| Author |
Message |
Teamtanglefoot (Teamtanglefoot)
Member
Username: Teamtanglefoot
Post Number: 25
Registered: 5-2007
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| Posted on Saturday, March 14, 2009 - 2:40 pm: |
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Hi Paul, Do you have a charger/balancer that will do 10 A123 CELLS? Tks Chris |
Admin (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 1002
Registered: 10-2004
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| Posted on Saturday, March 14, 2009 - 5:44 pm: |
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Hi Chris,
A few Roboteers are using our Xtrema chargers. For 10 cell balancing, you will also need a pair of 6-cell balancers and a balancer interface module. See http://www.technobots.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Lithium_Chargers___Cutoffs _26.html for more info.
Regards
Paul |
Teamtanglefoot (Teamtanglefoot)
Member
Username: Teamtanglefoot
Post Number: 26
Registered: 5-2007
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| Posted on Saturday, March 14, 2009 - 7:09 pm: |
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Hi Paul Thanks for the reply. So will a pair of 6 cell balancers do a 10 cell pack?. Also interested in the USB lead. Does this enable you to see each cell as it charges graphically on a pc screen? Thanks Chris |
Teamtanglefoot (Teamtanglefoot)
Member
Username: Teamtanglefoot
Post Number: 27
Registered: 5-2007
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| Posted on Saturday, March 14, 2009 - 8:39 pm: |
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Hi Paul, Just thought of another question. How long would it take to charge and Balance 10 A123 Cells?. I understand that it depends on how far out of balance they are. But once they have been charged and balanced I know some roboteers don't balance at competitions. So could this be used to "fast charge" the A123 cells without balancing (Assuming they have been properly balanced previously) Tks Chris |
Admin (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 1004
Registered: 10-2004
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| Posted on Saturday, March 14, 2009 - 8:48 pm: |
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Hi Chris,
I do not have my own A123 packs but when I tested them on a set I made for a customer, you can quite easily charge in one hour. Best to ask the Kanopener team for practical charge figures. Balancing time does depend on how far out they are but balancing could add 20 minutes or more to the charge time.
A pair of 6-cell balancers can balance up to 12 cells, I spilt them 5 cells per balancer.
The USB lead does allow you to monitor the charge process by individual cells. I can't remember for sure if it also has a graphical display but I think it did.
It's worth taking a look at the manufacturers website http://www.tmenet.com where lots more info can be found. |
Teamtanglefoot (Teamtanglefoot)
Member
Username: Teamtanglefoot
Post Number: 28
Registered: 5-2007
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| Posted on Saturday, March 14, 2009 - 8:53 pm: |
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Hi Paul, This looks really good. I looked at the manufactures web-site and their youtube video. It appeared you could use 4 balancers. So could I charge two 10 cell packs at the same time? Tks Chris |
Admin (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 1005
Registered: 10-2004
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| Posted on Monday, March 16, 2009 - 7:46 pm: |
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Chris,
As far as I understand it, you can charge up to 10 cells in series. You can connect up to 4 balancers and balance multiple packs simultaneously but charging will be limited to 10 cells. You can charge more than 10 cells but only if connected in parallel. Charging in parallel is something I avoid at all costs but it looks like the Xtrema balancer takes care of this but packs should be in roughly the same state of charge before balancing. |
Teamtanglefoot (Teamtanglefoot)
Member
Username: Teamtanglefoot
Post Number: 29
Registered: 5-2007
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| Posted on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - 8:27 am: |
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Hi Paul. Thanks for the info. Do you sell the connectors needed for making up packs i.e. the connector needed to solder on the end of the pack to connect to the charger/balancer lead? Tks Chris |
Admin (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 1010
Registered: 10-2004
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| Posted on Thursday, March 19, 2009 - 6:56 am: |
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Chris,
We do, check out 2701-319 where there is even a photo of the connectors in use on an A123 pack. |
Teamtanglefoot (Teamtanglefoot)
Member
Username: Teamtanglefoot
Post Number: 30
Registered: 5-2007
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| Posted on Sunday, March 22, 2009 - 12:37 am: |
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Hi Paul, Thanks for the info. I have another question. When you connect the wires to each cell. I will be using 10 A123 Cells. So 11 wires. This charging system uses 2 balancers and so use 5 cells for each. How would you connect this up to each balancer? Tks Chris |
Admin (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 1014
Registered: 10-2004
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| Posted on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 - 7:06 am: |
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Chris, the way I did it was two use two banks of 5 cells, wired to 2 headers. Each header has 6 wires going to it but of course two of the wires are connected to the same cell (where cell 5 links to cell 6). If that does not make sense, I will draw you out a wiring schematic and the colour codes. |
Teamtanglefoot (Teamtanglefoot)
Member
Username: Teamtanglefoot
Post Number: 31
Registered: 5-2007
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| Posted on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 - 10:19 pm: |
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Hi Paul, I would be really interested to see your wiring diagram for this. I understand as far as the balancer is concerned it is 2 banks of 5. Tks Chris |
Teamtanglefoot (Teamtanglefoot)
Member
Username: Teamtanglefoot
Post Number: 32
Registered: 5-2007
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| Posted on Sunday, March 29, 2009 - 9:39 pm: |
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Hi Paul. I have uploaded a diagram of how I think the batteries should be connected. basically 2 wires between the 5th and 6th cell. So one wire would be 16.5 Volts to balancer 1 and the other wire would be 0v to balancer 2. Was wondering if there were any issues with using this arrangement? Is it a good idea to charge the cells individually first (Just after I have first made up the packs as I don't know what state the batterys are in?} before using the charger/balancer? Tks Chris |
Admin (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 1023
Registered: 10-2004
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| Posted on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 - 7:13 pm: |
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Hi Chris,
Sorry for taking a while to get back to you as things are rather hectic still here. I was going to draw something exactly the same as you have drawn but with the addition of a colour code which clearly can be your own if you prefer.
I have made up sixteen 10 cell packs and all I did was simply measure the voltage of each cell first and grouped similar voltage cells together. Not essential but just seemed a good practice to adopt. You must not charge up cells before assembly due to the risk of short circuits creating an even greater hazard to your safety than a discharged cell. After that you can simply plug a balancer into each packs connector and watch the balancing take place (it will discharge the cells to the lowest cell volatge present in that bank. You can then charge as normally. There are if I remember correctly 3 modes charging / balancing which are explained in the user manual. |
Teamtanglefoot (Teamtanglefoot)
Member
Username: Teamtanglefoot
Post Number: 33
Registered: 5-2007
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| Posted on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 - 8:46 pm: |
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Hi Paul many thanks for the info. I would be interested in the colour codes you used. Nice to stick to a convention to make things easier. Tks Chris |
Admin (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 1029
Registered: 10-2004
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| Posted on Friday, April 3, 2009 - 1:15 pm: |
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Chris,
Starting from the left in your drawing we have:
Black 1, Grey, Yellow, Brown, Blue, Red 1 - Black 2, Orange, Pink, Violet, Green, Red 2.
Regards
Paul |
