New Bantam e-Station Support Forum

[RC Accessory]

Sorry its taking me so long to get back to you, I was out of the office all day.

I guess you found the answer about the wattage limits of chargers. Bantam lists the max charge rates in the back of the manual per cell as well as per chemistry.

I would recommend the Bantam BC6-10. It has 200 watts of power, 10 amp max charge rate, programs the same as the BC-6 and the boards you have now will also work with it.

[zxdude]

Hi

I have the BC6-10 but don’t know what kind of power supply i need to get in order to run it directly from the mains


Thanks

[RC Accessory]

you need a 22 amp power supply or higher.

[zxdude]

Originally Posted by RC Accessory

you need a 22 amp power supply or higher.

Thanks

I am thinking about getting this one below can you tell me please if you think this be okay

Fusion 600W Adjustable 40A Power Supply

600W adjustable 40A power supply.

• AC input :220~240V
• Adjustable Output
• 5~15V Adjustable Voltage Output
• 0~40A Adjustable Amp Output
• LCD Screen, showing Amps/Volts
• 4mm banana sockets
• Max.600 Watt

[RC Accessory]

that is acceptable.

[zxdude]

Originally Posted by RC Accessory

that is acceptable.

Okay thanks for your time and help

Thanks

[rotorsup]

I'm getting the eStation BC6 dual power charger and want to set up to charge two 2200ma 3S batteries at a time.

First of all, will the charger charge two batteries in half the time as each one individually - or will it be more than half the time?

Second, the charger will be comming with the Thunder Power and Align taps. What else will I need? I'm pretty sure I came across a website that showed how to make the deans-connector cable, but I can't find it. Can you point me in the right direction?

Thank you for your help.

[RC Accessory]

Originally Posted by rotorsup

I'm getting the eStation BC6 dual power charger and want to set up to charge two 2200ma 3S batteries at a time.

First of all, will the charger charge two batteries in half the time as each one individually - or will it be more than half the time?

Second, the charger will be comming with the Thunder Power and Align taps. What else will I need? I'm pretty sure I came across a website that showed how to make the deans-connector cable, but I can't find it. Can you point me in the right direction?

Thank you for your help.

Assuming you are charging in series, the 2 packs must be identical in voltage, same brand, same everything. If they are the same voltage, then it will charge as a 6S pack and charge a bit faster than 2 separate packs due to the 50 watt limit of the charger.

You did not specify what brand batteries you are using. To charge 2 3S packs you need the Bantam Multi Battery board.

EAC143 Polquest
EAC144 JST XH
EAC148 Kokam
EAC149 TP

Plus you will need a series cable to connect the 2 discharge leads together. Follow the directions very closely as if you connect the mains backwards you will have reverse polarity in comparison to the balance taps and you will damage the charger.

[TJinGuy]

Due to the more strict requirements and higher risk of serial charging, I would highly suggest parallel charging instead. Here is a link to my how-to page if you want to know more.
http://sites.google.com/site/tjinguy...allel-charging

[rotorsup]

As TJinGuy says, this seems pretty restrictive... Even with two batteries made by the same manufacturer, how can a person be sure they have been discharged by exactly the same amount? Even when timing flights and running two batteries for the same amount of time, there's no gaurantee that they will be discharged by the same amount (differences in flight manuevers, etc.).

Am I missing something - or - from a practical vantage point, would you discourage people from trying to charge two batteries in this manner? Kind of sounds to me like a lawsuit waiting to happen...

[TJinGuy]

Serial charging different packs (whether they are different brands, ages or discharge levels makes no difference) just makes the process take a lot longer. The charger's job is to charge all cells to 4.2V and if they are not very close to start with, the balancer will have to work very hard to get them all balanced. So basically it will work but it is not be the best way to go.

[dave736]

I am looking at buying a BC6-10 charger, but I have a few questions.
I will be using it to charge Thunder Power 45C 2650mah / 6S batteries.

1. How big of a DC supply do I need to power this?

2. Is the voltage input cable attached to the unit or do I supply one? If I supply one, what type of connector is is used?

3. Is the balancing connector for this type of battery included or do I have to purchase it separately?

I know these questions may be easily answered if I had my hands on the charger, but I want to order it all together.

Thanks,
Dave

[RC Accessory]

Originally Posted by dave736

I am looking at buying a BC6-10 charger, but I have a few questions.
I will be using it to charge Thunder Power 45C 2650mah / 6S batteries.

1. How big of a DC supply do I need to power this?

2. Is the voltage input cable attached to the unit or do I supply one? If I supply one, what type of connector is is used?

3. Is the balancing connector for this type of battery included or do I have to purchase it separately?

I know these questions may be easily answered if I had my hands on the charger, but I want to order it all together.

