Lipos/Charger Questions...

[ksb51rl]

I can post pictures. I do not want to bend the wires that come off the battery pack. I would have to bend them 90* and I just don't see how that could be good for the pack. I don't know what packs you have, but these will not go through the stock opening on the right side of the truck.

I mentioned what packs I have. Lets not beat a dead horse. MANY people run the SPC packs the standard way. You don't WANT to. That is different from not being able to. Pictures won't do any better for me than the packs I have in hand.

Edit: Perhaps pics will benefit others...
SPC 8200mAh battery with no damage to wires

[Piranha-z]

I mentioned what packs I have. Lets not beat a dead horse. MANY people run the SPC packs the standard way. You don't WANT to. That is different from not being able to. Pictures won't do any better for me than the packs I have in hand.

Edit: Perhaps pics will benefit others...
SPC 8200mAh battery with no damage to wires

I am very sorry. I didn't mean to offend anyone. I guess I wasn't trying to beat a dead horse, just stating what I thought. Apparently I have had bad luck doing that in these forums lately. Time for a break I guess.

And you are completely wrong. It's not that I didn't want to run them that way. Do you really think I wanted to spend the time to cut out the fins on the vents and do all the extra stuff to make the batteries work the way I thought they had to?? No way!

Maybe instead of saying that I can't use my batteries the way you are, I should have asked if it's OK to bend the wires that far, because apparently you are. My batteries showed up and the wires were straight up like yours and I called and talked to Tom. He told me it was OK to put some pressure on the wires but I really thought bending them at 90* (like you are) would be bad for the batteries. I guess I was wrong. When you just drop that much cash on new batteries, the last thing you wanna do is screw them up.

I will try and keep my opinions to myself. Again, I am sorry for offending anyone.

[Jacob Chandler]

Is $106 a good price for a 206B iCharger?

[Jimmie Neutron]

Yes. But, if there ever is an issue (not saying there will be) EPBuddy and ProgressiveRC are US based and actually stand behind what they sell.

[Jacob Chandler]

PRC Is that a good place to get stuff from?

[mike-susieq1]

Agreed both sites Jimmie said are the best to the charger from right now as that is what most use. Free shipping from PRC.

[Jacob Chandler]

Ok. I will check out those 2 sites and compare prices. It is a good charger though right? How long would it take to charge 5 2s 8200Mah lipos?

[Jimmie Neutron]

I have the 206. It is a great charger!
Two 8200's on a ParaBoard:
LVC to full... about 40 minutes at 1.22C
Storage to full... about 20 minutes at 1.22C


I have ordered from PRC and EPBuddy. Both great places to deal with.
PRC has a Traxxas ParaBoard, last I checked EPBuddy did not.

[ksb51rl]

I will try and keep my opinions to myself. Again, I am sorry for offending anyone.

There is no offense and an opinion is not a problem. The "facts" you were stating simply were not facts. It was this misinformation that seemed very hard to correct.

[Jacob Chandler]

On ProgressiveRC, it gives me the option on what paraboard comes with the iCharger 206B Charger. Which one would be the best to get with it and can charge the most batteries at once?

[Jimmie Neutron]

Are you confusing a balance board with a parallel board?
The reason I ask is because
1) there is no option for a paraboard when I go through the process
2) all parallel boards charge 6 batteries

[jamann]

I believe the 206 only has a 6s out balance connecter.
the board is to allow
Balance charging 2s or 3s ...up to a 6 s.
The para board in this case would take the place of the included board like so

Batteries turned away for security reasons. 2 2s 5000 mah balance charging at 1c 10 amps





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[Jimmie Neutron]

The 206 has everything from 2S-6S.

[Jacob Chandler]

Balance board... sorry. What is best... the JST-XH, Kokam, PolyQuest, or ThunderPower... or are they all the same?

[jamann]

The 206 has everything from 2S-6S.

I stand corrected...lol 0 for 2 today
I'm loosing it, if I ever had any of it to start with


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[jamann]

Balance board... sorry. What is best... the JST-XH, Kokam, PolyQuest, or ThunderPower... or are they all the same?

Edit
JST-XH are on many popular batts spc traxxas etc.depends on your batts


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[Jimmie Neutron]

Most are JST-XH... so is your charger.
If you are ever going to get a battery that takes something different than JST-XH, get that balance board. In reality, you probably will not ever need one; so if you are paying for it, don't get it.

Jamann... you cannot know everything there is to know about everything there is to know about. That is why we are a community... we all collectively probably know everything there is to know about everything we know about.

(untwist that! lol)

[jamann]

Most are JST-XH... so is your charger.
If you are ever going to get a battery that takes something different than JST-XH, get that balance board. In reality, you probably will not ever need one; so if you are paying for it, don't get it.

Jamann... you cannot know everything there is to know about everything there is to know about. That is why we are a community... we all collectively probably know everything there is to know about everything we know about.

(untwist that! lol)

So what you are saying is, if we all knew everything there is too know about what we know.then this forum would be redundant and this conversation would have never taken place.wow now I'm lost.
what Jimmie said before the conversation that may have never taken place.would be the better and more complete answer.



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[Jimmie Neutron]

I will attempt to untwist what which was once twisted by me:

One may not know much of anything... but a little of something.
A lot of "ones" make for a lot of knowledge... each contributing their part to the whole.

[Jacob Chandler]

So if I get a SPC Lipo, the JST-XH would be the balance board I want it to come with?

[jamann]

So if I get a SPC Lipo, the JST-XH would be the balance board I want it to come with?

