New to Li-Po

WTF MIKE said:

I’ve got the exact same setup. Not sure if it was mentioned but you have to hold the start button and then press the start button once it checks the battery

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Yeah, I think I'm good on the button presses but always good to make sure.

Does the charger perhaps refuse to charge a partially charged battery maybe? But that wouldn't explain why it seemed to work the first time.

WTF MIKE said:

Did you get that from the Mississauga location?

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Both battery and charger are from the Ottawa location. About to try ordering another LiPo.

It's odd just the same. Can't imagine it's a battery thing, aside from a dodgy connector or something, which it doesn't seem to be since it runs fine in the truck. If it was the balance connector, then the charger would say something about that instead.

chevys10zr2003 said:

My Hitec chargers show the S: R: thing and then you hold the start button to get it going. Not really sure what it means exactly though LOL.

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S - user selected cell count
R - charger detected cell count

I'm not sure what "SER" means either. LOL

No I charge partially charged batteries many times with no issues

I’d bring them both back to the store and have them try new batteries or a new charger

olds97_lss said:

If it was the balance connector, then the charger would say something about that instead.

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That's why I didn't think it would help but I figured give it a shot since it can't hurt anything.

olds97_lss said:

S - user selected cell count
R - charger detected cell count

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This is good information. I guess I have never really even looked at it and I just have muscle memory of tapping start and then holding start without even looking at what comes up. LOL

olds97_lss said:

S - user selected cell count
R - charger detected cell count

I'm not sure what "SER" means either. LOL

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I can only imagine SER stands for SERies. Weird that it prompts for that, and makes you click through, even when using the Chargemaster software (kinda defeats the purpose). I feel like it would make more sense to show the warning only if there was a disconnect between the selected versus detected.

WTF MIKE said:

I’d bring them both back to the store and have them try new batteries or a new charger

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This was the first charge of the battery, so maybe the factory build state didn't like me interrupting the charge sequence...dunno

So now that I have this resolved, does anyone have any feedback on reliability and failure rate for 2S2P packs versus 2S1P packs...or xSnP where x is 1-6 and n is 1-whatever. In theory the packs with cells in parallel means an increase in the number of joints...does anyone know of a source for overall cell configuration reliability?

Well, knock me sideways...the battery charged to about 4.05V per cell, and then the main connection error popped up. I thought, okay maybe a glitch. I successfully restarted the charge process, and it went for about 20 seconds, then the error popped up again. I think I'll start by bringing the battery back.

Any other ideas? Since it is a new battery, does it perhaps need to be cycled a few times to reach full voltage, or something like that?

GuyFromCanada said:

Well, knock me sideways...the battery charged to about 4.05V per cell, and then the main connection error popped up. I thought, okay maybe a glitch. I successfully restarted the charge process, and it went for about 20 seconds, then the error popped up again. I think I'll start by bringing the battery back.

Any other ideas? Since it is a new battery, does it perhaps need to be cycled a few times to reach full voltage, or something like that?

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The cycling shouldn't affect it to my knowledge. It could really be any piece of the equation. Do you have any other packs, even NIMH that you could try on the charger? My first instinct would be to the adapter that you are using.

On the charging error, it might be the balance lead / plug has a bad joint... One of my lipos has a loose balance plug, and if I move/touch the battery during charging, it will give that same error (not a Hitec)...

I guess when you get battery #2, if it charges fine, you will know it is a battery issue...

Jerry-rigged said:

On the charging error, it might be the balance lead / plug has a bad joint... One of my lipos has a loose balance plug, and if I move/touch the battery during charging, it will give that same error (not a Hitec)...

I guess when you get battery #2, if it charges fine, you will know it is a battery issue...

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The battery was sitting by itself, but I suppose thermal expansion and contraction could cause a loose joint to behave unpredictably. That said, it showed no signs of glitching over the 10 minutes I was bashing around with it.

My LHS said they figured it would be the charger, but I'll bring them both in to have them check it out.

Probably best. The balance plug wouldn't affect the running of the truck as it's using the big wires, which would also suggest the plug/main wires on the battery are ok. I'd be inclined to think it's the banana plug/xt90 connector on it. Maybe remove the heat shrink on it and hit it with a soldering iron and a bit of extra solder. Perhaps it has a cold joint.

I haven't had any issue like that with any of the new packs I've run. I just got 4 more SMC packs a month ago and I've charged, used, ran, re-charged all of them without a hitch.

olds97_lss said:

Probably best. The balance plug wouldn't affect the running of the truck as it's using the big wires, which would also suggest the plug/main wires on the battery are ok. I'd be inclined to think it's the banana plug/xt90 connector on it. Maybe remove the heat shrink on it and hit it with a soldering iron and a bit of extra solder. Perhaps it has a cold joint.

I haven't had any issue like that with any of the new packs I've run. I just got 4 more SMC packs a month ago and I've charged, used, ran, re-charged all of them without a hitch.

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Thanks for the feedback...the battery charged fine on the LHS charger (X2 version instead of X1 mini) using the same charge lead and different charge leads. My charger did a 3S fine, along with another 2S pack...although that was 2S2P instead of 2S1P . With a 3A charge rate, it seems to continue charging my battery fine, but we'll see if that craps out too.

This is all quite frustrating, but I still suspect the charger....maybe a software glitch or something like that. I'm thinking of ordering an SMC pack to see how it works compared to my gensacearespammers pack. That diversity may help in trouble shooting down the road.

Whelp, I ran until the motor bushing (pinion end) blew or wore out or exploded and that meant that the spur and pinion weren't meshing properly. Plugged the battery in to charge at 5A, charged until about 4.05V cell voltage, then threw the same warning. Switched down to 3A and the charge finished up. I don't think this is a battery or connector issue, I'm thinking there is some comparator logic in the detection circuitry that is malfunctioning.

***Edit***
looking here:

http://hitecrcd.com/contact-us/customer-service-repair

sending the unit for service from Canada probably isn't economical...