But it’s not recommended because you will need to purchase additional power supply and the connectors to supply power to the balance charger are XT60, so you will need additional rewiring for it. So stick with the Imax B6.
I personally use 4 packs of the same batteries you have, 2 in series and 2 in parallels. Since you’ve only have 2 batteries, I recommend you to get http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/_36290__Twin_pack_charge_lead_2_x_3S_6S_w_XT60_EU_warehouse.html?strSearch=twin and charge series like @trbt555 said then you could have individual cell being balanced individually. However you will need this if you really really want to charge in parallel http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/_27077__JST_XH_Parallel_Balance_Lead_3S_250mm_2xJST_XH.html
Does the imax b6 need a seperate power supply?
Also correct me if im wrong but from what it sounds like if i charge the 2 batteries in parallel then the 2 batterys will be balanced but the individual cells will not be balanced.
So in my scenario it is better to charge them in series and all i would need would be the imax b6 and the harness to attach the two 3s battteries together nothing else correct?
I suggest invest in a decent high quality charger. iCharger 208B $120 and an HobbyKing 350W $40. You can charge up to 8S, charge in parallel and charge at up to 20 amps.
Well I don’t think so. From the photo I could see the AC cable goes to the device, but for sure better wait for @trbt555 reply since I dont own the product.
@torqueboards I really do believe this is suggestion is really good up to one point. For instance, If you’re planning to stay with lipo packs, decided to stay with it and experiment with higher charge rating like 4 - 5c then having such great charger and or with the power supply is a really good investment. Super fast charger are expensive and requires also expensive packs that capable of handling the high charging current.
Personally I’d like to improve the safety and the easy side of charging by using Li Ion Cells and a BMS. What does BMS do is to protect your battery from temperature, over charging and shorts. It also do balance charging for you by simply just plug a laptop adapter like to the BMS. Easy, neat and simple practice. But again it’s a matter of preferences.
Yep, this is by far I belive as the best starter setup. If you have more experience and extra budget later, then going other path such recommended by @torqueboards is an option. But for now if you really aim to charge only those 2 battery packs you have now, imax and twin charging plug is all you need.
Any tips on charging my batteries in series safely?
Also, in order to charge that batteries in series i would use 10 amps correct? How long would it take to charge?
Always keep the same packs in series for riding and for charging.
Use the correct harness, refer to my schematic if you’re not sure.
Number them so you don’t get them mixed up. Also number the balance leads.
As long as you don’t exceed the max charge current for your batteries, you’re OK.
I believe the ones you mentioned are 2C = 2 x 5A = 10A max.
The iMax B6 is a 50W charger, so it will be able to charge your 2 x 3S 5000mAh packs in a little over two hours:
Series pack voltage = 2 x 3S = 22.2V
Energy contained in pack = Volts x Capacity = 22.2V x 5Ah = 110 Wh
To charge 110Whs with a 50W charger you’ll need 110/50 = 2.2 h.
I suggest you read up intensively on Lipo charging and such.
Here are some useful links:
That was very helpful thank you!
Hopefully one last question, according to your schematic it seems like i need a y-type harness to connect to the “charge”. Is that correct?
A Y-harness is a parallel harness.
You need a series harness.
Series charging is not really advisable for complete newbies, you might want to charge your lipos separately at first, until you get more experience and confidence.
Since you only have 2 packs of 3s 5000mah lipo, you can connect with the twin charging 6s without danger of shorting. I believe @trbt555 is concern about charging in both series and or parallels with more than 2 battery packs.
This harness is what you need
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So you can connect both balance plug from the battery packs into this harness, from 2 3S into 1 single 6s. This harness also provide you with additional XT60 connectors. Easy!
Thank you. Bit off topic question for you guys with more knowledge of diy skateboards.
Im looking into getting a wireless controller for my first build and ive been looking at the wiiceiver since the beginning of this build. It seems to be a bit harder to find a wii nunchuck type controller than i thought. I dont necessarily need the nunchuck but i want a smaller controller than fits in my hand and is not the traditional gun looking bulky controller.
I know that diy skateboard.com had the reciever board but not the actual nunchuck.
Please let me know if you guys know where i could buy this smaller type of controller
There are some you could get I believe best fits for your scenario.
Wii Nunchuck Nyko Kama with VESC. Just need some rewiring and good to go, best way if you already VESC in the first place. Anywhere you could get one of this pretty easy I guess.
If you have budget, contact @onloop for his Enertion Wireless Controller. Looks very promising. Ship from Australia.
If you still like the 2.4GHZ connectivity of a remote but not the bulkyness, you could also contact @chaka for his Ollinboard G2TB badwolf ready use remote. Ship from US.
Or you could also get the small torqueboards remote (the small 2.4GHZ pistol remote), I believe you can contact @torqueboards for it. Ship from US as well.
I use the prophet pro sport duo. Charges two packs at the same time at up to 6 amps each. Doesn’t over charge, has a cooling system and knows when a battery is unsafe to charge and provides an error message on why and how to fix
You can dedicate that twin plug series charging harness especially for charging. So the main power cable that connects the battery with the ESC can stay and doesn’t necessarily to be unplugged (though I believe it’s best to disconnect everything from the battery while charging). Just added convenience.
So I’m in a similar boat where I don’t quite got a great plan for my setup. 5s 4000mah x 4.
I bought a HTRC 80W B6 V2 RC Balance Charger Discharger with Power Supply 15V 6A AC Adapter
and trying to think my best choice is. (Fastest/safest/with lipos)
