Calibrating the Turnigy Accucell-6 Battery Charger

[biddygerm]

Hi there, is there a way to calibrate the balance ports ?

Thanks

[davepitt83]

what size jack supplies the power to this charger

[rabss15]

Hey mate just got my accucell 6 and noticed when charging my nimh 2000mah glow igniter, during the charging screen I've noticed every know and then it will drop from saying 2.0A to 0 only for a couple seconds. Is this normal or I got a faulty charger. Cheers.

[shagster007]

I have this charger but what is the difference between the AUT and MAN setting? Which is better? I charge lipos and nimhs.

[kolotoympas]

is there a way to calibrate cell by cell?

[cesar11duran]

what size bullet connectors?

[orandaboy]

mine keeps saying 'input vol err'!!!!!! HELP!!!

[pofrani]

you should have pointed out that mnorbert17's video helped you out with this first!

[amenic1894]

Thanks for the calibrating video Craig...well done!!

[MonkOfSkunk420]

The charger can be used on a 16.4v power adaptor as long as the amps are high enough. I use a nearly 20 year old, 60w 15v 4a IBM laptop power supply for mine - i never quite push the charger up to its limits, say about 40 watts at most so it's all good.

[zanrath12345]

hey man what do you plug your charger into? Did you buy the actual power supply

[HobbyPartz]

Very informative! We would love to have you review some of our stuff in the future! You should check out our Gens Ace and Sky Lipo batteries, should work nicely with that charger.

[jwrx7tt01]

did it come with deans plugs?

[roberttreboranita]

i have a good question............if i power my charger with a regulated 13.8 unit as i do....so...then i calibrate it and all is good........so,if i then go out in the field and use a car battery to power the charger.... is it still calibrated?? taking in to account that i have changed the input current by a little bit (i know a car battery is not 12v when charged...more like 14. something what do you think??

[craig3008]

@roberttreboranita Hi Robert, it is a good question. Your charger will be calibrated no matter what input power supply you use. However input MUST be 11v to 18v @ DC at 5 Amps. You're calibrating at what point the charger detects the battery being charged. This has nothing to do with the battery voltage from the charger's power supply or field supply battery. The charger has a voltage regulator at it's voltage input which is why the charger is stable over a wide voltage range. Regards, Craig

[roberttreboranita]

@craig3008 Hi Craig...thanks for the quick response !! im really glad that was your answer because i guessed that would be about right myself....its good to have a second opinion and i think there are other guys out there with the same question in their heads!! cheers.. Rob

[dylantosta]

HINT : REPEAT THE TEST WITH AT LEAST 3 DIFFERENT MULTI-METERS OK !?

I DON´T TRUST THEM , THEY SUFFER A LOT OF ELECTRIC UPS N DOWNS AND ALSO STRONG MAGNETIC FIELDS WHEN IN USE DURING IT´S LIFE. I´M NOT SAYING THAT YOU´RE WRONG OK ? BUT I´VE HAD SOME SURPRISES WITH MULTI-METERS... REGARDS FROM BRAZIL !

[xsykgaffelx]

Mine was so wrong that i maxed the calibrating +-20 and it still was wrong by 0.01v

[mattisagoop]

is it bad if its not Calibrated

[Xan2k]

Great video, as the manual I have does not show you how to calibrate it.

Thanks!

[zedbra]

Thanks for showing how to do that, but your multimeter could easily be 0.02v out and still be well within specification.

[blink182iscool4ever]

Hello there old chap. Would you be able to charge a 5250mah battery? thanks, Derek

[legalize000]

I have a 850mah 7.4V battery and now own one of these chargers, but i just found that it doesn't go any higher than 600mah.

Is their anyway around this or do i need to get a new battery?

Thanks

[02paintball01]

How did you connect your Input voltage and what voltage did you use? mine came only with clips? Can I use like a PC plug that supplies 16.4 volts?

[craig3008]

@02paintball01 Hi There, no DON'T USE 16.4 volts! I use a converted computer power supply. The charger uses 12 > 13.8v and make sure whatever power supply you use can supply the required current when charging at the maximum current you charge at. That is..if you're charging a battery a 1.5amps (1500ma)...make sure you are using at least a 1.5 amp supply. I would suggest using a 2amp supply if charging at 1.5amps for instance. A sealed lead acid battery is a good choice to power the charger too.

[02paintball01]

@craig3008  ok thank you, and will this power supply do the thing?

[02paintball01]

@craig3008 ok but if I charge my 1.5 amp battery at only 0.2 amps will it work?

[roberttreboranita]

hi..just to look on the dull side of things.......we have to put trust in something being correct..in this case..your multi-meter!! we can never be sure!! good luck!

[craig3008]

@roberttreboranita yeah exactly!! :-)

[NinjaAlien100]

can I charge a 5000mah lipo/nimh battery

[dyord]

Hi! I played with the charger's buttons trying to calibrate it. I don't know what went wrong but i think i just deleted the Lipo charging program. It just won't appear in the menu.

