New PL8 owner... and I don't know what to do!

[Bananaslug]

Originally Posted by Gregor99

Actually I may need to see how you wired the connector to determine which wiring mode is required and if the wiring is correct.

neg - neg, 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-pos
I got it to work, charge and discharge. It claimed to have balanced the cells exactly, to three decimals. The IR was good except cell 6 was a bit high...I seem to have read something about that, I'll have to find it again. I was absolutely shocked at how fast it charged my packs... coming from a 100w charger I actually found it hard to believe lol. I even put it on the volt meter to make sure.
Anyway, I'll try to get a pic posted up sometime tomorrow so you can have a look. There is no way I could have done this without y'alls help

[Slyster]

Why in the world didn't FMA go JST-HX like 99% of lipos use?

[CeeveeSiN]

Originally Posted by Slyster

Why in the world didn't FMA go JST-HX like 99% of lipos use?

They have both. but they have their own proprietary mode as well.

And Tim EP buddy has been making EC5 paraboards for over a year.

FMA is behind on this one. deans are dead.

[Slyster]

Originally Posted by CeeveeSiN

They have both.

What I meant was I cannot plug my packs balance tap (or a squid) directly into the charger like I have always done. You need that little balance board go-between (which I did solder directly to squid).. but still.

[CeeveeSiN]

Originally Posted by Slyster

What I meant was I cannot plug my packs balance tap (or a squid) directly into the charger like I have always done. You need that little balance board go-between (which I did solder directly to squid).. but still.

They want people to use the adapter boards so ANY standard can be used which makes sense..

[Slyster]

yes.. but 99% of lipos are JST-HX. Why not go with the masses and have just the 1% buy boards for the odd ball connectors. Why not just use 1 board instead of 100?

[CeeveeSiN]

Originally Posted by Slyster

yes.. but 99% of lipos are JST-HX. Why not go with the masses and have just the 1% buy boards for the odd ball connectors. Why not just use 1 board instead of 100?

Still quite a few lipos out there use other standards.
in our hobby yes it is mainly that.

but got to remember people use FMA for all kinds of hobby charging.

[Gregor99]

Originally Posted by Slyster

yes.. but 99% of lipos are JST-HX. Why not go with the masses and have just the 1% buy boards for the odd ball connectors. Why not just use 1 board instead of 100?

There is a long and valid story behind this. I have posted bits of it from time to time. I'll put together a summary as time permits.

[Gregor99]

Originally Posted by Bananaslug

neg - neg, 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-pos

6s packs have 7 wires. That sounds like FMA wiring mode (pack positve into pin 9). So something is still not quite right, which is way the IR is off.

[Bananaslug]

Yeah, the way I have it wired is two empty pins (7&8) on the FMA side. All wires from the jet are connected. I'll post a pic after I get home and.get the kiddos fed.

[pctomlin]

Hey Kevin,
Here is a picture of how I wired up my 6S balance connection to the PL8. I converted a JST XH connector over to the JST PA plug using the FMA wiring convention. You can see that spots 7 and 8 are open on the PA plug.

[Bananaslug]

Paul, that's how mine is wired too. What mode do you have your charger in?

[Gregor99]

Originally Posted by Bananaslug

Paul, that's how mine is wired too. What mode do you have your charger in?

That will use FMA wiring mode. If you are getting errors in FMA wiring mode then there is something wrong with the adapter.

[sl4ppy]

I just got one of these and plug my balance squid into it. Has worked flawlessly.

http://www.progressiverc.com/fma-pl8...nce-board.html

[jstalnaker70]

Originally Posted by sl4ppy

I just got one of these and plug my balance squid into it. Has worked flawlessly.

http://www.progressiverc.com/fma-pl8...nce-board.html

this is how i am useing mine right now and would like to know how to wire or if there is a adapter cable to do away with this?

i just recieved a EP BUDDY parabord for x-mas and have to use the adapter to use the parabord..

[Gregor99]

Originally Posted by jstalnaker70

this is how i am useing mine right now and would like to know how to wire or if there is a adapter cable to do away with this?

i just recieved a EP BUDDY parabord for x-mas and have to use the adapter to use the parabord..

Hmm, I thought ePbuddy sold an interconnect cable to plug it directly into the Powerlab. I believe ProgressiveRC also sells them. But because there are a number of different wiring pinouts for the clone parallel boards, you may have to rewire them (change the pinout). Check with those vendors, they may have one that does not need to be modified. Worst case is you get an FMA pigtail and wiring it yourself.

If a plug and play solution is more of what you are after, the MPA is the way to go.

[jstalnaker70]

Originally Posted by Gregor99

Hmm, I thought ePbuddy sold an interconnect cable to plug it directly into the Powerlab. I believe ProgressiveRC also sells them. But because there are a number of different wiring pinouts for the clone parallel boards, you may have to rewire them (change the pinout). Check with those vendors, they may have one that does not need to be modified. Worst case is you get an FMA pigtail and wiring it yourself.

If a plug and play solution is more of what you are after, the MPA is the way to go.

yea ill give ep buddy a call after the holidays
but just a quick look at the two ends it looks like all i have to do is switch the pos. and neg. on one end..
but im not real positive...

[Gregor99]

Originally Posted by jstalnaker70

yea ill give ep buddy a call after the holidays
but just a quick look at the two ends it looks like all i have to do is switch the pos. and neg. on one end..
but im not real positive...

Correct. If its wired incorrectly its often a matter of removing all wires from one end and re-inserting them in reverse order. Observing correct wiring mode (FMA or JST-XH) and pin 1.