How to charge Lipos in Parallel Mode.

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FluxPower

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Frustrated with charging 1 LiPo at a time ? How about make it 2,4,10 at once ?
But before we get started we need to understand what is parallel charging vs series charging.

*Warning* Do not charge Nixx Packs In Parallel

1001692d.jpg


When does charging in parallel makes sense?

-When I have multiple packs with the same cell count.
-When I want to charge them at the same time, thus reducing overall charge time, or avoiding the hassle of starting multiple charging processes.
-When the packs have slightly different states of charge (<30%, to be safe).
-When the charger can provide the current needed for parallel charging, but not the voltage needed for series charging.

Advantages of parallel charging

-No need to care about different capacities or slightly different states of charge.
-Reduced balancing times.
-Simple wiring, fits for a multitude of packs.

When does charging in series make sense?

-When I have multiple packs of the same capacity constantly wired together in series, making a bigger pack
-When the pack's state of charge is nearly identical.
-When the charger can provide the voltage needed for series charging, but not the current needed for parallel charging.

How do I wire packs in parallel?

That is very simple: Just connect every contact of one pack with the corresponding contact of the next pack. The positive contact is connected to the positive contact, the negative contact is connected to the negative contact.

1001701l.jpg


Materials to build your own plugs (In this example I will be building a set of power leads and balance lead for 3s Lipos charging 2 packs at the same time...
- Soldering Iron
- Soldering Gun
- Soldering Flux
- Heat Shrink Tubes
- (Optional) Lighter or Hair Dryer for heat shrinks

For Power Leads...
- 2x Male Ultra Deans Plug
- 1x Female Ultra Deans plug
- 1ft+ of 12ga Positive Dean's Wire (low resistance, high current transfer)
- 1ft+ of 12ga Negative Dean's Wire (low resistance, high current transfer)

For Balance Leads...
I got lazy and went to radicalrc.com and buy 2 "XH 3S, 12" Extension/ADAPTER" and cut them in half and re-solder them for my own pigtails.
http://www.radicalrc.com/category/Balance-Harness-Connectors-295

**Make Double Sure Positive goes w/ Positive, Negative w/ Negative**

Charger Setting for Parallel Charing
Example: I have 2 packs of 3s1p 5000mah 30C lipos and I want to charge them in Parallel mode.
Physical Connections:Connect the 2 male deans to the the battery and the other end to your power, same thing for the balance leads.
Charger Setting: I set my charger at 3s LiPo balance mode which is 11.1v (3s) at 5amps.
**Important** Please keep in mind charging parallel mode we are ADDING the Capacity(Mah) NOT THE VOLTAGE. Think of it as charging 1 BIG PACK of 3S lipos at 10000mah so the 11.1v(3s) stays the same And always charge at 1c to make your LiPo's life expectancy longer.

Example #2: For charging (4) 2S 2200's, what settings should my charger be set to ?
Charger Setting: 7.4v(2s) balance mode, 8.8amps at 1c(2200 x 4 = 8800mah)

As for Series charging. you add the voltage not the mah capacity.
Hope this guide helps. Thanks for reading.
 
What's better? Parallel or Series?

I have a Hyperion 0606i
2x 2s 8000Mah SMC
2x 2s 6000Mah SMC
2x 2s 5200Mah SMC

I've been wanting to make this set up but have been scared of screwing up my lipos.
 
There's a couple things that concern me about doing this.

My main concern after seeing the pics is balancing.

i see that you have 2 different cells from 2 different packs connected to on balance port in the plug.

Here is my question:

If both cells sharing that balance port are at different voltage, how can they balance out? Like if splice 6 cells into a 3 cell charger, how can the charger possibly "see" and balance all 6 cells when your using a balance tap designed for 3?
 
Here is my plan.

I plan on getting this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Align-XH-JST-ty...Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item27aceedd0e
and I have this:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXXKN0&P=ML

So basically, just hook them up so the left set goes with the left battery and the right set goes with the right battery. And I should set my charger at 4s and whatever the Mah is for a single pack.