Thanks,
Dave

1). I recommend 23 amps or so.
2). Attached.
3). At RC Accessory, we include whichever balance board you need at no charge. Not all dealers include the balance board. http://www.rcaccessory.com/bantame-s...10charger.aspx

[dave736]

Originally Posted by RC Accessory

1). I recommend 23 amps or so.
2). Attached.
3). At RC Accessory, we include whichever balance board you need at no charge. Not all dealers include the balance board. http://www.rcaccessory.com/bantame-s...10charger.aspx

You said the input power cable is attached. You mean non-removeable? I'm just verifing because it looks like some kind of connection jack in the manual.

If the wire is attached, what kind of connector is on the other end that attaches to the PS?

What gauge wire connects the charger to the PS? (in case I have to supply connectors)

When ordering, you have an option for including a 30 amp supply. Which supply is it - the Pyramid PSV300?

Thanks,
Dave

[RC Accessory]

Originally Posted by dave736

You said the input power cable is attached. You mean non-removeable? I'm just verifing because it looks like some kind of connection jack in the manual.

If the wire is attached, what kind of connector is on the other end that attaches to the PS?

What gauge wire connects the charger to the PS? (in case I have to supply connectors)

When ordering, you have an option for including a 30 amp supply. Which supply is it - the Pyramid PSV300?

Thanks,
Dave

The input wire is attached, non removable. I have seen many people put either bullets or deans in the wire to make it removable. Since the charger is DC powered, you need to have it connect to the power supply.

The input wire has battery clamps on it. To connect to the power supply, you need to change the clamps to 4mm bullets. Don't use banana plugs, as most banana plugs can only handle 10 amps. The wire gauge is 14 AWG. 4.0mm bullets are a perfect fit.

Yes, the optional power supply is the Pyramid PSV 300 30 amp model. We offer a $10 discount on it when you buy it with the charger. Select it off the pull down menu and the price is reduced to $89.95. Since the order is over $150.00, shipping is free in the US.

[Quah]

It's been over a year since i bought my Bantam BC6 charger ( New version ) and today it started smelling kinda weird.
Burn plastic like smell coming out from the top-right coling hole( just above the serial number ) , not serious fire like smell but a bit concerning scent .
Despite nothing is wrong about the charger's operation i just wanted to know if there is something to worry about in the future .
Is there enything i should do , change ?

Thanks !!

[RC Accessory]

Originally Posted by Quah

It's been over a year since i bought my Bantam BC6 charger ( New version ) and today it started smelling kinda weird.
Burn plastic like smell coming out from the top-right coling hole( just above the serial number ) , not serious fire like smell but a bit concerning scent .
Despite nothing is wrong about the charger's operation i just wanted to know if there is something to worry about in the future .
Is there enything i should do , change ?

Thanks !!

Carefully open it up and look for any burned or deformed components.

[flyanything]

My BC-8 is using 3.7 volts/cell as the target voltage when using the "STORAGE" mode. This should be 3.85 volts/cell. I don't see a way to change this in the SETUP menu nor do I see a way to check the firmware version of the charger. I downloaded the updated PC software and the "About" dialog does not even have a version number for that product either. Is there a way to set the STORAGE voltage and how do I determine the version of the charger and PC software?

John

[RC Accessory]

Originally Posted by flyanything

My BC-8 is using 3.7 volts/cell as the target voltage when using the "STORAGE" mode. This should be 3.85 volts/cell. I don't see a way to change this in the SETUP menu nor do I see a way to check the firmware version of the charger. I downloaded the updated PC software and the "About" dialog does not even have a version number for that product either. Is there a way to set the STORAGE voltage and how do I determine the version of the charger and PC software?

John

Newer Bantam chargers use 3.7V per cell for the Storage function, not 3.85V per cell. Actually any voltage from 3.7 to 3.9V per cell is fine for storage. The chargers manual may state 3.85V, but there should have been an addendum to the manual with the charger.

The latest PC software can be found on Bantam's web site, www.bantamtek.com. There are several models of the e-Station BC8 charger. Only the BC8DP has firmware upgrades and at this time, Bantam has not released a firmware update for the BC8DP. The BC8 and BC8DX are not firmware updatable.

[buzzcut44]

Hello,
I recently recieved a used BC-6 dual power charger and I have tried to charge 3 different lipo batteries and all 3 of them showed more MhA going back in than the capacity of the battery .. as it charges the cell voltage is not too high and each cell reaches 4.2V the amperage drops like it should but the total MhA put back into the pack exceeds the total of the pack. Example: I discharged a 2s 2200 Thunder Power lipo to 6v from fully charged and it showed 1840 taken out of the battery. I then charged the battery and decided to stop charging when the MhA showed 3000 put back in to the battery and the Voltage was at 7.95 volts when I stopped it and more than a hour had passed. The invidual battery cell voltage was at 3.97V each. I did repeate this test on a different charger and the battery showed correct charging. Do I have a bad charger?
Can this charger be fixed and for cost? Also where would I send it for repairs?

Thanks

Joel