I'm A rapid Charger Newby, Heeellp !

DroneClone · Oct 7, 2016

Well, after charging my Pro's new ST16 battery all night, it was still at 0%. So I bought a HiTex 1 on sale for $49 brand new and also EC2 connectors and soldered them to my plug in's, I can't find any info on how to set settings for a rapid charge, ST16 battery is a LiIon, 3.6 V, 8.7 A and 31.32 W.
I have it set to LiIo, 1S, 3.6 A and fast charge and it is about 3.87 V after 1 hour, Is this okay? Or can I go higher on the amps. i don't know this charger well and since it is a 3.6 V battery, can it rapid charge above 3.6 V? I have read manual , but it is about as helpful as t Yuneec manual, "Useless"
Als want to know the ideal setting for the H battery, I think it should be set at LiPo, 4S, but not sure about the amps? Also, I guess there is not voltage settings, it must just be inline with the amps settings, Also I want to balance charge the H batteries, but in menu only see: Rapid, charge , discharge, servo,.
Is charge the balance charge?
Anyone with a HiTex 1 that can help, I would be extremely grateful ! Thanks DC !

Correction, 0 on the 16, 5% on a fluke volt meter

SPflug · Oct 7, 2016

I assume you mean a hitec x1?
X1 AC Plus Single Port AC/DC Charger | HITEC RCD USA

At full charge the voltage of a lion should not go above 4,1v per cell. The 3,6V is the reference voltage.
In normal Operation you don't have to take care about the voltage as it's automaticly regulated by the charger (but it is important that you choose the correct battery type (lipo,life,...) as the max voltage depends on it)
You can use a charging current of 8,7A (1C).

For the H battery you would not be happy with this charger:
It has a overall Power of 50W.
With 4S at 3,7V the max charging current should be around
Imax=50/(4*3,7)
Imax=3,7A
That's fewer Power than the original charger

DroneClone · Oct 7, 2016

SPflug said:
I assume you mean a hitec x1?
X1 AC Plus Single Port AC/DC Charger | HITEC RCD USA

At full charge the voltage of a lion should not go above 4,1v per cell.
In normal Operation you don't have to take care about the voltage as it's automaticly regulatet by the charger.
You can use a charging current of 8,7A (1C).

For the H battery you would not be happy with this charger:
It has a overall Power of 50W.
With 4S at 3,7V the max charging current should be around
Imax=50/(4*3,7)
Imax=3,7A
That's fewer Power than the original charger

Thanks, just bought it to see if I can bring the ST 16 battery back from the dead! what is (1C) Cell, but I only see 1(s) on the screen, the same ? so I can set the amps to 8.7 amps?
The ST16 LiOn is only a 1(cell), When I do that the voltage on the screen gradually rises to about 6.2 V
It's not even warm, Is that high okay?

SPflug · Oct 7, 2016

I have edited my post above meanwhile.
1C descripes the capacity of the battery.
In this case 8700mAh.
The battery of the st16 can be charged at 1C (refer to the label), which means that you can use a max current of 8,7A.

1S refers to the number of cells in the battery pack. This value needs to be correct.
If not, in best case you can get a balancer error (depends on charger) . In worst case your voltage gets to high and your battery dies.

Did you checked the voltage of the battery with a multimeter before charging?
If the voltage was bellow 2,5V the battery could already be destroyed and you shouldn't leave it alone while it's charging!

In my opinion the 6,2V rising is not ok.
It should never go above 4,1 V!

In this 'rescue mission' I would prefer a lower current.
Sorry, I missed this assuming you originaly had problemns with the original charger not with the battery.

DroneClone · Oct 7, 2016

SPflug said:
I have edited my post above meanwhile.
1C descripes the capacity of the battery.
In this case 8700mAh.
The battery of the st16 can be charged at 1C (refer to the label), which means that you can use a max current of 8,7A.

Did you checked the voltage of the battery with a multimeter before charging?
If the voltage was bellow 2,5V the battery could already be destroyed and you shouldn't leave it alone while it's charging!

In my opinion the 6,2V rising is not ok.
It should never go above 4,1 V!

In this 'rescue mission' I would prefer a lower current.
Sorry, I missed this assuming you originaly had problemns with the original charger not with the battery.

I do appreciate you help my friend! The battery tested at 5%, but for some reason the Stock charger will not sense it at that low of a voltage!. I have had it for two hours at 4.5 amps and it is steady at 4.2 V.
I just want to resuscitate it if I can, Yuneec is sending me another one by Tuesday, But I would love to fly and try this weekend ! It seems to be gradually climbing up in %, but I believe if it is not at 15-25% the stock charger will not sense and turn on the charging!

Hunter_Michael · Oct 7, 2016

To bring back your battery you may have to use the Nimh or Nicad setting. Caution is needed when doing it. Go here to read up on it but just be careful. Hope this helps. I've done it and it does work.
ElectricRCAircraftGuy.com--RC, Arduino, Programming, & Electronics: Restoring/Recharging Over-discharged LiPo (Lithium Polymer) Batteries!

SPflug · Oct 7, 2016

DroneClone said:
But I would love to fly and try this weekend

^^ good reason

I would suggest:
Place it on a fireproof underground (outdoor),
define lion, 1S, max charging current of 2A and leave it alone for the next 4-5 hours.
If it works I recommend a testrun before starting the copter.
The voltage can break down very fast if te battery is damaged.

