Flightpower EVO 25 balancing problem.

[jpoprock]

I have a strange problem with my pair of FP EVO 25 5000mah 3S Lipos. Whenever I put them on my Hyperion EOS charger... it says they are 2S, which isn't true. They are 3S. Both Lipos read this way, and yes.. I'm using the right tap.

But if I stick my Blinky on either of them, three lights will light up, which indicates they are 3s batteries no? Why would these FP lipos do that, when the 6S that I had used the same tap?? I'm not even sure how or what to check. I'm not real good when it comes to using a voltmeter. I have to be told what to touch what to like a 10yr old!

Thanks!
J

[RC-Monster Mike]

If the balancer connection shows as 2s, then most likely the balance tap on your hyperion connector simply isn't making a good contact(or any contact).
Does the charger recognize the packs as 3s when you try to charge them without balancing them?

[jpoprock]

Hmmm... I'll have to check Mike. I THINK my charger sees them as 3s packs, yes. Because I've charged them before w/ the Blinky. I wouldn't have if it said 2S I doubt. It's been a while since I've messed with them, but I'll check tonight.

The thing that concerns me is... BOTH of my taps would have to bad because it doesn't matter which batter is connected to which tap. Not to mention that same tap is what I used to charge my now exploded 6S MP Lipo... and in order to charge it, I had to use the entire bottom row on my tap.. which has the 2 & 3S sockets. which is weird since it was a 6s Pack? lol. I'll report back!

[jpoprock]

Checked out the packs. Same thing.. Blinky says they are each 3S Packs, as it should say. Using my TP Balancing Adapter and the shared 2S/3S input, my charger reads them as 2S packs, then errors out. If I bypass the built in balancer and use the Blinky, the charger reads them as 3S packs.

I'll look again, but I wonder if there is a setting in the charger itself that I have to change despite the preset showing a 3S pack? Maybe a setting in the balancing section because the tap is using a 2S/3S shared input? Maybe the charger is defaulting to a 2S balancer?

EDIT: I just checked, and no matter what I do, I can't get the balancing section of the charger to see it as a 3S pack. It insists it's a 2S pack and only shows two cells. Even more strange, is that I just charged and balanced these packs w/ the Blinky, yet the charger is showing one of the two cells as being @3.98V and the other at 4.2. Even if the charger has it wrong, it's seeing one of the cells that I just balanced as being way off.

I wish I knew what to do. These are expensive packs. I've had them a while, but I know they have some life left in them. I just don't know how to "test" them.

J

[jpoprock]

Yet another discovery... for kicks, I plugged the balancing lead from the pack into the 5S socket, and put it to the right, leaving the first two pins in the socket exposed. So, only pins 3,4,5,6 are used, with 3 being the black. If I do this, the charger shows it as a 3S pack and the cell voltage is more in line with what it should be.

Should I try to charge and balance it this way?? The cells it's showing are the top three, so I think it's reading the right cells.

j

[RC-Monster Mike]

Sounds like you have a winner - if you got the charger to recognize it properly, then go for it. It would be a good idea to check the voltage of each cell individually to verify that the charger is reading correctly - if it is, then you found a good work-around.

[brainanator]

Sounds like there is a problem with your 2/3S port on your charger/board. Sorry if this doesn't even make sense, I'm not familiar with the charger.