"Seamless" LiPo charging

How-Tos & Esk8 mechanics Esk8 Mechanics
#1

I use 4x 12ah 6s lipos (2s2p?) in my offroad build and charge them using this (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DN9HRFF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and some 6s balance splitters.

I recently bought these (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DN9HRFF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to see if I could make the charging process easier and waterproof. Right now I have to open my battery box to charge.

I’m looking for a sanity check on my plan before I go further with it. Thanks for reading :pray:

#2

So you spent $13 on some connectors to do a weird charging setup that requires a dedicated lipo charger as well.

When you could have spent $17, gotten a BMS, and used a regular charger like a sane person.

Sanity check given. Status: somewhat insane.

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#3

I like using a lipo charger for saftey (based on what others told me) as well as the ability to put my batteries into storage mode since this is not my only board. I did want to go the internal BMS route at some point in the future.

Also, I’m unsure how to wire two 6s balance leads into one 12s set to go into a BMS. I tried once and burned the fuck out of my fingers as soon as I plugged it in, destroyed the BMS as well.

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#4
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#5

I will definitely be keeping an eye on that thread, thanks for pointing it out!

What are your thoughts on my idea in the mean time?

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#6

I wouldn’t have been so abrasive about it, but a BMS is probably the best bet. There are some rally tiny BMS’s available these days, charge only or charge & discharge.

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#7

Would you see an issue with using two 6s BMS’s and bypassing them for discharge?

#8

Im not sure how I feel about charging at 6s through the balance leads but having them connected in series to 12s through the mains. Im prolly not the best to answer this.

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#9

If I can get a crystal clear diagram of how to splice two 6s balance leads into a 12s one then I’ll do it. I looked online for a while and couldn’t find it. When I tried it myself I burned a BMS and my fingers, which is why I’m hesitant.

#10

image image

Maybe this will help

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#11

Thats the one I used and burned myself with :sob:

edit: I havent used the first one though, will try it with gloves on :wink:

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#12

12p connector won’t do for a 12s battery. You need 13p connector for balance leads and another 2p one for main charge leads. Charging over balance leads is possible but not recommended since you’ll get significant voltage drop on the leads and it will bias the voltage reading for the first and the last cell in the battery pack.

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#13

Just do this

Its really no different to a regular BMS wiring.

#14

Hey dude! With my PCB that @mmaner linked, it’ll make it alot easier to charge your packs. However you will still need a multimeter to solder the bms leads to the output pins of the pcb. The idea of the pcb is to have less balance leads to join and balance parallel packs.

If you don’t want a bms in your enclosure, you could wire the pcb pins to your plug you’ve bought, then have your bms connect to that plug from the outside of the enclosure and charge through that with a 12s charger. Or, you could have the bms inside the enclosure, and just have the input pin for the power supply on the outside of the enclosure :blush::blush:

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#15

Just to add my 2 cents to what @mynamesmatt mentioned - you need the meter to make sure your leads to the BMS are in the right order - if they’re not, that can cause the BMS to let all it’s magic smoke out.

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#16

I’m using two of these, so 24 pins in total.

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#17

Great ! I am going to keep a close eye on your PCB project. I cant wait to buy one when available!

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#18

That’s enough pins then. :slight_smile: Do you have two balance chargers and connect one to each connector?

#19

I have a dual balance charger at the moment

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#20

Have a similar plan to use a connector like this with a dual balance charger (maybe I need a sanity check also?)

1 Like