Some newbie question about hobby charger / Accucel 6

[ohaya]

Hi,

I just tried doing a discharge on a “DLG” 18500 that’s suppose to be 1350 mAh. The Accucel started beeping after about 30 minute and showing 634 mAh on the display.

So I was wondering: When doing a discharge test on a battery, does it matter where the battery voltage was at the beginning of the discharge test? In general, when doing a discharge test, should the battery be “fully” charged?

Thanks,
Jim

[didge]

@ohaya

Hi,

I just tried doing a discharge on a “DLG” 18500 that’s suppose to be 1350 mAh. The Accucel started beeping after about 30 minute and showing 634 mAh on the display.

So I was wondering: When doing a discharge test on a battery, does it matter where the battery voltage was at the beginning of the discharge test? In general, when doing a discharge test, should the battery be “fully” charged?

Thanks,
Jim

If you want to know what the full capacity of the battery is, yes. If you just want to know what it had left after some discharge, no.

[ohaya]

@didge

@ohaya

Hi,

I just tried doing a discharge on a “DLG” 18500 that’s suppose to be 1350 mAh. The Accucel started beeping after about 30 minute and showing 634 mAh on the display.

So I was wondering: When doing a discharge test on a battery, does it matter where the battery voltage was at the beginning of the discharge test? In general, when doing a discharge test, should the battery be “fully” charged?

Thanks,
Jim

If you want to know what the full capacity of the battery is, yes. If you just want to know what it had left after some discharge, no.

didge,

Thanks!

Jim

[ohaya]

Hi,

I’m still curious about:

P.S. What are advantages/disadvantages of using 1 amp, vs. say, 0.5 amps for discharge test?

Also, BTW, I wanted to mention that although I’ve only just started, I’d been really hesitant about getting/using a hobby charger, but I just happen to be able to get a used on from one of the BLF members recently, and couldn’t help myself :)… That arrived this afternoon, and when I got home, I started at all of the cables, etc. that came with it and went “oh, oh”…

Found and downloaded the manual, and read through that… is it just me, or is the language terrible/convoluted… gave me a real headache.

Then, I started easy, did the 1st discharge, and it was cool (and worked!)…

Now re-charging the same battery, just to get experience, and it is really kind of interesting watching the CC/CV actually kick in. It’s one thing looking at graphs, but a lot different actually seeing it happen…. ok, it’s kind of like “watching paint dry”, but interesting nevertheless.

Luckily, I only intend to use the charger for single cell things, so I don’t have to worry about balance charging, etc…

Hopefully, this’ll encourage others to try this.

Jim

[scaru]

@ohaya

Hi, I’m still curious about: P.S. What are advantages/disadvantages of using 1 amp, vs. say, 0.5 amps for discharge test? Also, BTW, I wanted to mention that although I’ve only just started, I’d been really hesitant about getting/using a hobby charger, but I just happen to be able to get a used on from one of the BLF members recently, and couldn’t help myself :)… That arrived this afternoon, and when I got home, I started at all of the cables, etc. that came with it and went “oh, oh”… Found and downloaded the manual, and read through that… is it just me, or is the language terrible/convoluted… gave me a real headache. Then, I started easy, did the 1st discharge, and it was cool (and worked!)… Now re-charging the same battery, just to get experience, and it is really kind of interesting watching the CC/CV actually kick in. It’s one thing looking at graphs, but a lot different actually seeing it happen… ok, it’s kind of like “watching paint dry”, but interesting nevertheless. Luckily, I only intend to use the charger for single cell things, so I don’t have to worry about balance charging, etc… Hopefully, this’ll encourage others to try this. Jim

In general you will want to use a 1 amp discharge, as that is the closest to the amperage your lights run at. The only real use for say .5 amps would be discharging a really small battery like a 10440.

