Need charging options for Syma X5SC batteries

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fields_mj

Member
New to the world of RC. Just got my son a Syma X5SC for his birthday, and I ordered some Keenstone 720 mAh 20C batteries (6) for it also. I've been using Li-Ion power cells (AW brand) to run my EDC torches, so I'm just a little familiar with Li power cells, but not much. I have a Thunder AC6 hobby charger that I use to charge my Li-Ion stuff, and I'd really like to use it to charge the LiPo's as well since it's designed for them. Problem is that I don't have the correct connections for my charger to connect to one of these batteries, let alone all 6 of them. I've seen several parallel charging boards available, and a few balance charging options, but I can't find any that are known to be able to connect to these batteries. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Thanks,
Mark
 
holtneil

holtneil

Well-Known Member
Moderator
Hi mate have you got a link for the battery , I may then see what connector it has fitted as there may be a charger board's can use
 
Jackson

Jackson

USA member at large
I assume your charger has a lead with a JST connector.

Something like this should work.
s-l500.jpg

This claims to balance.
http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-B...era-Wltoys-Hubsan-X4-Eachine-H8--p-51891.html

http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-H...ng-Cable-For-3_7V-Battery-Charge-p-68599.html

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DragonSky-2...421639?hash=item48688880c7:g:CRQAAOSwq5lTpRDI

I don't think any official balancing is needed. Batteries hooked up in parallel will usually self balance. When you hook them all up let them sit a couple minutes before you start charging. This will equalize them. I've been using a 2 bay one channel Li-Ion charger for years, the batterries always come off at the same voltage.
 
holtneil

holtneil

Well-Known Member
Moderator
That's what I was thinking Jackson you can get a charger lead with banana plugs to JST ,so it will plug between the charger and the lead Jackson put on here
 
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fields_mj

Member
Thanks for the info!

Here's the batteries I have.

http://www.amazon.com/Keenstone®-Ch...c keenstone&qid=1461386370&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

Yes, I think my charger does have a JST connector. It's a little different than the one that Jackson pictured above (thanks). On mine, most of those cables are all tied together and attached to one set of banana plugs. Other than that, its about the same.

My concern about doing them in parallel was having batteries that were drained to noticeably different levels. As I understand it, connecting them together in parallel can result in a rapid discharge that can damage the battery, and possibly end up in a fire.

My understanding (and I could be VERY wrong here) is that when using a balanced set up, the charger will check/monitor the voltage of each cell individually. Seems that would be the safest way to go. Then again, I have no experience to make that decision on.
 
holtneil

holtneil

Well-Known Member
Moderator
Hi mate ok you don't need to worry the batteries are all single cell so you can't balance charge , so if you parallel charge all 6 then after they are done just connect one at a time to top up any low ones ,this will be the fastest way
So just use the parallel lead Jackson showed you in the photo

Most quads have leds that will flash to say the battery is low and land ,so the batteries will not be that far out of range unless you have a duff one so you should be ok parallel charging , if your worried keep the charge rate low
 
Jackson

Jackson

USA member at large
fields_mj said:
My concern about doing them in parallel was having batteries that were drained to noticeably different levels. As I understand it, connecting them together in parallel can result in a rapid discharge that can damage the battery, and possibly end up in a fire.
Click to expand...
That's what they say. There is always a chance I'll win the lottery too. :) I'll bet many thousands of those harnesses have been sold and used without incident and well over a million of the one channel dual bay 18650 Li-Ion chargers.

If you are concerned buy the first one I linked to.
http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-B...era-Wltoys-Hubsan-X4-Eachine-H8--p-51891.html

Or this.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tenergy-T43...b89a3d5&pid=100005&rk=1&rkt=6&sd=390931032061

Or this.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HobbyTiger-...032061?hash=item5b054e27fd:g:hAoAAOSwd4tUFV2X
 
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fields_mj

Member
Actually, I like that first balance charger set up a lot. I think I'll pick up one of those. To use it, I would set the charger up to balance and charge a 3S cell correct? If each cell is 720 mAh, would I set the charger up to charge at .72a, or at 2.16a?

On that parallel we up, if I'm charging 5 720mHa 20C cells, and I want to charge them at 1C, I would set the charger up to run at 3.6 amps correct?

