Imax B6AC

Hood49

Hood49

Member
Hi everyone,

Nice to be among this community and I hope to share a lot of my quadcopter adventures with you all.

It is my first post. I have just purchased second hand a QX-9 quadcopter with Naza M Lite Controller. The guy left me all kind of stuff to go with it: 3 lipo's 2100 Mah, DX6i transmitter, lots of spare parts for the carbon frame and an IMAX B6AC Charger.

I did not fly it yet. I have never period ;-). So I want to be really sure what I do before I fire everything up!

Now for charging the Lipo's. I have figured out how to use the IMAX B6AC Charger (thanks YouTube!). I have 2100 Mah Lipo's and it will take me about one hour to charge. I charge them in the safety bag of course.

How do I know when my 3s Lipo's are charged? Do I need to look at the Volt level on the Charger? Or the Amps. Sorry guys, I am novice when it comes to this.

Thanks so much in advance for some help here.
 
Hood49

Hood49

Member
After reading the manual regarding charging and storing Lipo's I still a bit confused. Must be me... ;-)

Basically when it is charging I have got the following values on the screen of the charger:
=>Charing current: I have 2100 Mah 3S so I put this on 2.0
=>Voltage: on 12
=>Charging time
=>Charged capacity: 5 digits that increases while charging

How do I know how far the battery is charged when hooking it up or during a charge? Do I need to look at voltage? So how much should that be for the 2100 3S Lipo?

Sorry for these basic questions.
 
Mike

Mike

=)
Admin
So - Lipos have a nominal voltage of 3.7V per cell, which is more thought about as the voltage under load during discharge. Although this number will go down as you discharge the battery. When it comes to charging, your charge is considered "full" when each cell is at 4.2V. The term "balance charger" refers to a charger that will balance the cells to ensure an even charge, so if your charger is a balance charger (which it should be), and it doesn't list the cell voltages individually, then you can use the total numbers below to know if it's fully charged. Also, the small white plug on the battery is the "balance" plug, so make sure this is connected. With some chargers, you will charge through this plug, but with higher end chargers, you'll often actually charge through the main plug.

Also, as a rule of thumb - if you want to extend battery life, you will want to charge at 1C, even if you can charge faster. This basically means that if you have a 2100 mAh Lipo, you'll want to charge at 2.1A or less. Charging faster can wear out the battery.... and charging too fast can start a fire =)

Fully Charged:

2S - 8.4V
3S - 12.6V
4S - 16.8V
5S - 21V
6S - 25.2V

Some other things to know - typically, the last 10% or so of the charge will take the longest. I once saw someone put it: "we're trying to fill a glass of water without spilling a single drop", which is a good way to visualize the process. Some people say to charge to only 90-95% to increase the life of the battery, but this is also when most of the balancing of cells to ensure even voltage occurs, so you want to do a full charge regularly to ensure the cells are balanced properly.

Also, a charger is not going to overcharge, especially with the balance plug connected since it knows the voltage of each cell, but you should still not charge unattended for safety reasons. Lipo safety bags are good, but nothing is perfect.
 
F

Flippy

Member
mm said:
So - Lipos have a nominal voltage of 3.7V per cell, which is more thought about as the voltage under load during discharge. Although this number will go down as you discharge the battery. When it comes to charging, your charge is considered "full" when each cell is at 4.2V. The term "balance charger" refers to a charger that will balance the cells to ensure an even charge, so if your charger is a balance charger (which it should be), and it doesn't list the cell voltages individually, then you can use the total numbers below to know if it's fully charged. Also, the small white plug on the battery is the "balance" plug, so make sure this is connected. With some chargers, you will charge through this plug, but with higher end chargers, you'll often actually charge through the main plug.

Also, as a rule of thumb - if you want to extend battery life, you will want to charge at 1C, even if you can charge faster. This basically means that if you have a 2100 mAh Lipo, you'll want to charge at 2.1A or less. Charging faster can wear out the battery.... and charging too fast can start a fire =)

Fully Charged:

2S - 8.4V
3S - 12.6V
4S - 16.8V
5S - 21V
6S - 25.2V

Some other things to know - typically, the last 10% or so of the charge will take the longest. I once saw someone put it: "we're trying to fill a glass of water without spilling a single drop", which is a good way to visualize the process. Some people say to charge to only 90-95% to increase the life of the battery, but this is also when most of the balancing of cells to ensure even voltage occurs, so you want to do a full charge regularly to ensure the cells are balanced properly.

