 1/2 discharge?

is 4.2 x 80% = 3.36v per cell. Is this considered full discharge?

is 4.2 x 90% = 3.78v per cell. Is this what you consider 1/2 discharge?

Assuming not going below 80% is full usage then 20% usage is full. If so, then 1/2 of 20 is 10% which is that 3.78....

I've been landing in the 3.6 range the majority of the time, but on occasion go to 3.45 or so. I thought this was considered easy usage, ie, not stressing the batteries.

When you talk about coolers in hot weather, I assume you mean some ice in there to help lower the temps?