Please help!

[craig3008]

@dyord um.... did you do EXACTLY what I did in the video or did you just 'play' with the button just see what happens? I'm by no means an expert on the charger and have no idea what you've just done!!! No one else who has watched this video and commented has ever done that before! Don't panic! If you disconnect power..and power up the charger again... can you find any LIPO charge settings at all? There is a 'load settings' menu item in there somewhere. If you want I can email you the manual.

[dyord]

@craig3008 I experimented with it before I discovered this video. Someone have told me that there's a way to calibrate it.

[pauli3g]

@craig3008 Hi, I brought a Accucell 6 Charger and I calibrated it with my 11.1v 4000mah Zippy flightmax lipo battery and it came up with 12.59v which was fine but I kept calibrating it when the voltage was getting low on my battery, and now the calibrating voltage on my charger is at 10.59v and it wont charge, balance charge, or store anymore. I was just wondering would I have to buy another lipo battery of the same capacity and calibrate with that one.

Please Help Me!

Thanks Paul

[dyord]

Hi! I played with the charger's buttons trying to calibrate it. I don't know what went wrong but i think i just deleted the Lipo charging program. It just won't appear in the menu.

Please help!

[stevnger]

just wanted to know if you have to do this with every lipo you charge as the have diffrent voltage that they rest @.... thank you

[craig3008]

@stevnger Hi there, no it's really just a one-off thing just to check that your charger is calibrated correctly. You really just have to do it once. Regards, Craig

[CharlitoCZ]

Hello, i have this charger, but everytime, i want to charge/ballance a battery, it says after a few secs "BREAKDOWN", do you know where could be the problem please?

[flyinhigh450]

Craig,

I have the Accucell-8 which calibrates the same way but im having a problem.My multi-meter shows 4.16V per cell and 25.0V fully charged,thats with the charger calibrate and turned all the way up.Is there a way to get the voltage up? or is there a way to set the charger's calibrate setting back to stock so I can start over?It was showing 24.5V before I calibrated it after the 6 cell lipo fully charger and its only going to 25.0V turned all the way up.Thanks..

[malcauskas7]

You need to get bat voltage pluged on the charger.

[fabiodacunha]

i have a question. i recalibrate my charger, but its take too mutch time to balance my lipo

i'm using a yeah racing 5000mah 2S lipo, and set to balance using 4A to charge.

its take 180min average to charge and balance.....

what could be wrong?

[craig3008]

@fabiodacunha hi there, I'm no expert but just wondering what capacity your power supply is? I'm not sure that 180m to charge a 5amp 2S battery @4amp charge rate is really that out of the ordinary. Considering it takes about 70 mins to charge a 3S 2200Mah battery at 2.2amps full rate. I'm just wondering if your power supply is able to supply a 4amp charge?

[fabiodacunha]

@craig3008 yes craig, it can charge at 4A with no problem, whit that the charge time its about 80min

the problem its on balance. its take 2 hours just for balance.

i dont know its can be problem on the charger or on the battery

thanks by the way and nice vid.

[craig3008]

@fabiodacunha yeah not really sure there. The battery could be on the way out possibly and the charger is having a hard time trying to charge all cells to the same level? I'm really not too sure. How old is the battery? Do you have other batteries of the same type that take less time to charge? Sorry to be not much help! Craig

[fabiodacunha]

@craig3008 no problem dude.

yes, i have 2 lipo, same brand and spec.

and bolth take more than 180min to charge/balance

one i buy on 10/26/2009 and the other at 03/08/2010

[craig3008]

@fabiodacunha yeah I suspect that is normal - it takes about 75 - 80 mins to charge my 3S 2200 mAh batteries at around 2000 - 2100mAh... so that sounds about right to me. Maybe others have comments? Also try posting on one of the many RC forums around to see if your charge time is normal. Regards, Craig

[rgmanica]

hi dude! did you saw my video answer?

[rgmanica]

Dude, My AC6 displays a very different cell voltage and total voltage. Something like 4,18 - 4,16 - 4,15 in 3S and a total of 12,6V when summing of the cells would be 12,49V. This total remains while the cells still increasing during charging until each cell reach 4,2V. Do you know any kind of balancing port calibration?

[craig3008]

@rgmanica Hi there, when you charge you are sure that you select BALANCE as opposed to CHARGE? Regards, Craig

[rgmanica]

@craig3008, For Shure! I'll try to post some video of this problem.

[thengalele]

unfortunately my charger not going into calibrate mode :( any suggestion?

[garagecrap]

Anyone knows why one of my cells gets charged to 4.38v? This charger shouldn't allow that as far as I know. This only happens on one of my packs tho.

[gayclub]

hi there

is it true that no calibration can lead to overcharging which leads to explosion?