Also, a charger is not going to overcharge, especially with the balance plug connected since it knows the voltage of each cell, but you should still not charge unattended for safety reasons. Lipo safety bags are good, but nothing is perfect.
Click to expand...

If a 12 volt supply is connected to charger backwards they smoke very quickly - from experience! My unit has output jack colours backwards but the charger recognizes if connected backwards on output. Production error!
 
historyman999

historyman999

Member
Hi,
I am new here and new to quadcopters. I am posting here because my question is about charging a Lipo and the iMax B6AC. To ease myself in, I did a lot of reading and have finally purchased a JJRC H31. Something nice and simple to learn on, not too expensive for when I crash it and easy to fly. It comes with a single 400mah 3.7v battery. From my reading, I now know that this is a single cell battery. I have purchased some spare parts for when I break bits, and also 3 more of the same battery to give me longer flying times.
I now know that as these batteries are single cell, I don't need a balanced charger, but the "charger" that comes with it is a USB gizmo that plugs into my PC. I am assuming (dangerous assumption?) that this is a safe way to charge. But given the propensity fir Lipos to go bang, I am not particularly happy with this arrangement. I am thinking that the iMax B6AC would be a better option, especially as when I progress to a bigger and better quad, the Lipos will be more than single cell. I would also like to be able to charge all 4 batteries at once if that is possible. The IMax doesn't come with a power supply and I have downloaded Youtube videos on how to make one from a PC power supply, but would a car battery charger fit the bill?
Thank you for your patience and your views, suggestions and comments will be gratefully received.
 
B

Birdy

Well-Known Member
historyman999 said:
Hi,
I did a lot of reading and have finally purchased a JJRC H31. Something nice and simple to learn on, not too expensive for when I crash it and easy to fly. It comes with a single 400mah 3.7v battery. From my reading, I now know that this is a single cell battery. I have purchased some spare parts for when I break bits, and also 3 more of the same battery to give me longer flying times.
I now know that as these batteries are single cell, I don't need a balanced charger, but the "charger" that comes with it is a USB gizmo that plugs into my PC.
Click to expand...

That JJRC H31 is a super fun quad to fly. I have several of them and they are very durable. Great beginner quad.

The iMax is a quality charger but as you mention you're only using single cell Lipos at this point.

Here's another decent charger to consider. Charges four batteries at a time and will definitely be a step up from those USB stock chargers that come with the quad.

Shop around and you can usually find them for less than $50.

http://hitecrcd.com/products/chargers/acdc-chargers/x4-micro-acdc-1-cell-lipo-charger/product
 
Rick M

Rick M

Absent-minded professor
historyman999 said:
Hi,
I am new here and new to quadcopters. I am posting here because my question is about charging a Lipo and the iMax B6AC. To ease myself in, I did a lot of reading and have finally purchased a JJRC H31. Something nice and simple to learn on, not too expensive for when I crash it and easy to fly. It comes with a single 400mah 3.7v battery. From my reading, I now know that this is a single cell battery. I have purchased some spare parts for when I break bits, and also 3 more of the same battery to give me longer flying times.
I now know that as these batteries are single cell, I don't need a balanced charger, but the "charger" that comes with it is a USB gizmo that plugs into my PC. I am assuming (dangerous assumption?) that this is a safe way to charge. But given the propensity fir Lipos to go bang, I am not particularly happy with this arrangement. I am thinking that the iMax B6AC would be a better option, especially as when I progress to a bigger and better quad, the Lipos will be more than single cell. I would also like to be able to charge all 4 batteries at once if that is possible. The IMax doesn't come with a power supply and I have downloaded Youtube videos on how to make one from a PC power supply, but would a car battery charger fit the bill?
Thank you for your patience and your views, suggestions and comments will be gratefully received.
Click to expand...

You can buy a power supply that's compatible with the iMax chargers just about anywhere. I have the B6 mini and I use this charger:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003Z6ZR5O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
Gyro Doctor

Gyro Doctor

Electronics Tech for over 45 years
Rick M said:
You can buy a power supply that's compatible with the iMax chargers just about anywhere. I have the B6 mini and I use this charger:
Click to expand...

That's a good deal for a 5 Amp 12VDC charger ! ... I have the iMAX B6AC which doesn't need that, since it's already built in, but I might still pick up a few just
for other projects I'm working on ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top