[relic38]

Regarding the serial connection, I didn’t solder directly to the pins. I used a TTL level serial cable and soldered its bare wires to a female header. That header plugs into the Temp port.
This build was quite easy and works well.
I believe there is a cable available that you do not have to build, but I forget where I read about it.

[ohaya]

@scaru

@ohaya

Hi, I’m still curious about: P.S. What are advantages/disadvantages of using 1 amp, vs. say, 0.5 amps for discharge test? Also, BTW, I wanted to mention that although I’ve only just started, I’d been really hesitant about getting/using a hobby charger, but I just happen to be able to get a used on from one of the BLF members recently, and couldn’t help myself :)… That arrived this afternoon, and when I got home, I started at all of the cables, etc. that came with it and went “oh, oh”… Found and downloaded the manual, and read through that… is it just me, or is the language terrible/convoluted… gave me a real headache. Then, I started easy, did the 1st discharge, and it was cool (and worked!)… Now re-charging the same battery, just to get experience, and it is really kind of interesting watching the CC/CV actually kick in. It’s one thing looking at graphs, but a lot different actually seeing it happen…. ok, it’s kind of like “watching paint dry”, but interesting nevertheless. Luckily, I only intend to use the charger for single cell things, so I don’t have to worry about balance charging, etc… Hopefully, this’ll encourage others to try this. Jim

In general you will want to use a 1 amp discharge, as that is the closest to the amperage your lights run at. The only real use for say .5 amps would be discharging a really small battery like a 10440.

scaru,

Thanks for that info. As it turns out, a 10440 is one of the ones that I wanted to try, so that was timely!

Jim

[ohaya]

@relic38

Regarding the serial connection, I didn’t solder directly to the pins. I used a TTL level serial cable and soldered its bare wires to a female header. That header plugs into the Temp port.
This build was quite easy and works well.
I believe there is a cable available that you do not have to build, but I forget where I read about it.

relic,

If you do remember where to get the completely assembled cable + connector, please post back. In the meantime, I’ll see if I can scrounge up a header, and maybe order one of those cables.

Jim

[ohaya]

@ohaya

@relic38

Regarding the serial connection, I didn’t solder directly to the pins. I used a TTL level serial cable and soldered its bare wires to a female header. That header plugs into the Temp port.
This build was quite easy and works well.
I believe there is a cable available that you do not have to build, but I forget where I read about it.

relic,

If you do remember where to get the completely assembled cable + connector, please post back. In the meantime, I’ll see if I can scrounge up a header, and maybe order one of those cables.

Jim

Hi,

Was it one of these:

http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/Cables/USBTTLSerial.htm

if so, do you know which of the ones with the connectors is the correct one w/correct pinout?

Thanks,
Jim

[ohaya]

@ohaya

@ohaya

@relic38

Regarding the serial connection, I didn’t solder directly to the pins. I used a TTL level serial cable and soldered its bare wires to a female header. That header plugs into the Temp port.
This build was quite easy and works well.
I believe there is a cable available that you do not have to build, but I forget where I read about it.

relic,

If you do remember where to get the completely assembled cable + connector, please post back. In the meantime, I’ll see if I can scrounge up a header, and maybe order one of those cables.

Jim

Hi,

Was it one of these:

USB TTL Serial Cable Series - FTDI

if so, do you know which of the ones with the connectors is the correct one w/correct pinout?

Thanks,
Jim

Hi,

I just found this. Would this work? It has the single header/connectors for each pin/wire:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-To-RS232-TTL-PL2303HX-Cable-Adapter-Module-Converter-Adapter-For-arduino-/221200556434?pt=US_Parallel_Serial_PS_2_Cables_Adapters&hash=item338094a192

Thanks,
Jim

[relic38]

I don’t think it was one of those. I think maybe HobbyKing has it. I really cannot remember where I read it. Maybe there’s a link in that review thread somewhere…
The female header I used is like the ones in this eBay item (contains both male and female headers). This is way too many for someone who just wants to make this cable. I have lots of uses for them so it made sense for me. You can find a smaller amount for less.

