CrimpDaddy said:
I have owned RC chargers for 15 years and I have yet to nuke one using within its capabilities. I find a lot of value being able to monitor the individual cell groups, which is why it is still my preferred tool.
You're likely very lucky then. I've lost count of the number of such failures I've heard about. Most RC hobby chargers aren't properly (thermally) designed for discharging, so using them heavily for such will greatly decrease their lifespan.
Note that we can also monitor cell voltages using an electronic load and a BMS (or similar device).
CrimpDaddy said:
Another solution I like a lot is the West Mountain Radio - CBA
http://www.westmountainradio.com/cba.php
The WMR CBA has far poorer price/performance ratio than
said$25 load. The cheapest version cost 7x more ($175), has less power (only 100W continuous), has fewer features, and is more cumbersome to use (requires a Windows PC to control it), to mention a few of many deficits.
The $25 load iscompletely programmable using a serial interface. So not only can we control it manually by its buttons, but we can also program it on almost any computer (e.g. an Arduino) to do all sorts of handy functions. Below are a few of infinitely many possibilities:
(1)
DIYCC/CV charger: turn any normal (CV) power supply (e.g. wall warts, laptop bricks) into a CC/CV charger. Furthermore, we can completely control the charge algorithm, e.g. we can easily implement
fast-charging algorithms such as multistage CC/CV algorithms
used by Tesla and bleeding-edge cell phones (e.g.
Qualcomm's 50% charge in 5 minutes). [If it's not clear how to combine a CV power-supply + CC discharger into a CC/CV charger then I can elaborate].
(2)
Regenerative charging, i.e. use one battery as power source to CC/CVcharge another (same as (1) with a battery replacing the power supply)
(3)
Balance charging (up to 60V/10A/150W), same as (2) but with balance as termination condition.
(4)
CC/CV discharging: program discharges to have a final CV phase, e.g. to discharge to exact storage voltage, or to any target voltage (e.g. for determining SOC at exact voltage). Such discharging with a final CV phaseis the symmetric reflection of CC/CV charging (called reducing discharge "D-reduce" on the SkyRC MC3000).
(5)
Variable load testing (to see how power sources respond to load changes, as in industry standard testing of power supplies and batteries).
(6)
IR testing:we can programdifferent kinds of tests for internal resistance, both DC and AC.
The sky is the limit once we have complete computer control of the load - which is not possible with RC hobby chargers or the CBA (they are limited to a few built-in programs).
CrimpDaddy said:
I also like having nice tools. I don't mind spending on stuff like that [...]
If you like having nice (proper) tools then I highly recommend that you get a real (programmable) electronic load. For $25 the above load is a great deal (even a steal). A good load is an absolute must-have for any power user. The longer you procrastinate buying one the more time and money you will end up wasting (as I know too well from experience - both mine and colleagues).