[craig3008]

@gayclub Well I wouldn't say that! The charger would have to be so far out of calibration for that to happen. No that's highly unlikely! I just like to check the calibration of the charger so I know it's pretty close to correct - just so I get the maximum life out of my batteries. Regards, Craig

[AZAKO80]

i am charging a 7.2 v 2000mah nimh battery pack and noticed that the numbers dislayed on the top right corner of the screen slowly keeps rising, like it started as 6.97v and has rises to 7.98v why is this and should i be worried?

Thanks!

[MikeR5656]

My 4S battery read 16.39 volts through my accucell 6. My multimeter read 16.25 volts.

I adjusted the charger down -20 which is its max. My battery then read only 16.28 volts which was as low as I could go. A difference of .03 volts.

Is this good enough? I can't adjust the charger down any more. Once you calibrate the charger thats it.. You can't get anymore out of it..It won't let you.. Or can I ..?? Anyone?

[tomxl3]

OK thanks craig3008 I guess when you hold them down longer it comes back up ! thanks a million whats the second menu for using (stop and decrease) while starting up ?

[tomxl3]

i think once you calibrate you will no longer be able to access that menu again! so make sure you set it wright the first time!

[craig3008]

no that should not be the case. I have 4 of these chargers and can access the calibrate menu on each one as many times as I like. You just need to turn the power off...hold your fingers on the buttons as described and you should be able to get into the calibrate menu. Regards, Craig

[dimitrishpi]

@tomxl3 If i calibrate the charger once is should do it again or not ?

[Minimotops]

Do i have to calibrate the charger? I have order one turnigycharger my imax b6 charger works fine whitout calibrate.

[craig3008]

If it works fine then that's ok...you don't HAVE to calibrate it but if you have a good multimeter around it's probably a good idea. That way you know you are not undercharging or overcharging your batteries. It's totally up to you :-)

[xM1NtYxFr3Shx]

@craig3008 Does calibrating the last .02V actually increase the life of lipos significantly? I'm using LiPos in the airsoft gun.

[KFrag420]

Thanks a ton for going through this, very helpful!!

[Cell306]

is this charger good for charging 5000mah 3s 40c for rc cars ??

[craig3008]

Hi There, This charger handles LiPo/LiFe up to 6S and NiMH/NiCd up to 15S so technically it should do it however you are maxing the charger's capabilities out. I would suggest stepping up to it's bigger brother which the Accucell-8. It can charge at a rate of up to 7amps (as opposed to 5amps for the Accucell-6) and can handle up to 8S (Cells). I assume you charge your 5000mah batteries at 5amps? I'd get the Accucel-8..that way you are not running the thing at maximum current it can handle.

[xxgg]

I actually have a Accucell-8 and my actual battery voltage was higher than what charger reads.

So I tried to calibrate... but the charger only allows upto +20. Even with +20 it still wasn't enough to be same voltage as the battery.

What could be wrong?

Maybe I should get a another multimeter and read the batteries again?

What's your thoughts? What other things should I try?

[craig3008]

Hmm that's interesting. I've had a viewer from Greece with with the same issue from memory. Sure it would not hurt to try another multimeter just as a second opinion.. Just out of interest...how far out is your charger to what the meter says?

[xxgg]

Ok, tested with different multimeter.

2nd test was 0.01 less than my first.

Even with +20, charger read 0.03 to 0.02 less.

Can I safely recharge LiPo even with that difference?

Should I lower my End voltage to be little lower or something?

Would appreciate some assistance.

[CaptBiggles42]

Much appreciated Craig. I just got my Accucell 6 from hobbycity with no instructions.

Found the instructions online but they were pretty useless.

Your video on the othjer hand was bloody brilliant.

Spent the afternoon happily charging batteries thanks to you.

[craig3008]

Hey thanks for your comment. Yeah the instructions are terrible! Glad it helped you and nice to hear from a fellow Aussie. Those chargers are fantastic for the price! PS I've just subscribed to your YouTube videos.. you have some really good videos there!

[nobogroll]

cool man

[stroumyi]

Nice trick.

Can i do the same thing by using a NiCd pack from my Futaba transmiter?

[craig3008]

Yep! As long as it's a battery it should work fine. Just as long as the volts you see out of the battery on the multimeter are the same as on the charger. If there is a difference.. then just adjust the charger. Let me know how you go. Regards, Craig

[stroumyi]

Well it seems that something is wrong either with the charger or the multimeter. The reading of the multimeter is 9.29V and the one from the charger is 8.37 V and that's after setting the charger to the+20 mark during the calibration procedure!

What do you think about that? Thanks a lot for your time.

[craig3008]

Hmmm that's weird! I'd try a different multimeter...and compare it to the reading you get on yours..I've not heard of that happening before! I have 4 of these chargers ... and they are all pretty similar to the multimeter.

[stroumyi]

Weird is an understatement!

The difference between a 100$ multimeter and my 20$ one is 0,004V! There is something definately wrong with the charger. Any suggestion is welcomed!

[rickyfrr]

Very good, thanks for that trick:)