Author Topic: Small Charger for lithium-ion  (Read 5874 times)

jeremy.mclean

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Small Charger for lithium-ion
« on: August 14, 2023, 08:22:54 PM »
Hello EVers.

I have about 120pcs of the CALB 40 lithium-ion Batteries.  Here is a link to these for more detailed specs if you are interested.

http://www.calbusainc.com/calb-ca-series

Is there a simple and cheap 3V+ Charger on the market today that I could use for testing and pre-balance of the pack? 

I plan to get the Orion2 and an Elcon Charger but before I do, I may want to test these cells individually and would also need to have the pack pre-balanced before hooking up the BMS.

The cut off for these batteries is 3.65V - 2.5V.

Let me know your thoughts on a safe way to charge these individually.

Thank you

Jeremy



tom.hoffmann

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Re: Small Charger for lithium-ion
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2023, 11:25:14 PM »
I use something similar to this:

 Dr.meter DC Power Supply, 30V 5A Adjustable Switching Regulated DC Bench Linear Power Supply with Alligator Leads and 3 LED Digital Display, Variable Power Supply with US 3-Prong Cable https://a.co/d/8LTNB0F

I did a video on maximizing charge current when top balancing:
https://youtu.be/6xXYKRmKUso

Be sure all cells are well above 3.4 volts and matched.

Good Luck

jeffrey.miller

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Re: Small Charger for lithium-ion
« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2023, 12:58:36 AM »
I would shop around for something like this
https://www.amazon.com/Charger-Battery-Balance-Discharger-Adapter/dp/B07R18YNZQ
You want the ability to charge and discharge batteries. 

I would suggest watching videos or whatever to discover if it accurately tracks the energy that goes into or out of the battery during charging and discharging.  This will allow you to weed out any weak cells that are good, but have less capacity than the average cells.  In theory you could wire several in series and use the balance leads to charge a group of cells.  Just depends on your goal. 

Beyond energy tracking, you want a decent charge rate, more amps is generally good.  You can usually configure a lower charging current, so if you want to go slower than rated, you can.  That is another feature to confirm though.  10 to 12 amps is pretty good for a hobby charger, and probably fast enough for your purposes. 

tom.hoffmann

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Re: Small Charger for lithium-ion
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2023, 12:08:52 PM »
Agreed, I like the type of device Jeffrey suggested.

john.mcgowen

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Re: Small Charger for lithium-ion
« Reply #4 on: August 19, 2023, 11:18:20 PM »
Hey guys and gals,
I setup a webpage showing how I balanced my traction pack before installing it in my conversion Dakota.

https://taceva.org/e-kota/

Questions??  jhmcg3@gmail.com