Just wanted to share my new 1S LiPo charging station. I took a 1s Micro parallel charging paraboard from Hobby King and mod it to become a serial charging board. I think this paraboard would be cheaper and easier to mod. Plus, it does not have the LED that drains the first lipo cell if you don’t remove the lipo right after charging has completed.
With this mod, I can use the balance port of the charger to individually charge each cell. I can charge from 1 cell to 6 cells.
Here’s a closer look.
Here it is, charging two 150mAh LiPo. The stick the temperature probe near the cells so the iCharger could monitor the temp and be able to shut down the charging if any cell rises to unsafe temperature.
And here’s how you configure the board if you were to charge 3 lipo cells. You simply move the positive lead to the last cell. I like it because I can charge all the various connectors normally used with 1s LiPo.
You can also charge different capacity LiPo together. But for safety, you would limit yourself to the charge rate of the lowest capacity connected lipo. Not a big deal if you have the time. Otherwise, it would be better to charge cell combination with similar capacities.
Hope that inspires you with your own mods.
Can you post a wiring diagram for the balance connectors and sockets?
Sorry, my unit is closed up. There was a lot of cutting of traces and wires soldered. I don’t feel comfortable sharing the exact details of the mod because I am afraid of people making a mistake replicating the mod and damaging their lipo or causing a lipo fire. Also, I am afraid of people yelling at me that the mod is unsafe.
It’s working great for me actually. I wish a company would create something similar.
Sorry I couldn’t help more than sharing the photo in the original post.
Outstanding! I’ve been looking to do the same, and stumbled across this post.
Would like some pointers:
1. Where did you get the balance port connector? Is each pin basically wired straight to each 1s row, or did you have to add in a fuse as well?
2. Where did you get the walkera connectors?
3. Any reason why you wired a deans connector to the left side as well?
Chris
I believe I got everything from HobbyKing. I would likely go with the more inexpensive paraboard for $2.99. The one I used here has a fuse and LED, which drains power from the cell if you don’t pull it off the charger after it’s completed charging.
I didn’t use any dean connectors. If you mean that little mCPX connector attach to the positive lead that gets moved to select the number of cells, it’s to connect the last cell in the series when charging mCPX style cells.
Hope that makes sense and good luck on your build. I still use mine successfully till this day.
Thank you so much for the reply :)
Hi,
would it be able that I can buy one of your 1s parallel chargers?
best Regards,
Jan
Hello, I don’t sell anything on this website. I just document some of the mods I made for myself.
Hi,
Cool hack. I am looking for a multi charging board for my pico (inductrix) lipo’s, and obviously I want a balancing plus as well, just like yours. I see you did this hack back in 2014, strangely I couldn’t find any commercial versions with this idea.
I found some good info about how to create your own balancing lead and create a multi cell lipo, http://scriptasylum.com/rc_speed/lipo.html
But I am still curious how you did it. 2 years later, perhaps you are willing to share your magic?
Hello. would you be willing to make a wiring diagram of this?
Sorry, not at the moment. I’ve moved on to FPV quads.