Decided to go with the 6380’s because why not. XTLA’s mounts have a total motor spacing of 174mm, so in theory there should be no issues.
Charging solution update:
There are two use cases I wish to fulfill when choosing a charger:
- High amp bench power supply for 10A fast charging.
- Durable and compact solution at 5A charge current.
Ideally I wanted to fast charge at 1C (4.2ah * 4p = 16.8A) but the FlexiBMS is limited to ‘only’ 10A.
As previously detailed I’ve chosen the RDTech line of PSU’s for their affordability, flexibility and high current. The problem is that these units are quite loud and certainly aren’t very portable.
I arrived on this LED power supply through this thread and decided that the Meanwell HLG line of power supplies were perfect due to their durable fanless design and constantly praised reliability.
I was definitely sceptical at first purely due to the name and the fact that it’s a led power supply and not strictly speaking a charger. However, after reading multiple accounts on this forum, endless sphere, youtube, EEVblog, etc it was clear that they are well designed. I found that Mouser was the cheapest since express global shipping is free on orders over $60.
Meanwell product naming designations:
If you’re purchasing one of the Meanwell’s as a charger they have multiple current options available from 180W to 600W. Here’s what the naming scheme means:
- HLG = Product series type
- 240H = Power rating (240W)
- 48 = Rated Voltage output
- A = Adjustable voltage/amperage output
Note the rated voltage of 48V is adjustable from 44.8 ~ 51.2V making it perfect for setting exactly the voltage you want to charge to for a 12s pack. Note that as a power supply the unit won’t automatically shut off once the desired voltage is reached, you need a BMS for that or measure the volts and unplug when finished.
Here’s the datasheet.
I’ve seen these chargers from YZPower mentioned farely often. They’re affordable and with many size and amperage options. However, many have reported the amperage ratings are generally overstated as well as unreliable. They also aren’t fanless or IP65 rated like the Meanwell HLG series are.
Charging connectors:
Down the rabbit hole again… After another afternoon spent researching I’ve finally settled on the panel mount Amass XT60E-M. Why? Simply because of its compact size and high current capability. This thread has copious amounts of suggestion on various GX type plugs most of which are either hard to find, have a metal casing and thus short more easily, are far too bulky, and or do not have enough amperage capability.
Shoutout to @Creavenger for the Thingiverse XT60 cover:
I need your opinion!
How much build documentation is too much?
I realise most won’t document to the same extent but I feel like having my thought process written down on the forum will possibly help someone down the road when they’re searching for the same problems that I’ve come across. I’ve been heavily inspired to do so based on @love2scoot’s amazing switchblade build thread.
But on the Flipsky (lol I see myself out) too many words is simply that, too much! Additionally, if someone is searching for a 12s charging solution they would generally look for keywords in the title of a thread as opposed to a specific post on someones build log…
Thoughts?