LiPo Charging problem

[Danny Fireblade]

Im fairly new to the RC game after the last car i built being a Tamiya Ford Escort cosworth about 15 years ago but thought what the hell and got a DEx410Rv3.

Its all built, shell painted, electrics installed and it works:thumbsup: so i bet your wondering why im posting???

well its a weird one, the LiPo batteries, as with everything else, were brand new, deans connnector soldered on, power the car fine but when i attach it to the new battery charger the charger shows current voltage for both cells (3.81v) but wont charge as it says no battery connected??

The shop sent me out a replacement charger after i sent them pictures of how ive connected etc but that shows the same thing, no battery connected?

Now the charger shows the voltage of the cells and the batteries work the car (not properly driven it yet as dont want to use the batteries until i can charge them) even if it just around the living room floor:D but im stumped, hence the post.

Can post pics if required and thanks in advance:D

[JonyNitro]

Go on the pics

[Cardnim]

What make & model of charger is it?

[Dombrasky]

check the deans, sometimes they fail, try twisting or pulling slightly apart
did you connect together when you soldered ??

[Danny Fireblade]

It's a team Orion charger, all joints on connectors feel and look good, I did attach them when I soldered them.
Here are a few pics.
http://i647.photobucket.com/albums/uu196/dannyfireblade/881A70A6-3E25-4A37-ACF2-04AD376B14E5-269-0000001C5087E74D_zpse129d16f.jpg
http://i647.photobucket.com/albums/uu196/dannyfireblade/A43ED04E-A7EB-4E80-8D29-45523FF925FF-269-0000001C4AEFF865_zps566af510.jpg
http://i647.photobucket.com/albums/uu196/dannyfireblade/14184B57-4B81-4AE1-87FB-9FFC947EB919-269-0000001C44641798_zps48f781ff.jpg
http://i647.photobucket.com/albums/uu196/dannyfireblade/20D66A4A-A7E4-4861-8F9C-1DAFD85DF11D-269-0000001C3E1CD0B5_zps41f2e920.jpg
http://i647.photobucket.com/albums/uu196/dannyfireblade/33293DA8-7803-4DDF-9EF5-FDA18445B4C9-269-0000001C37BB0129_zpsd0440ace.jpg

Cheers:-)

[/tobys]

Are you sure the link cable is in the correct way round; I'm certain that the "middle" balance cable terminates on the first cell...

Double check your instructions in case they say different.

[Danny Fireblade]

Are you sure the link cable is in the correct way round; I'm certain that the "middle" balance cable terminates on the first cell...

Double check your instructions in case they say different.

Thanks for the suggestion, just in case tho I tried the other way with no luck:thumbdown:

Damn electricity, I'm sure it's voodoo.

[JonyNitro]

Charge it with out the balance plug, try that

[Aire valley]

Something looks peculiar with the balance charge lead...it seems to have two positive and one negative ..! I'm sure there should just be one of each. The thin balance wires ..

[spennyy2k]

On my balance lead its 1 positive and 2 negative going to the cells

[K-Brewer]

But it looks like both ur red wires are positive as they're going into the positive connection on both saddles, on my saddles the two negative balance wires go into the negative terminals

http://s1078.photobucket.com/albums/w500/Brewskie24/?action=view&current=00E94F35-03CF-491F-90C1-AF66047D94FE-339-000000FD28B7CFB8_zps0afab0af.jpg

http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w500/Brewskie24/00E94F35-03CF-491F-90C1-AF66047D94FE-339-000000FD28B7CFB8_zps0afab0af.jpg (http://s1078.photobucket.com/user/Brewskie24/media/00E94F35-03CF-491F-90C1-AF66047D94FE-339-000000FD28B7CFB8_zps0afab0af.jpg.html)

[mark christopher]

But it looks like both ur red wires are positive as they're going into the positive connection on both saddles, on my saddles the two negative balance wires go into the negative terminals

http://s1078.photobucket.com/albums/w500/Brewskie24/?action=view&current=00E94F35-03CF-491F-90C1-AF66047D94FE-339-000000FD28B7CFB8_zps0afab0af.jpg


if you move your centre thin black wire to the positive side it will read exactly the same, you could stick it any where on your lead that joins the two packs

[redonesgofaster]

As theres a wire connecting the +ve of one battery to the -ve of the other the centre balance wire is neither its 3.6v for a 7.2v pack.

The charger is picking up the individual voltages form each cell via the thin balance leads so they're working.

If it says no battery the i'd say the issue is with the 'thick' charge leads

the 'output' voltage is the difference between the two cells not the sum of the two

3.83 - 3.82 ... 00.01 ... not 7.65


... so here's a crazy idea .... do those batteries have a 4mm connector on the underside too? .... is one upside down and hence back to front so you have neg to neg in the middle? red blob of paint on the wrong connector?

.. stick a DVM on the battery output make sure positive is where you think it is


Ian

[Neil Skull]

Seems odd to me too!!!
Have you tried any other Batteries?

[reg]

Does it have a built it ballance board?

[Neil Skull]

One thing I Spotted is the orientation of the balance leads on the plug.
Where did you get it?
I am not sure but I think the balance plug goes in with the 2 ribbed sections to the bottom, In which case the balance wires to the positive and negative maybe wrong way round!!! Give me your address and I will send you a set of Orion Balance leads to try!

[rondoolaa]

try charging 1 cell on its own and see if charger recognises it and try the other on its own too, could be a fault in the wiring inside one of the cells and trying to charge each cell individually will either confirm this or not

[reg]

I'm trying to work out the power lead to the mains and where the balance wire is going into the charger?
It's almost as though the battery's are your power for the charger?

[HOTSHOT III]

The charger is picking up the individual voltages form each cell via the thin balance leads so they're working.

If it says no battery the i'd say the issue is with the 'thick' charge leads

A while ago I had a similar problem where the charger could read the individual cell voltages but the deans plugs got very hot, and the total output voltage was less than the sum of the two cell voltages.

I changed to a home made charge lead and this cured the problem, it was just because the main (4mm-deans) charge lead supplied with the charger was cheap and nasty (even though it was a good charger!).

Check the resistances of the red and black wires from the 4mm banana plugs (the ends that plug into the charger) to the male deans terminals. I've still got that charge lead, it looks like there's nothing wrong with it but it's just cheap and nasty like I say.

[brooksy]

Can you change the way it charges, ie-turn the balance charge on/off?. I've just bought the advantage touch version off some one on oople and the first time I tried to charge a battery it said voltage error on the display. Having inspected it,it was on balance charge but I'd not connect the balance lead.

Just a thought.

Phill

[Danny Fireblade]

Thanks to everyone for all your replies, I have tried a few suggestions with no luck but the shop I got them from has said send it all back and they will try to find out what's wrong and replace etc whatever needs it?

It is mighty confusing though, especially from the helpful replies I've got?

I will let everyone know what the shop says so if anyone has a similar thing in the future they can hopefully sort it.

It's great to see the knowledge that's out there tho and how willing everyone is to share it too.

Many thanks everyone, I will be in touch:-)

[Danny Fireblade]

Its all been sorted now, the cable that came with the battery was at fault, the shop changed it we are cooking on gas now:-)

Thanks again everyone:-)

[Col]

Which shop, Danny?
They deserve a mention and some mighty praise for their hard work!

[Danny Fireblade]

The shop was PBM Racing, Andy helped me out and he also provided guidance and advice all through the build, which was especially helpful as it had all changed since I last built a car, made the process a lot more enjoyable.