What charger size should i use ??.

[dunnyrail]

Australia has just banned disposable vapes.
From the Therapeutic Goods Administration website "it will be unlawful to import disposable vapes on or after 1 January 2024, even if those vapes were ordered before 1 January 2024 and have not yet arrived in Australia."

Well done Oz, I just wish our lot would show such logic.

 

[GAP]

Good for them. And I bet they'll actually enforce it too. When was the last time anyone was fined for anything other than a driving offence here? Apart from of course, innocent post office owners?

I read about the Post Office workers and I think that is criminal (hope that is not to political, if it is please delete).
I worked for that Aust Post and the investigation branch were a law unto themselves; they had spy holes overlooking the sorting floor that they could access from outside so we would not know they were there, except for one time when a carpet python found its way onto their catwalk and their panicked departure could be heard by everyone.
They also used to add partly sealed envelopes with part of a banknote visible (to try and trap people taking them) into the mail to be sorted.

 

[Paul M]

In such a

I read about the Post Office workers and I think that is criminal (hope that is not to political, if it is please delete).
I worked for that Aust Post and the investigation branch were a law unto themselves; they had spy holes overlooking the sorting floor that they could access from outside so we would not know they were there, except for one time when a carpet python found its way onto their catwalk and their panicked departure could be heard by everyone.
They also used to add partly sealed envelopes with part of a banknote visible (to try and trap people taking them) into the mail to be sorted.

In such a large organisation a bit of lightfingeredness is to be expected. This is different. The Post Masters were continually having glitch problems which caused "ghost payments". The developers and high up staff knew full well of the problems before it was put into general use, but they kept quite, as it was easier to prosecute the workers than fix the glitch. Plus of course in making the workers repay the "lost" money, it gave proof of the worker's wrong doing. Of course the original perpetrators have retired, got there bonus and are probably immune from public prosecution

 

[Fred2179G]

would only use a charger dedicated to charging lithium batteries for lithium batteries, you have seen all the reports of bikes and scooters going up in flames, your single cell can go the same way if miss-treated, which includes not charging it correctly.

The BMS will take care of all that. I use a cheap wall charger that puts out 16.8V for my homemade 4S packs, and I think its rated at 1 amp.

 

[justme igor]

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All you need.
li ion cells(a single cell!!) has a volatge span of 2.8 to 4.2v.
The li ion chemistry is limited by its chemistry, most common are inr and cnr.

They dont really care on how much they get, but never exceed there max C rate, charge or discharge.
If charging li ion with 50mah they will get full also.

For long life i would suggest keep the v span between 3.00v and 4.00v.
This way you will get a 2500 cycles out of them.
When playing with second hand cells, keep in mind that cells can be worn out.
This is simply tested with a zb discharger.

After each run just charge them up to 3.9 to 4.0 v and you will be happy.
Most li ion cells are at a c rate of 5! and have a storage capacity of 2500 mah.
If your cell has a high ir(more then 10% of fabric specs) then throw away.
If cells are below 50% of there original capacity---->throw away.
Both cases can cause fire.
The most dangerous ones are the so-called self-dischargers.
How to find one is simple:
Charge up to 4.2v with moderate charge (0.5-1a) leave them alone for 4 weeks out of the charger with nothing connected to them.
After that month if the v dropped below 4v----->throw away, dont play--->throw away.


You have a decent bms, make sure your bms have a cut off at 2.8-3v, make sure your charger will cut off at 4v per cell.
If a li ion cell is discharges below 2.6v it is hard for them to recover.

I test "semi-professional" 1500 cells a month and my power wall contain 100kwh of storage in 18650.

 

[justme igor]

btw, your bms has a balancer already built in.
Not a fast one and not always needed, but a very welcome add on for happy cells.

 

[ge_rik]

I'm not clear as to why you want to use a BMS with balance charging built in with all the speculation as to what power supply you should be using with it. If you are intending to build more battery locos then, to my mind, you'd be better off getting yourself an iMax B6 (or its equivalent ) as suggested above. The B6 can be used with a wide variety of battery packs and has built in balance charging capabilities. So, if at a later date, you build a loco with a 3S pack or even a 2S pack, it will match its charge rate to the different packs.

I always charge slowly and, so far, have never had any problems whilst charging. I have had a thermal runaway with an 18650 li-ion cell when I accidentally shorted it while making a pack. It fizzed and phutted but not much else. But I also accidentally shorted a NiMh pack while making it up and the wiring loom caught fire. Good job it wasn't inside a loco!

I've been using a B6 for over ten years now for li-ion packs from 1S (and 1S2P) to 4S, for NiMh packs and to charge lead acid. It takes the guesswork out of the charging process - it can automatically detect the size of the pack or you can program for your set-up.

Rik

 

[justme igor]

I'm not clear as to why you want to use a BMS with balance charging built

If a bms detects some values that are out of line it will shut off for safety.
Li ion is a chemistry that needs extra safety, NiMh does not need this safety.
For when li ion is used in series, it is clever to have a balance on the cells.
Li ion cells will never degrade gracefully together.
So there is always one cells that can do a little bit more than a other cell.
In the end one cell will do it all.
With the power they can store make this dangerous.

A balance charger, is a charger that also can balance, those are two separate circuit.

Imax are very decent chargers, there detection is v related.
That chip in my link can do what was asked, and has more usage in other projects.

Al my packs for hobby are fed with this chip, with several tulip connectors from a old stereo
Every pack has a tulip plug that goes in there