Havoc340 Posted November 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2015 Hi, I'm having an issue with 2 separate boxes. This is admittedly a bit of a crap show. The rundown. Box A had battery A installed. Everything was great for 3 months. Then I noticed I couldn't get a full charge anymore. In escribe I noticed that cell 3 only would charge up to 3.88v. I had a spare battery that I externally charged, dropped in battery b into the box and it developed the same symptom within 3 days. (Cell 3 won't charge above 3.88v) Thinking it may be a board issue, I built box b with a new board and put battery a in it, expecting the balance charging to bring that cell up. Now both box a and b look identical in escribe. Charge current drops to 0, Cell1 4.2v Cell2 4.2v Cell3 3.88v If I run the box, all cells drain equally. And they all come back to this situation when the box stops charging. I'm pretty sure that when 2 cells reach 4.2v it stops the charging. And the battery meter on the screen displays the % of the lowest cell. So i never get above 60% charge on screen. Yes my w/hr has been set for my battery. Is there any way for me to charge only one cell in the box? The boxes are non serviceable and I'll need to break them to get them apart. Its just odd to me that id have 2 batteries fail the same exact way, and also 2 boards. But i have the same problem between 2 different mods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Scientist Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Ok, this is a total stab in the dark but since you have 2 doing exactly the same odd thing, is it possible that your USB power block switching supply can't source the low current draw when the batteries get close to full charge or go into "balance mode"? Maybe some other odd characteristic of the power source? I'd try increasing the charge display brightness so you can see it, displaying the charge current draw on the charging screen and comparing behavior with different brands of USB power blocks and USB power sources you have available. Also maybe watch the charging process in device manager when it's connected to a PC. Only thing that comes to mind at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoggyMtnVape Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 I'm having the same issue with mine but it's a new board and the battery was fully balanced when I took the old board out to send in due to it just stopped working. Now cell one won't charge past 3.82 volts and the charging cuts off when the other 2 are at 4.2v. I use both the pc to monitor the charging in escribe and a 2A charger (I know the board will only charge at 1A). Just wondering how can I get the mod to charge the one cell without looking at the other 2 for shut off voltages? Would USB recovery charging get all cells back to balanced? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VapingBad Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Recovery charge only get the cells back to about 3 V so they can be charged normally. The only USB sullies that I have that cut the power at low current are power packs, but that doesn't mean that others don't, maybe try a computer or a hub with something else connected that will pull a little current. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoggyMtnVape Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 When connected to pc the current slowly drops from .48ish to none when cell one hits 3.82 and the other 2 at 4.2. Maybe i'll just have to drain the whole pack down and charge it back a few times and see if that irons out the issue. I think if I used a hub I would get the same results as the dna board would stop drawing anything at the same point. I changed my charge screen to display usb current so I'll see what happens on the 2A charger when it gets close to full when I get off work tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbocad6 Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 I have been having this same problem as havoc for a long time now, cell 3 not charging fully and stopping in the 3.8X range. keep trying to use it like this and eventually the battery becomes un-usable. also, if you leave the mod sit for many days while plugged in the cell 3 actually drops even further in voltage. don't know if you're wiling to just let it sit for days and days plugged in but if you are I'm curious to see if your cell 3 will drop further too. I'm talking dropping way down, below 2v I scrapped my first battery pack I built thinking maybe a bad cell, then eventually did the same with a second pack, now finally switched to a 3rd pack and after a week or 2 same thing. other than charging issues this chips been fine and I've been using it long enough that I'm now at almost 13,000 puffs but I've had to individually charge cells many times and have scrapped now 3 battery packs. I have more documentation and many escribe images trying to illustrate this issue, been meaning to start a thread outlining everything but never really had the time. I'll try to post up some images and further description here when I get the time but you are not alone with this weird problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoggyMtnVape Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 OK, tried a different lipo pack yesterday from a friends mod and it showed each cell perfectly balanced and charged it to full just fine. Another thing I have noticed is cell one doesn't drain as fast as the other 2 cells either, i.e. the other 2 will drop from 4.2v to 4.16v while the 3.82v cell stays at 3.82 for a longer period of usage. I do believe I am at fault on this one as I inadvertently soldered the jsth connector on the wrong way and connected cell one to ground but was thinking it would recover back but since the other 2 cells are reaching 4.2v it cuts charging off to all the cells, doesn't really seem like a balance charge but it's my fault they aren't balanced to begin with so I won't whine too much lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueridgedog Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 As to cells draining at different rates, I think you can expect some variation from cell to cell simply due to the nature of the cell. As to why once cell won't charge up, I would be inclined to state the same, but Turbocad hints at some other issue. Turbo: were these home assembled packs? I have used three packs and three boards and not seen the issue. Odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbocad6 Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 I now remember it was not 3 but actually 4, the first 2 were home assembled packs made up from individual cells, I then thought that might be the issue, maybe the cells weren't matched well