Swallow EQ and Charging at Higher C values

[brentonasmith]

hoping for some advice.....

I am using a Swallow EQ charger which appears to based upon the Hyperion EOS0606i AC/DC Charger.

However, when configuring a LiPO charge cycle, the only options available are cell count and mah. There is no option to control current or C value. Therefore the charge rate defaults to 1C or the Amperage is based on the mah value set.

If I up the mah value, it will force a higher C value which I have quickly tested and appears to work.

This is not documented anywhere so it makes me feel somewhat uncomfortable and I'm moving onto bigger Helis and LiPOs and want to get this right.

Does anyone see a problem with this?

[TJinGuy]

As long as you have it set for the charger for the right number of cells, there is no way to overcharge a pack. So if the only way you can change the charge rate is to "fool" the charger into thinking you have a bigger pack, then go ahead. Just remember that charging faster is your choice and there are always risks, even if they are tiny.

[brentonasmith]

Originally Posted by TJinGuy

.............Just remember that charging faster is your choice and there are always risks, even if they are tiny.

Thanks Chris.

very true, I try to mitigate some risk by always being around while charging, planing to get a LiPO sack or Fire Blanket but buying parts seems to distract me :-)

I have some 2200mah Hyperions on the way which claim can be charged at 5C and I was hoping to take advantage by Charging at 2C given the 50W (50/12=4.2A) limitation on my Charger.

Really appreciate the prompt response, also value your comments as you seem to post regularly in this forum. Hope this also helps someone else.

Cheers

[sprat0864]

Hi guys, i have the same charger ( 2 in fact ) and was trying to get to a 2C charge as i have a 600 efl and a 500 pro fb which both take 6s ( 600 is 6s x 2 ) so have 6 x 3000mah 40c Batts to charge. I have allways charged at 1c but just find with extra packs it would be nice to speed things up. So am i right in thinking that if i log in 6000mah to the charger it will charge at 2c or will it just realise that i am trying to trick it and still take the same time.. Not really game to try but will with a bit of advice. Cheers in advance for any thoughts. :-)

[The WoodCrafter]

No charger is smart enough to know the mAh of the pack you plug into it.
Voltage, YES but not capacity.

[Gregor99]

Originally Posted by The WoodCrafter

No charger is smart enough to know the mAh of the pack you plug into it.

Well, actually the FMA chargers have been able do that since the original Cellpro 4s. It was very cool. Just set the desired charge rate, 1c, 2c or 3c. Then just plug the balance leads into the charger at it automatically started charging at the correct charge rate. The cell count was determined by cell detection on the balance leads. Pack size was determined by voltage rise during the first few minutes of charging. Smaller packs rise faster, larger packs rise more slowly. The packs of time were very predictable in their voltage rise rates making it easy to calculate the size of the pack.

When I first started with helicopters I never had to change setting on the charger. Regardless of pack size just plug it in an the charger does the rest. That was my introduction to FMA chargers. Fast forward to today. The pack chemistry has changed a lot and varies from vendor to vendor. A predicable voltage rise is harder, but not impossible to map out. The Powerlabs have a feature that allows you record the voltage rise for a particular pack. The results can be stored as a custom fuel table and reused in one of three AUTO modes. These days with high current parallel charging I prefer to just set the desired rate and go. But when I was first starting out, it was nice to be able to leverage the auto charge modes.

[Shnea]

Originally Posted by sprat0864

Hi guys, i have the same charger ( 2 in fact ) and was trying to get to a 2C charge as i have a 600 efl and a 500 pro fb which both take 6s ( 600 is 6s x 2 ) so have 6 x 3000mah 40c Batts to charge. I have allways charged at 1c but just find with extra packs it would be nice to speed things up. So am i right in thinking that if i log in 6000mah to the charger it will charge at 2c or will it just realise that i am trying to trick it and still take the same time.. Not really game to try but will with a bit of advice. Cheers in advance for any thoughts. :-)

The swollow charger is limited to 50w so you can't charge any more then 2.2A for a 22.2 V pack so set it as high as you want, won't make any change.

[desertstalker]

Originally Posted by Gregor99

Well, actually the FMA chargers have been able do that since the original Cellpro 4s. It was very cool. Just set the desired charge rate, 1c, 2c or 3c. Then just plug the balance leads into the charger at it automatically started charging at the correct charge rate. The cell count was determined by cell detection on the balance leads. Pack size was determined by voltage rise during the first few minutes of charging. Smaller packs rise faster, larger packs rise more slowly. The packs of time were very predictable in their voltage rise rates making it easy to calculate the size of the pack.

It still works, but with big packs it is rather conservative at the start (since it has to allow for you plugging in very small packs) so will take a bit longer than setting the value yourself.