Spektrum Smart S2100 charger

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Bluediablito

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Hello all,

Just received the spectrum charger along with a 4s 5000mha 100c battery. I am looking forward to using but I have a few questions and I can't find the answer.

Would anyone know how to do a balance charging, the only options are charge / storage / Discharge (I have read and watch a couple of YouTube video showing how to balance a lipo but with a different charger).

Probably there's an update and I can't find it.


Thank you in advance.
 
Hello all,

Just received the spectrum charger along with a 4s 5000mha 100c battery. I am looking forward to using but I have a few questions and I can't find the answer.

Would anyone know how to do a balance charging, the only options are charge / storage / Discharge (I have read and watch a couple of YouTube video showing how to balance a lipo but with a different charger).

Probably there's an update and I can't find it.


Thank you in advance.
If you got one of the new spektrum smart batteries it automatically balances during charge.
 
That make sense, but what about the non smart battery how can I balance charge them?
I assume as long as you plug in the balance leads it will auto balance charge them.
 
I believe they use ISDT's tech and that has the same settings "no balance setting" that's because it's pre-set as balance charge always..???

I'm using an ISDT charger and it balances on its own, also chooses the correct battery 2s 3s 4s etc it's great..?
 
I assume as long as you plug in the balance leads it will auto balance charge them.
If using the Spectrum charger and battery together, you don’t need to use the balance connector. It has a third lead in the IC5 connector for balance and telemetry data.
 
If using the Spectrum charger and battery together, you don’t need to use the balance connector. It has a third lead in the IC5 connector for balance and telemetry data.
Yeah but he was asking about non smart batteries.
 
If using the Spectrum charger and battery together, you don’t need to use the balance connector. It has a third lead in the IC5 connector for balance and telemetry data.


hm, where does it say so? I charged my packs for testing earlier and was pretty underwhelmed.

connected the balance lead - set each channel to 7.5A which should be 1.5C on a 5000mah pack - each channel didnt even go over 7A at all - when adjusting one channel to again set 7.5A the other channel dropped - not sure how they can advertise it as 12A per channel if you cant drive it unless the packs limit the charger which would be pretty stupid really.

the manual is pretty small as well so I did reach out to HH for an updated version. The charger temperature only supports F and not C which again cant be changed in the device.

Not sure what to make of this charger yet - will see how long it will take HH to respond else I may just use my trusted PL8 and forget about the smart charging though Iike the idea in general. I don't want to be limited by the charger - if I want to charge at 10A/2C it should let me do it and I couldnt confirm this being possible - my PL8 is driven by a 40A server PSU which allows me to charge 4x6S and drive them to the max A output available - this little thing doesn't seem to wanting to push the limits unless I am doing things wrong here but again the manual is super brief so any experience you can share is highly appreciated

edit: watching a HH Q&A where James Haley mentions that to properly read internal resistance you need to connect the balance lead also suggesting later to always connect them as best practice
 
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hm, where does it say so? I charged my packs for testing earlier and was pretty underwhelmed.

connected the balance lead - set each channel to 7.5A which should be 1.5C on a 5000mah pack - each channel didnt even go over 7A at all - when adjusting one channel to again set 7.5A the other channel dropped - not sure how they can advertise it as 12A per channel if you cant drive it unless the packs limit the charger which would be pretty stupid really.

the manual is pretty small as well so I did reach out to HH for an updated version. The charger temperature only supports F and not C which again cant be changed in the device.

Not sure what to make of this charger yet - will see how long it will take HH to respond else I may just use my trusted PL8 and forget about the smart charging though Iike the idea in general. I don't want to be limited by the charger - if I want to charge at 10A/2C it should let me do it and I couldnt confirm this being possible - my PL8 is driven by a 40A server PSU which allows me to charge 4x6S and drive them to the max A output available - this little thing doesn't seem to wanting to push the limits unless I am doing things wrong here but again the manual is super brief so any experience you can share is highly appreciated

edit: watching a HH Q&A where James Haley mentions that to properly read internal resistance you need to connect the balance lead also suggesting later to always connect them as best practice

I am assuming 3s? Then you are limited by watts not amps. Maximum wattage is 100w that the internal psu can handle.
7500mah x 12.6v = 94,500mw or 95w. Then since the psu in the charger is only about 80% efficient, meaning that at 100% work load it will lose 20% of its power to heat, we need to add in 20% to account for the inefficiency in the psu giving us 114w.