enough. they came from the same batch, new cells, but I haven't done anything further to match them properly beyond that, so packs # 3 and # 4 were commercial pre assembled 3S turnigy nano tech packs, this has been over the course of several months at this point. I'm going to pull the mod apart and inspect it for juice damage and inspect the board to see if I can see anything weird. for me the funny thing is they drain evenly in use, but then don't charge evenly, then if I individually charge the cell back up to match, the cycle starts all over again. now if I leave the mod just sit it drains cell # 3 by itself, this last pack is now toast as cell 3 has drained down well below 2v Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoopy Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 I to used to have this problem but it turned out to be some corrosion or something from flux in between the balance port pins.......I also have a battery that will only charge to 3.82 and no further when the other cells reach 4.2 I think in some cases where one cell gets that far out of whack it will never balance out while hooked to the chip....though it probably would hooked to a real lipo charger. When I put a new battery in it was fine. I'm sure that Turbo has checked all this though, as he's an advanced builder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbocad6 Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 honestly this mod is so compact and ridiculously tight that I will inevitably wind up doing at least some damage taking it apart so I've been really avoiding it. I double and triple checked and tested everything as I was building it just to avoid having to ever take it back apart again short of chip failure, but now I've more than 100% ruled out any possibility of it being a cell problem so I'm going to have to disassemble it. I'm thinking it's not impossible that some juice got in there as it is a squonker, but I've been careful so I do doubt it but can't really be sure. I'll take it apart soon and see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoopy Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Let me know when u find out because I'm interested to see what the problem was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoggyMtnVape Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 So after a couple of days my cell one has came up to 3.86v so looks like it may resolve itself with some time. Another question on the same line of curiosities is I have a 2A charger I'm using and I know the dna only uses 1A but when I'm charging it's only drawing .65A, why is it not using the full 1A? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaySoCal Posted November 6, 2015 Report Share Posted November 6, 2015 As the cells get closer to full charge it starts to lower the amps if it's doing it when the battery not close to fully charged either a connection that's not fully conductive or the usb plug is lowering the amperage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoggyMtnVape Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 JaySoCal said:As the cells get closer to full charge it starts to lower the amps if it's doing it when the battery not close to fully charged either a connection that's not fully conductive or the usb plug is lowering the amperage.It was the cable I was using...... It looked thick and good quality but wouldn't do a whole amp. My battery cell 1 is now up to 4.00v when the charging stops so it is coming back up to normal a little at a time. The trick is since it isn't discharging as fast as the other 2 cells I vape it down till the other 2 are around 3.6-3.7v and then charge it from there and it lets the cell 1 catch up a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwcraig1 Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 I too have this same problem, it started when I got juice on the balance connector. It's been cleaned off but did it again on the new battery that I installed. It appears that cell 3 drains while sitting unused and not on charger. My friend is balancing the first battery now so I'll see if the next cleaning job did anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwcraig1 Posted November 11, 2015 Report Share Posted November 11, 2015 Might not be recommended but here's how I got my # 3 cell up to the same voltage as 1 and 2. Then finishing up with the on board charger.I didn't have much use for the juice in that bottle anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbocad6 Posted November 11, 2015 Report Share Posted November 11, 2015 Ha, I do the same thing but I use a rubber eraser block never had a chance to take mine apart, you think your problem came from getting juice on your balance connector? I can see that as being possible on mine really, my balance connector is right under my juice bottle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwcraig1 Posted November 11, 2015 Report Share Posted November 11, 2015 Almost, hopefully it will correct from here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwcraig1 Posted November 11, 2015 Report Share Posted November 11, 2015 turbocad6 said:Ha, I do the same thing but I use a rubber eraser block never had a chance to take mine apart, you think your problem came from getting juice on your balance connector? I can see that as being possible on mine really, my balance connector is right under my juice bottleI can't figure why it took me so long to think of doing it that way...DUH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwcraig1 Posted November 11, 2015 Report Share Posted November 11, 2015 And the finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoopy Posted November 11, 2015 Report Share Posted November 11, 2015 Hell yea! Hopefully it stays balanced Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwcraig1 Posted November 11, 2015 Report Share Posted November 11, 2015 I used my meter to check to see if I could detect some type of connection from # 3 pin in the balance plug on the board when I had the battery disconnected, I found it totally open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spector NS5 RD Posted November 11, 2015 Report Share Posted November 11, 2015 totally open as in an open circuit? cold solder joint maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwcraig1 Posted November 11, 2015 Report Share Posted November 11, 2015 ChunkyButt200 said:totally open as in an open circuit? cold solder joint maybe?Not leaking to ground ect.I measured between pin #3 on the board and ground next to pin #1 and pin #3 to battery negative lead on the board. The battery had all leads disconnected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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