[ohaya]

@relic38

I don’t think it was one of those. I think maybe HobbyKing has it. I really cannot remember where I read it. Maybe there’s a link in that review thread somewhere…
The female header I used is like the ones in this eBay item (contains both male and female headers). This is way too many for someone who just wants to make this cable. I have lots of uses for them so it made sense for me. You can find a smaller amount for less.

Hi,

Did you see the one for Arduino that I linked after the other link?

Jim

[relic38]

Yeah, that should work, and you do not need to solder anything. Good find, in the US too so you’ll get it quick.
I will note that the PL2303 chip has been copied and the drivers do not work well with the clones. If they have a real PL2303 chip in them, they will work great.
I have 12 of the ones I linked (real PL2303 chip), I got them for other jobs too.
Happy logging!

[ohaya]

@relic38

Yeah, that should work, and you do not need to solder anything. Good find, in the US too so you’ll get it quick.
I will note that the PL2303 chip has been copied and the drivers do not work well with the clones. If they have a real PL2303 chip in them, they will work great.
I have 12 of the ones I linked (real PL2303 chip), I got them for other jobs too.
Happy logging!

Hi,

Thanks. I’ll post back after I get it in and hook it up…

Jim

[ohaya]

@ohaya

@relic38

Yeah, that should work, and you do not need to solder anything. Good find, in the US too so you’ll get it quick.
I will note that the PL2303 chip has been copied and the drivers do not work well with the clones. If they have a real PL2303 chip in them, they will work great.
I have 12 of the ones I linked (real PL2303 chip), I got them for other jobs too.
Happy logging!

Hi,

Thanks. I’ll post back after I get it in and hook it up…

Jim

relic,

Got the cable today. Pic of what I got is here:

There’re 4 wires:

- Red

- White

- Green

• Black

Can you tell me which of those goes to which pins on the Accucell 6?

Also, I’m assuming that I need to be running LogView on a PC attached to the USB?

Thanks,
Jim

[tivo532]

Check this out from Relic’s post #77:

Review: Turnigy Accucell 6 Hobby Charger

Turnigy Accucell 6 Hobby Charger Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★★ [image] Summary: Battery types: Just about anything Power: 12V DC in Price Paid: $32.98 shipped plus $7.79 From: Hobby King Date Ordered: 24 Mar 2011 Pros: Charges/Discharges just about anything Alarm when finished Bright display Configurable Optional temperature probe Safety cutoffs for temperature, time elapsed, and total charge Data logging possible with connector (see Post 77) Cons: Complicated No b…

[ohaya]

@tivo532

Check this out from Relic’s post #77:

Review: Turnigy Accucell 6 Hobby Charger

Thanks!

[relic38]

Thanks Tivo! If the colour coding is the same, it should be easy to get going. Get the cable installed on the PC first then connect to the Accucel. I found that it recognized the Accucel as a pointing device if it was connected and powered up first.

[fractal]

@scaru

@ohaya

Hi, I’m still curious about: P.S. What are advantages/disadvantages of using 1 amp, vs. say, 0.5 amps for discharge test?

In general you will want to use a 1 amp discharge, as that is the closest to the amperage your lights run at. The only real use for say .5 amps would be discharging a really small battery like a 10440.

Each manufacturer rates the maximum discharge rate of the cell. This is typically 1C where C is the capacity of the cell. A 2400 mahr cell can be safely discharged at 2.4 amps. A 700mahr cell should not be discharged at a rate greater than .7 amps. So, as scaru said, use the 1A rate for anything you believe is rated at 1000 mahr or better. This should be any cell labeled at 1500 mahr or better Lower isn’t bad for the battery, it just takes longer.

[relic38]

I always thought most Li-Ion cells were good for 2C discharge rate. There are exceptions higher (IMR, LiFePO4, etc.) and there are probably exceptions lower.