DroneClone · Oct 7, 2016

Just checked it at 2 3/4 hrs and the Hi Tec 1 shut off, battery is at 94% and when in the ST 16 it picks up and charges now ! waiting to see if the stock one will top it off to 100% then I will test it for longevity before actual flight, and when I do fly tomorrow, I will watch it like a mother Hawk !

DroneClone · Oct 7, 2016

Hunter_Michael said:
To bring back your battery you may have to use the Nimh or Nicad setting. Caution is needed when doing it. Go here to read up on it but just be careful. Hope this helps. I've done it and it does work.
ElectricRCAircraftGuy.com--RC, Arduino, Programming, & Electronics: Restoring/Recharging Over-discharged LiPo (Lithium Polymer) Batteries!

Thanks my friend, read above, I may have just been successful at CPR ! LOL !

SPflug · Oct 7, 2016

Hunter_Michael said:
To bring back your battery you may have to use the Nimh or Nicad setting. Caution is needed when doing it. Go here to read up on it but just be careful. Hope this helps. I've done it and it does work.
ElectricRCAircraftGuy.com--RC, Arduino, Programming, & Electronics: Restoring/Recharging Over-discharged LiPo (Lithium Polymer) Batteries!

Good article.
I've done this successfull with a battery of a electric drill.
But I never would use a recovered battery in an aircraft. Maybe I'm just a chicken

DroneClone · Oct 7, 2016

SPflug said:
Good article.
I've done this successfull with a battery of a electric drill.
But I never would use a recovered battery in an aircraft. Maybe I'm just a chicken

No, Wise !, But I may play hawk with my 16 battery, If she stock charges to 100% !

SPflug · Oct 7, 2016

DroneClone said:
No, Wise !, But I may play hawk with my 16 battery, If she stock charges to 100% !

My comment refers to the guy in the article

Imagine you recover the main battery of the H....

DroneClone · Oct 7, 2016

SPflug said:
My comment refers to the guy in the article

Imagine you recover the main battery of the H....

I meant, no, you are wise for not using a revived battery to fly, your decision was wise ! not being a chicken, but being wise !

DroneClone · Oct 7, 2016

The HiTec 1 states 80 watts, I take it if it is used DC off the battery of your car? 50 for AC?
That's odd, you would think to get a cleaner signal and power off AC?

Hunter_Michael · Oct 7, 2016

The Hitec X2 AC Plus is what I use and is by far one of the best dual chargers on the market for under $100. 100watts AC and Dc.

DroneClone · Oct 7, 2016

Hunter_Michael said:
The Hitec X2 AC Plus is what I use and is by far one of the best dual chargers on the market for under $100. 100watts AC and Dc.

I am headed to the store manyana !

Hunter_Michael · Oct 7, 2016

DroneClone said:
I am headed to the store manyana !

You will not regret the purchase.

DroneClone · Oct 7, 2016

Hunter_Michael said:
You will not regret the purchase.

I already like the 1, so I am sure I will be !

gwhuntoon · Oct 8, 2016

Just be careful rapid charging your Lipos DC. Yuneec doesn't spec out the C discharge rating of their batteries which are 4S (4 cell) 5400mAh (which can deliver 5.4 Amps per hour) batteries. The C rating of the drone can be inferred by calculating it as follows based on the estimated flight times people are getting. ((5400mAh/1000)/15C)*60 minutes = 21.6 minutes of flight time.
so ((5400/1000)/15)*60 = 21.6. From this you can infer the Typhoon H draw is roughly 15C. I'm betting the battery is a 20C Lipo. Yuneec conservatively charges at 0.5C or 2Hrs. People say you can safely do it at 1C or 1Hr, the industry says 0.8C maximum for the longest battery life. Others here and elsewhere charge as higher C values to reduce charge time but you can significantly reduce the life or your batteries. It boils down to a risk/reward issue at that point. You will know of your cells begin to swell because they've started venting CO2 into the bag. Because of the way they are designed, if they do swell they probably won't fit into the drone.

Greg

DroneClone · Oct 8, 2016

gwhuntoon said:
Just be careful rapid charging your Lipos DC. Yuneec doesn't spec out the C discharge rating of their batteries which are 4S (4 cell) 5400mAh (which can deliver 5.4 Amps per hour) batteries. The C rating of the drone can be inferred by calculating it as follows based on the estimated flight times people are getting. ((5400mAh/1000)/15C)*60 minutes = 21.6 minutes of flight time.
so ((5400/1000)/15)*60 = 21.6. From this you can infer the Typhoon H draw is roughly 15C. I'm betting the battery is a 20C Lipo. Yuneec conservatively charges at 0.5C or 2Hrs. People say you can safely do it at 1C or 1Hr, the industry says 0.8C maximum for the longest battery life. Others here and elsewhere charge as higher C values to reduce charge time but you can significantly reduce the life or your batteries. It boils down to a risk/reward issue at that point. You will know of your cells begin to swell because they've started venting CO2 into the bag. Because of the way they are designed, if they do swell they probably won't fit into the drone.

Greg

Thanks Greg, I am still lost on the "C" thing, I under stand the math you provided, but what does "C" stand for beside's "Centigrade?" or "Celsius"?