Right?
 
NLMD said:
What's better? Parallel or Series?

I have a Hyperion 0606i
2x 2s 8000Mah SMC
2x 2s 6000Mah SMC
2x 2s 5200Mah SMC

I've been wanting to make this set up but have been scared of screwing up my lipos.
Click to expand...

Parallel is safer, I have a 5amp max charger, therefore if I want to charge a 8000mah LiPo, I can only do 5 amps since I can't do 8amps it will take me longer to charge.

frddyj said:
There's a couple things that concern me about doing this.

My main concern after seeing the pics is balancing.

i see that you have 2 different cells from 2 different packs connected to on balance port in the plug.

Here is my question:

If both cells sharing that balance port are at different voltage, how can they balance out? Like if splice 6 cells into a 3 cell charger, how can the charger possibly "see" and balance all 6 cells when your using a balance tap designed for 3?
Click to expand...

Well, first I would make sure both of my lipos voltage are only off by 0.1 volt or 0.2, so the charger would "see" you are charging a BIG 3S LiPo because in parallel mode, the charger would think that ok the user put in a 3S 10000mah LiPo it would charge first and then balance all cells out in the end, but in reality you actually put 2qty of 3s 5000mah LiPo. except I only charge 2qty of 2s 5000mah at once not 6 lipos at once LOL like the crazy guy in the vid did, but in the end we are utilizing the same concept.

Remember they key is to use same Cell of lipos and Add the Mah. Do not mix 2s and 3s lipos together when parallel charging.
I Hope my explanation helps, thanks NLMD for this vid -->>. Watch the vids on post 6, i'm doing the same thing that this vid is doing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NczQwVTI2bY

NLMD said:
Here is my plan.

I plan on getting this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Align-XH-JST-ty...Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item27aceedd0e
and I have this:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXXKN0&P=ML

So basically, just hook them up so the left set goes with the left battery and the right set goes with the right battery. And I should set my charger at 4s and whatever the Mah is for a single pack.

Right?
Click to expand...
yes, but you are charging in series mode, make sure your charger can handle the amps. I have never seen people use the traxxas series plug to charge lipos, you might want to find out more about that. I have only personally charge lipos in parallel mode but never once in series mode.
 
Thanks NLMD for the following vids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5p-x...layer_embedded This vid clearly shows that you can charge lipos packs even though they are in different state of voltage. (hope this answers your question Frddyj) See how he charge all 3 packs at 6.6amps@1c because he hook up 3qty of 2200mah lipos = a total of 6600mah. 1packs is fully charge and the other 2 is discharged. But after the charger complete it's charges, see how all 3 packs are fully charge and all balance perfectly, and yet the fully charged pack that he began w/ did not blow up or catch on fire.

I was skeptical at first when I came across parallel charging. But then after numerous research I felt confident enough that parallel charging theory is actually safe to do. So I went ahead and did them. I have around 20 charges on my lipos now, every time I'm done parallel charging them all the packs are within 0.1 volt difference.

Thanks for reading.
 
I made a parallel connector and charged my SMC 6000's with no issue. I am now charging the SMC 8000mah 2s Lipos but they are not done yet. Thanks for the thread. It cut my charging time in half.

I am also going to try series once the adapter I bought gets here.

+1 REP!
 
Good to hear Mike, less charging time, and more bash time. I see your charger max output amps is 6amps. If you get lazy changing the mah setting from 12000mah (2x6000mah LiPo) / 16000mah (2x8000mah LiPo) you can just leave it at 6000mah limit setting and charge 2 complete charge cycle for the 12000mah packs because your charger will stop at 6000mah limit so x2 =12000mah FULL Charged at 4.2v each cell.

Exp. My charger is 5amp max, when I do 2 packs of 2s1p 5000mah, I set my charger max mah setting at 5000. and just charge it twice to get 4.2v (cell1) / 4.1v (cell2).

Hope that helps
 
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