FCDS - FERCSA's charger/discharger station. (MM giveaway inside!)

I hit the issue with TP modules that are not compatible also. I have 9 that should work, so I will re-build the first (8) I had completed and see if I can locate some good TP modules or compatible TP (or TC) chips. I got the 9 good ones from Nurocis in a tradd for cell holders. Will check with him for local ebay seller where he got them...
 
You can also buy the TP4056 IC's on ebay for real cheap, too. I think like 100pcs for $5 or so
 
Ordering from ebay a little bit like gambling. Last time when I ordered 20pcs from ebay I got totally different chips than on the photos. But I was lucky enough because these chips worked just fine. If it's helps the label was TC4056A.

So because of this charger chip misery I ordered 6-7 different TP4056/clones from a trusted source to test them. I'll share my result of course.Also I designed a new Discharger Module, it can handle 8 cells and it has on board charger ICs and mostly smd components, not least polarity protection. I except it in a few weeks.

Anyway I just got my latest batch of PCBs for single DMs and SMs, so it's ready to ship. Also my MM giveaway still stands!
 
FERCSA said:
Ordering from ebay a little bit like gambling. Last time when I ordered 20pcs from ebay I got totally different chips than on the photos. But I was lucky enough because these chips worked just fine. If it's helps the label was TC4056A.

So because of this charger chip misery I ordered 6-7 different TP4056/clones from a trusted source to test them. I'll share my result of course.Also I designed a new Discharger Module, it can handle 8 cells and it has on board charger ICs and mostly smd components, not least polarity protection. I except it in a few weeks.

Anyway I just got my latest batch of PCBs for single DMs and SMs, so it's ready to ship. Also my MM giveaway still stands!
Click to expand...

FERCSA,

I've been poking around trying to find your source code on github but im coming up empty. I see your demo code for the bluepill part of the discharge module. Do you have a github link for the ESP32 that we can clone and send pull requests too? Also are you going to release the slave module specs or should we just order them through you? I love your work this will save a lot of people a ton of time in the future!

Thanks for what you do.
Cody
 
rajien2 said:
FERCSA,

I've been poking around trying to find your source code on github but im coming up empty. I see your demo code for the bluepill part of the discharge module. Do you have a github link for the ESP32 that we can clone and send pull requests too? Also are you going to release the slave module specs or should we just order them through you? I love your work this will save a lot of people a ton of time in the future!

Thanks for what you do.
Cody
Click to expand...

Hi Cody

The main source code currently closed. I released the demo code so you can thinker, build up your own otherwise just use my firmware. Slave module is not necessary at all with the demo code, but the (cell)slot number is limited to the available free pins on your main dev board.Since I'm usingESP32 as a core, there is an OTA update every 1-2 weeks, based on the feedbacks what I got from the guys.
Also there are examples for my slave module too in arduino and C, because I started selling it on Tindie and later will be avaiable onAmazon too. It's a very versataile tool for analog sensors or any kind of analog inputs.
Forum members always get it cheaper directly from me(no fees) and as a bonusI offeran extra master module for free.
In the future I mayopen source it, after a certain point, but it's too early at this stage.
One thing for sure, if I can't maintain itor roll out regular OTA updates, I'll open source it right away.


Still waiting for my package from china,so no updates on the new DM or the charger ICs yet..
 
Finally the new PCBs are in and I had the time to put one together. I'ts looks awesome.
[img=300x224]https://www.fercsa.com/fcds/fercsa_discharger_module_multi_reva.jpg[/img]
The integrated TP4056 ICmake the assembly easier and no worries from now on about getting a clone TP modules! Also every slot has asmd temp sensor,so no wiggling sensor under the battery anymore.

As you can seeI made the first 4 slot with smd mosfet, the 5-7 with TO-220, the last one with a beefier resistor and swappable TO-220 mosfet for later development.

Unfortunatelythe smd mosfet generate so much heat under the PCB, so I'llstick to the TO-220. It's eliminate the heat much efficiently without any airflow.

Also I got a few "4056" ICs for testing, some originals and more than 5 different clones. When my testing jig is ready I'll test every one of them. Probably I'm not the only one who interested in the result soI should make a new thread right?
 
Minor criticism, are those electrolytic capacitors next to the resistors going to get hot during discharge? Might not be good for the lifetime of those capacitors, the electrolyte tends to go away when heated often I think, so they may lose capacitance or bulge eventually.
 
rev0 said:
Minor criticism, are those electrolytic capacitors next to the resistors going to get hot during discharge? Might not be good for the lifetime of those capacitors, the electrolyte tends to go away when heated often I think, so they may lose capacitance or bulge eventually.
Click to expand...

Nice catch, that's right, but few things:
-I'm using high temp rated caps (105C)
-The value is not that important, it's just a RC filter. Propably I can get away with a smaller cap too.
-If -somehow- cause any problem I can easily put it under the PCB and bend it to save some room, but spacers needed in this case.
 
Hi Fercsa,


Update on the Grafana dashboard I have been using to operate my tester.


image_wrhdfj.jpg


On the left side there is a table that shows the status of all the tester slots. Rather than use a table for each group of 8 cells, this version has one table to show the status of 24 cells. There is a scroll bar to see the additional rows.

The columns can be sorted to group the data according to interest, for example: Temperature or Status, etc.

The temperature entries are color coded automatically (green/yellow/red) by the limits defined in the properties section for alerting .

On the right is a graph showing the results of the DEPLETE / CHARGE / DISCHARGE process for the cell of interest .

This panel refresh is quick for the table where Influxdb can easily locate the most recent entries for status, and it takes about 5-10 seconds during the refresh to pull the data and when re-draw the chart. During this time the Rpi CPU utilization increases to 30-35%.

I use this dashboard with automatic refresh turned off to conserve resources on the Rpi and just click the refresh button when I am around to check on the test progress.

Here is the JSON file for importing this dashboard intoGrafana. It should work for others once the data source is updated and the SM addresses adjusted as needed. I use 10,11,12,13 on my tester, so those are configured for display in the table and for the cell graph pulldown.

Hmmm. no attachment button.
ok, found it in full edit mode, on the bottom of the screen.
 

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