I'm assuming on the iMax B6 and any of the hobby chargers the various balance cable output blocks are just duplicates for convenience - ie all the balance outputs are essentially connected to the same controller but the 2s/3s/4s/5s/6s blocks allow you to easily connect the different balance blocks that would be hardwired to battery packs.
So a 6s balance cable if correctly wired to say a 2s battery pack and 2s is selected as the charge mode everything will still work fine?
I have tried doing this on my turnigy reaktor 300W, using a 3s balance connector to monitor 1s and 2s batteries, with only the first 2 or 3 wires connected. The individual cell voltages show up on the charger correctly, but I think it doesn’t correctly perform all functions. For example, I was discharging a 2s battery with the balance connector in the 3s spot. It is supposed to stop the discharge when any one of the cells reaches the specified voltage cutoff point. This particular pack had old/unbalanced cells and so one cell reached the cutoff voltage before the other. The charger did not stop the discharge. So even though it knew the cell voltages it didn’t use that info to stop the discharge.
Edit: I just tested the same pack but with the balance connector hooked up properly to the correct port, and it still didn’t stop the discharge when one of the cells reached the cutoff, only when the total pack voltage reached the cutoff. It is supposed to have this function.
However, it did work correctly when charging. When charging, even when not in balance charge mode, this charger will monitor the cell voltages and taper the current down to keep any cell from going over 4.2V, and this function worked fine.
So, be aware that some functions might not work right.
Don’t bother with balance charging, it takes forever and is far from ideal. The only reason to use the balance port is when charging a battery pack that can not be taken apart and the cells charged individually.
You will get much better charge times and balance by simply charging the cells in parallel. I have a back of 14 cells I charge with my B6 and it works great. They are perfectly balanced every time.
Well I think the main application of the balance port functions are for packs where you can’t easily separate the cells.
Even for my packs that I charge in series, I tend to not balance charge:1. because they don’t need it, and 2. because it allows easy monitoring of the cells’ health, like if one cell is “going bad” I can easily detect it. Monitoring of the cells is necessary in this case, of course. Most hobby chargers have this function built in for regular non-balance charge mode, like I described above. Even if the pack is not balanced the charger will keep the highest cell from going over 4.2V.
So it would appear each balance block output has dedicated wiring/monitoring of sorts, thanks for the feedback and checking
That’s what I thought, but I did the discharge test again with the balance connector in the proper spot and it still didn’t have that functionality. So this might be just a general flaw/bug in my charger and the balance ports might be all connected as you originally suspected.
To confirm all the cells in parallel(in your case 14) and charger set to 1S + suitable amps?
For that to work well all the cells need to be pretty close in terms of SOC or can the 14 be at whatever SOC when charging commences?
Are there not any risks involved charging like that?
Granted I know parallel circuits mean current dividing so each cell should just pull the current needed till charged and then just pull a small floating charge of around 50ma?
Charging a bunch of separate cells in parallel can be fine, but it adds different things to worry about. If the cells are at very different SOC there could be large currents flowing between them when you initially connect them which could be bad for some cells. Then as you are charging them you don’t know exactly how much current each cell is getting if they have different IRs. Other than those, there are no additional risks.
Correct, all 14 cells in parallel and I set it to 5A. It is not the fastest charge ever but it does them all at once. I just charge a few at a time if I am in a hurry.
I have not had any issues with starting voltage differences. I generally try to keep them within .5V or so but have put cells with upwards of 1V difference with no ill effects and surprisingly low current flow.
I do generally leave the cells alone for 5-15 mins before I start charging to let them balance out some depending on how far off they were when they started.
I just checked my charger with my DMM and all of the corresponding pins in the different balance connector inputs are indeed connected.
If you read though this thread I talked about flashing new firmware to the Imax B6. It works great with the new firmware.
Awesome!! Thanks Texas Ace
Thanks Easy B