Charging Issues on DIY Mod

[bonecrawler]

Hello everyone,

So I put together my first DNA 200 mod and am experiencing some strange issues that I would like some help troubleshooting. 

So where to begin, I initially wired the board up with a 1000mAh turnigy but one of the cells were below 2 volts and I did a recovery charge. It brought the voltage up but one of the cells wouldn't go above 3.9V. So, I obtained another battery because I didn't want to take any chances with these lipos.

Once I got the new 3s 1400mAh Glacier battery wired up, I updated the battery WH in Escribe and placed it on the charger. Before I disconnected it from Escribe, I noticed 2 of the cell voltages were in a constant state of change. They were fluctuating up and down by 0.2V which I thought was weird. Anyway, I disconnected it and plugged it into the charger. I have each of the cell voltages showing when charging and noticed that the charging symbol was not showing, but the cell voltages were displayed.

I double checked my leads because I had to cut the wires from the battery rather than use the plug or it wouldn't have fit into my enclosure. They were all fine and soldered correctly. I checked the voltages on each of the cells and they all looked good as far as coinciding with what was displayed on the dna 200 screen. 

Don't ask why, but I blew air on the board and shortly after the charging symbol came on. It charged for maybe a 10-15 minutes and went back to not displaying the charge symbol. I kept doing this, blowing on the board, but now it wont charge above 4.1V.

I didn't change any case temperature settings during the setup of the device and think that may be shutting off the charging? I can't find any documentation on that. Also, I believe I may have set the device to max recharges, but I'm at my home computer to check right now. Would that limit that max charge voltage or would there be anything else?

Also, I should say that the voltages don't bounce all over the place when the charging symbol is displayed.

Thanks for your assistance. 

[BillW50]

Under the mod tab in EScribe, if Charging Mode is set to Maximize Recharges, it only charges to 4.10v. If set to Maximize Puffs, it charges to 4.20v.

[bonecrawler]

Thank you Bill! That gives me peace of mind. I'll change it when I get home. I couldn't find that information anywhere. The Escribe software and it's definitions are a little vague at times as to the effect of the changes. 

I'm still curious on whether the case temperature settings effectively stop charging the device at certain settings. I have the DNA 200 in a Alpinetech g+ box which is pretty common I would think. I'll have to fiddle with this thing some more when I get home.

[BillW50]

bonecrawler said:

I'm still curious on whether the case temperature settings effectively stop charging the device at certain settings. I have the DNA 200 in a Alpinetech g+ box which is pretty common I would think. I'll have to fiddle with this thing some more when I get home.

Yeah, that part I am not sure? Mine is setup this way.

Thermal -> Case USB Charge Temperature Rise: 10°F + 12°F/A

If they are not set, it probably would stop charging until you blow on the board. And my values won't be correct for yours, but it should be good enough to try.

[VapingBad]

The case thermals for charging are so the heat produced charging is taken into account during the coil resistance refinement process.

[bonecrawler]

VapingBad said:

The case thermals for charging are so the heat produced charging is taken into account during the coil resistance refinement process.

Thanks VapingBad. I had read about that somewhere. Is this all it does? Are there any other setting(s) that may cause the charger to stop prematurely and possibly due to heat?