Charger Wattage Requirement
95 Watts (W) required as an output from your charger.
114 Watts (W) required from your power supply.
7.5 Amps (A) charge rate required of the charger per pack.
It would take approximately 65 Minutes to charge 1 pack(s) from less than 20% capacity.
This has been my number one complaint about this charger since day one it is extremely underpowered and overpriced for what it is.
 
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I am assuming 3s? Then you are limited by watts not amps. Maximum wattage is 100w that the internal psu can handle.
7500mah x 12.6v = 94,500ma or 95a. Then since the psu in the charger is only about 80% efficient, meaning that at 100% work load it will lose 20% of its power to heat, we need to add in 20% to account for the inefficiency in the psu giving us 114w.

Charger Wattage Requirement
95 Watts (W) required as an output from your charger.
114 Watts (W) required from your power supply.
7.5 Amps (A) charge rate required of the charger per pack.
It would take approximately 65 Minutes to charge 1 pack(s) from less than 20% capacity.
This has been my number one complaint about this charger since day one it is extremely underpowered and overpriced for what it is.
Actually 4S 5000mah - so let me see that calc again:

5000 mah x14.8V =74000 mah or 74A the charger claims 100W per channel (200W combined) and max 12A charging this is the direct powered version - so I assume the 12A are combined then this calculation may work as its 6Aper channel which is pretty much what I see here ... well reviewed the Q&A and it seems the packs still record charging and faults (without smart charger) so I probably return the charger use my trusted PL8 and get the £35 battery checker to read them out ... should have done my research on this - didnt this time ...
 
Actually 4S 5000mah - so let me see that calc again:

5000 mah x14.8V =74000 mah or 74A the charger claims 100W per channel (200W combined) and max 12A charging this is the direct powered version - so I assume the 12A are combined then this calculation may work as its 6Aper channel which is pretty much what I see here ... well reviewed the Q&A and it seems the packs still record charging and faults (without smart charger) so I probably return the charger use my trusted PL8 and get the £35 battery checker to read them out ... should have done my research on this - didnt this time ...
Yes but, you said you were trying to charge at 7.5a not 5, so it's 7500 x 14.8 = 111w. Charging a 5000mah lipo at 1.5c demands more power than when trying to charge at 1c. Which again will limit you to 7a instead of 12. The way they rate the chargers is weird it will do 12a per channel but you have to be under 100w.
 
Yes but, you said you were trying to charge at 7.5a not 5, so it's 7500 x 14.8 = 111w. Charging a 5000mah lipo at 1.5c demands more power than when trying to charge at 1c. Which again will limit you to 7a instead of 12. The way they rate the chargers is weird it will do 12a per channel but you have to be under 100w.
I was just doing the maths for the pack not actual charge rate but your explanation makes perfect sense - fully agree on how they rate the chargers seems odd - anyway I think checker and return isnthe way to go - keeping this charger doesn't make sense to me god bless European distant seller regulations (14days return policy)
 
SpektrumSmart batteries do most of the work by themselves. They are balanced and regulated internally standing alone. I think??? I believe it is a better concept than the Traxass chargers and batteries.
 
SpektrumSmart batteries do most of the work by themselves. They are balanced and regulated internally standing alone. I think??? I believe it is a better concept than the Traxass chargers and batteries.

don't know Traxxas but the Spektrum batteries have a chip inside that records different states and conditions and by powering the board it means it can reduce the charge state as well ...
They are balanced as any other battery but can use the center cable of the IC5 for balancing as well as far as I understood - so not that different to normal batteries except for the pcb/chip inside that has the logic but doesn't kill backwards compatibility to EC3/5 ...
 
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