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Wiring a battery pack to facilitate balanced charging

3K views 21 replies 5 participants last post by  adrenalnjunky 
#1 ·
I bought this battery pack:
1x Sanyo Li ion 18650 14 8V 2600mAh Battery Pack with PCM Plug 4Cells to 4S1P X | eBay

The second lead, rather than being a balanced connector, is just another standard +/- cable.
I want to be able to charge this correctly so I want to wire in the correct balanced connector.
I bought this extension to use:
4S JST XH LiPo Balance Wire Extension Adapter 20cm Red Black Silicone Wire | eBay

I opened up the battery pack and this is what it looks like:







What's my process for wiring up the balanced leads?
Do I have to cut the two yellow wires and remove the PCM to get to the top of the batteries or is there an easier way?
 
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#2 ·
there's definitely an easier way :)

Use that spare power plug for the +ve and -ve (the outside wires) on the balance plug (by splicing them in and using shrink wrap or tape on the joint), then solder the 1 inside wire to the tabs connecting the serial batteries at the bottom (where there's a blue end and a flat metal end connected together). So that both parallel pairs get balanced, you'll need to join those 2 tabbed bits together with a piece of wire.

I can't see why that won't work, unless anyone else wants to chime in?
 
#3 · (Edited)
I still need to get the final lead wired in; the one that connects the two pairs under the PCM.
There are two soldered lugs on the side of the PCM (90* off the two yellow leads) labeled B- and B2
Any chance one of these is the one I need?
 
#15 ·
OK, soldered it in, went to charge and...

s**t


I'm using a Turnigy Accucell-6 charger and when I try to do a balanced charge I get INPUT VOL ERR message. Standard charging worked fine but trying a balanced charge kept giving the same result.
Turnigy tech support says it could be my plug wiring is wrong.

Starting with the negative pin on the balanced plug I get 3.8V, 7.6V, 11.4V, &15.2V on the subsequent pins.
That sounds dead on, doesn't it?
 
#17 ·
All's good.
Turns out I was right. That error message was due to the fact that I was using a 12V-1.5amp power supply which wasn't up to the current demands of the charger. When I dropped the charge rate to 1amp it worked fine and is charging as I type.

The genius on Hobbykings tech support (supposed expert on Turnigy) claimed that message didn't have anything to do with the power supply (even though the Turnigy manual said otherwise) and had me chasing all kinds of gremlins, including the wiring of the balanced adaptor.:madman:

A search on Hobbykings own forum gave me the right answer.
 
#22 ·
you're going to need to clarify what you're trying to do - you don't want to switch polarity of the pack if you're plugging it into your light, cause that will either burn stuff up, or trip any reverse current protection.

are you meaning you want a way to take 2 packs that are in series together and make them parallel without major hassle?
 
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