Yes the spc have jst-xh balance connecters


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[Jimmie Neutron]

But you really don't need it with the 206 because they are directly on the charger.
And if you use a ParaBoard, you will be using the ones on the that and not a balance board.

[Jacob Chandler]

OK. Confusing, but ok. So when I get the 206, dont get the balance board because I will just plug the paraboard to charge my 4 batteries into a socket on the charger?

[Jimmie Neutron]

SPC batteries plug directly into the Traxxas ParaBoard.
Traxxas ParaBoard plugs directly into the iCharger 206.

No need for a balance board.

The only reason for a balance board is if:
1) the charger only has one large balance port
2) the charger has one type of balance port and your batteries have another
3) it is included and free

[Jacob Chandler]

It is included for an extra $9.

[Jimmie Neutron]

I would skip it.

[his grace]

I would skip it.

This thread is helping me love my onyx 245 charger lol. Both ac and dc plugs, dual charger, charges four types of batteries. The only thing is it cant discharge. I talked with onyx and my lhs, and they said you really dont need to discharge them (lipos). Not sure if i believe them, but the two guys working at the lhs havent discharged their lipos ever, and they have had them for roughly two years so far, going up to a month at times not using them. And they say that they still work just fine.

[Jakey]

Storing a high performance LiPo pack at or near full capacity is known to damage the pack in several ways. Just because someone claims their pack is fine after storing at full charge, does not mean it is right.

[his grace]

Storing a high performance LiPo pack at or near full capacity is known to damage the pack in several ways. Just because someone claims their pack is fine after storing at full charge, does not mean it is right.

Not saying i don't believe you, have you know this to happen to anybody? Personal experience? I never leave mine fully charged, i run em down and leave it like that until its time to run them again, it takes about 48minutes to charge both of them. 8000mah lipos

[Jakey]

Not saying i don't believe you, have you know this to happen to anybody? Personal experience?

Yes, I have actually measured capacity loss and IR increases in packs that were stored at full charge.

[his grace]

Yes, I have actually measured capacity loss and IR increases in packs that were stored at full charge.

Good deal. Those guys must be full of Bologna. I advise not to listen to Onyx either.

[his grace]

Yes, I have actually measured capacity loss and IR increases in packs that were stored at full charge.

One question, was this a controlled experiment? Did you have another set of lipos that you would discharge to recommended level 3.5-3.6 . Just to asses whether the loss of capacity was just natural loss over time.

[jamann]

The hobby shop where these two guys work,Do they sell batteries?....lol
I have learned not to trust hobby shops.
I come here for the first stop on my research quest




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[Jakey]

One question, was this a controlled experiment?

Sure was.

[happymachinist]

One question, was this a controlled experiment? Did you have another set of lipos that you would discharge to recommended level 3.5-3.6 . Just to asses whether the loss of capacity was just natural loss over time.

It's well documented that you don't store lipos at full charge or fully drained for any extended period of time.


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[Jimmie Neutron]

Jakey is a battery genius...
Just thought I would add that to this conversation.

[his grace]

Sure was.

Okay, well then thats that. I am curious what the life difference will be. For instance: A) a pair of 8000mah lipo batteries who are consistently drained down to 3.6-3.8 ( lvd cutoff?) from normal bashing,

B) a pair of 8000 mah lipos that are run the same amount of times, run down to lvd shut off (3.6-3.8) and then discharged down to 3.4-3.5 (considered proper discharge amperage)

Both of these pairs of batteries are run twice a week, mondays and fridays for a year. In your scientific opinion, how much loss in capacity would the non discharged pair of lipos suffer, compared to the discharged pair? And, what does that equate to in run time?

It's well documented that you don't store lipos at full charge or fully drained for any extended period of time.


Sent from my iPhone using autocorrect

Jakey is a battery genius...
Just thought I would add that to this conversation.

[Jimmie Neutron]

I don't have a graph for what you ask, but here is an example of charging LiPo's to 4.1v/cell vs 4.2:

Just this simple change more than doubled the lifespan.

[ksb51rl]

One question, was this a controlled experiment? Did you have another set of lipos that you would discharge to recommended level 3.5-3.6 . Just to asses whether the loss of capacity was just natural loss over time.

Hahahahaha! You wouldn't believe how controlled his experiments are.
You may want to check this webpage: http://www.rclipotesting.com/Info_and_Care.php

Okay, well then thats that. I am curious what the life difference will be. For instance: A) a pair of 8000mah lipo batteries who are consistently drained down to 3.6-3.8 ( lvd cutoff?) from normal bashing,

B) a pair of 8000 mah lipos that are run the same amount of times, run down to lvd shut off (3.6-3.8) and then discharged down to 3.4-3.5 (considered proper discharge amperage)

Both of these pairs of batteries are run twice a week, mondays and fridays for a year. In your scientific opinion, how much loss in capacity would the non discharged pair of lipos suffer, compared to the discharged pair? And, what does that equate to in run time?

Yo need to define the voltage level a little more clearly. Are the figures of of 3.6-3.8 V/cell and then 3.4-3.5 V/cell measured as resting voltages or measured as voltage under load?

[his grace]

I don't have a graph for what you ask, but here is an example of charging LiPo's to 4.1v/cell vs 4.2:

Just this simple change more than doubled the lifespan.

Help me understand this, one lipo was charged to 4.2 volts and the other to 4.1 volts. Then discharged to 2.5 volts ( ma?).

Okay what does this say about discharge amperage? It never showed a difference in the level of discharge. Both were discharged to 2.5 volts.

This graph does not reveal the question at hand. What is the difference in capacity loss by not discharging to the recommended discharge amperage 3.4-3.5 as noted.