Smart charger

[SaltyLocal]

Does anyone know if this charger is storage charging OK? This is my first 6s pack and i normally use two 3s. Im assuming it just takes twice as long??

 

[LicketySplit]

Does anyone know if this charger is storage charging OK? This is my first 6s pack and i normally use two 3s. Im assuming it just takes twice as long??

View attachment 267434

It’s fine. Discharging batteries requires a lot of heat, and chargers can’t handle that without external help. If you want to discharge faster you’ll need a dedicated discharger. ISDT makes one for $80.

 

[brapsquatch]

I've got an S2200 and every time I've used storage charging it was going the other way. Meaning I just used the batteries and then ran a storage charge which usually charges them up to 58-60%. I think there's an actual discharge function on that charger. I don't know about running storage charge mode while the batter is fully charged but it looks like it's running a storage discharge which should be fine.

 

[RadioHacktive]

I've got an S2200 and every time I've used storage charging it was going the other way. Meaning I just used the batteries and then ran a storage charge which usually charges them up to 58-60%. I think there's an actual discharge function on that charger. I don't know about running storage charge mode while the batter is fully charged but it looks like it's running a storage discharge which should be fine.

Yes, the S2200 (and I'll assume all of Spektrum's "Smart" chargers) have three functions: Charge, Discharge, Storage.

 

[Fishtank]

It’s fine. Discharging batteries requires a lot of heat, and chargers can’t handle that without external help. If you want to discharge faster you’ll need a dedicated discharger. ISDT makes one for $80.

Their discharger is great. Way better than using the charger. I have the same charger, if it’s a Spektrum smart Battery the charger charges the battery 100% then discharges it to storage level. I believe all the parameters are adjustable if you go into settings.
I hate The smart charger for discharging.

 

[SaltyLocal]

I've got an S2200 and every time I've used storage charging it was going the other way. Meaning I just used the batteries and then ran a storage charge which usually charges them up to 58-60%. I think there's an actual discharge function on that charger. I don't know about running storage charge mode while the batter is fully charged but it looks like it's running a storage discharge which should be fine.

Same. I usually charge, drive and then storage charge. However, this evening i needed to charge it in order to simply dial in a servo. Sort of a waste of having to fully charge then just storage discharge it.

I did update to the latest charger and battery firmware. Hopefully, it'll correct any issues. I did notice once i completed the firmware updates, the charger occasionally displays an error when plugging in a battery. The only way to clear and charge is to power off than back on again.

 

[real_name_hidden]

Their discharger is great. Way better than using the charger. I have the same charger, if it’s a Spektrum smart Battery the charger charges the battery 100% then discharges it to storage level. I believe all the parameters are adjustable if you go into settings.
I hate The smart charger for discharging.

Indeed. I loved mine even though I only used it a handful of times. I actually sold it to him… since my ISDT K4 can discharge/storage at the same rate as just the discharger.

 

[brapsquatch]

Same. I usually charge, drive and then storage charge. However, this evening i needed to charge it in order to simply dial in a servo. Sort of a waste of having to fully charge then just storage discharge it.

I did update to the latest charger and battery firmware. Hopefully, it'll correct any issues. I did notice once i completed the firmware updates, the charger occasionally displays an error when plugging in a battery. The only way to clear and charge is to power off than back on again.

Man I just got my charger and batteries like last week. I should check the firmware. Thanks for the reminder.

I just bought the S2200 bundle that came with 2 3s 5000mah 50c batteries then ordered two more batteries from Spektrum. One of the new batteries was used and defective or something. It already had 10 cycles on it and it would not storage charge at all. After a few hours of not really doing anything the charger would throw "task timed out" error. They're shipping a new one out after a couple of emails.

 

[RedOctobyr]

Same. I usually charge, drive and then storage charge. However, this evening i needed to charge it in order to simply dial in a servo. Sort of a waste of having to fully charge then just storage discharge it.

You have me curious: why did the servo work require a fully-charged battery? For bench-testing stuff, I usually just use a battery that's at storage voltage.

The last time I was active in RC hobbies, ~5 years ago, stand-alone dischargers weren't yet a thing. I built an external resistive load, to let my charger do an "external" ~500W discharge. But the fact that you can now buy a commercial 200W discharger for $80 is pretty fantastic. That's a heck of a lot more convenient than waiting for a charger's internal 10-20W discharge function, especially with big packs.

https://www.amazon.com/ISDT-Discharger-Wireless-Capacity-Discharging/dp/B07VS2JSN9

 

[SaltyLocal]

You have me curious: why did the servo work require a fully-charged battery? For bench-testing stuff, I usually just use a battery that's at storage voltage.

The last time I was active in RC hobbies, ~5 years ago, stand-alone dischargers weren't yet a thing. I built an external resistive load, to let my charger do an "external" ~500W discharge. But the fact that you can now buy a commercial 200W discharger for $80 is pretty fantastic. That's a heck of a lot more convenient than waiting for a charger's internal 10-20W discharge function, especially with big packs.

https://www.amazon.com/ISDT-Discharger-Wireless-Capacity-Discharging/dp/B07VS2JSN9

Yep, i tried dialing in the servo with the storage discharged battery. Unfortunately, itd power up the esc but wouldnt do anything with the servo. I checked all connections, insured polarity was accurate, and tried a few restarts, but still no servo action. Once i fully charged the same 6s lipo, the servo responded accordingly.

 

[RedOctobyr]

Yep, i tried dialing in the servo with the storage discharged battery. Unfortunately, itd power up the esc but wouldnt do anything with the servo. I checked all connections, insured polarity was accurate, and tried a few restarts, but still no servo action. Once i fully charged the same 6s lipo, the servo responded accordingly.

That's really weird. I don't think I'd be comfortable driving it, with it behaving like that Since, obviously, while driving the pack, the voltage will get quite a bit lower than storage voltage (especially under a heavy load, as the voltage sags). That seems like a bad time to lose you're steering.

Maybe the BEC can't quite supply enough current for the new servo? I guess you could use a multimeter to check the BEC voltage while it is misbehaving.

My apologies for sliding off-topic. But if this was me, I guess I wouldn't just kind of dismiss it as a weird fluke, for lack of a better word. I've had mystery brownouts after servo upgrades (in aircraft), which at the time I didn't understand. But now I'm pretty sure that the higher performance servos that I installed were overloading the BEC.