For the cost, seems like I should just get one of each.
 
Jackson

Jackson

USA member at large
Those amps kinda scare me. I'd try 1.5 and 2.5A and check the temps. If they aren't getting overly warm, maybe up it the next time.
 
M

Monkey_Relish

Member
fields_mj said:
I was just shooting for a 1C charge. I've got my charger to set up to shut down after 120 min of charging.
Click to expand...
FYI, the SYMA batteries use a JST-DS LOSI 2 pin connector.
To charge batteries in parallel, the batteries should be within 0.1V of each other.
Connecting the cable that JACKSON pictured above to the batteries only, the batteries will balance themselves after a couple of minutes to below the 0.1v difference.
Connecting them in parallel increases the capacity, not the voltage. As far as the charger is concerned, the battery is still one cell at 3.7v.
So, if each cell is 720mAh, and you are charging 3 in parallel, the new capacity is 2160mAh. you set the charger to 2.16A.
The current is split in 3, so each cell only gets 0.72A.

Make sense ?
 
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fields_mj

Member
Thanks for the info! Seems like there are a few different names that the connector goes by. I was anticipating that I'd be able to google the subject and get enough information that I could pretty easily fill in the gaps. True for the most part, but finding the connector has given me some fits.

Makes perfect sense on the parallel charging. I ordered the first two connectors that Jackson posted in his first reply.

If I have cells that are off by more than 0.1v, and I use the first harness that Jackson posted (the one with the balancing plug), and connect it to the balancing board that came with my charger (Thunder AC6), will the charger regulate the discharge from the stronger cells and balance them before starting its charge? Just curious how the whole balance thing works. I know its designed for 2S-6S power packs. The engineer in me just wants to know how it works and how I can use it to my advantage. :)

My son had his birthday party on Saturday, so we spent a fair amount of time playing with the copter. We went through the factory battery as well as 4 of the 6 Keenstone batteries. I didn't have the camera head attached, and I was pleasantly surprised at how long each battery lasted. Like most have said though, I'm a little disappointed at just how much it struggles with the wind. When the wiring harnesses arrive, it will be interesting to see what the charge level is on each of the batteries. The copter died mid air on 2 of them, so I know they are drained. The one in the unit now still has a partial charge on it. The rest got changed when the copter and controller would no longer communicate. Since we were still learning how the unit worked, some of those may still have some usable charge remaining in them.
 
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fields_mj

Member
Actually, I'm assuming they are 720 mAh since that's what's printed on the battery and on the packaging. Since I don't have the equipment needed to confirm it, I'll have to go off the information provided by the mfg. With a 20C rating, I would imagine they can handle it if it's off by a little. For that matter, since my charger is set up to time out at 120 min, I could stand to back the charge down quite a bit. I generally charge my Li Ions somewhere a little over 1/2C, but it's easier for conversation sake to work with 1C and then back off from that accordingly. At least that has been my experience.
 
B

Birdy

Well-Known Member
fields_mj said:
Like most have said though, I'm a little disappointed at just how much it struggles with the wind.
Click to expand...

Have you used High Mode when flying in the wind? Won't help if it's very windy but can make a difference in handling in lighter breezes. (Silver button at top left of the Tx).
 
F

fields_mj

Member
Birdy said:
Have you used High Mode when flying in the wind? Won't help if it's very windy but can make a difference in handling in lighter breezes. (Silver button at top left of the Tx).
Click to expand...
Honestly, I'm not sure yet. Still learning the controls and trying to figure out the special features like Hi/lo and the headless mode that uses the controller as a reference rather than a specific side of the machine. Accidently switched it to Mode 2 yesterday which alters which stick controls which type of movement. I'll check and see what we've been running it in (Hi/Lo) and see if that makes a difference. Even if it doesn't, we're still pretty happy with it.

Thanks!
 
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fields_mj

Member
That's what the instruction manual called it. All I know is that when its used, I no longer have to pay attention to which direction the X5 is facing. Instead, all the directional controls are in relation to the controller. I'm still working on figuring out how it actually works because sometimes the controls are backwards and sometimes their not. Now that I've actually flown the thing some, I need to read the instructions again.
 
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