Imax B6 question

Kevin Mason

New member
Joined
Jul 30, 2018
Messages
13
I'm new to this and I have additional equipment on the way but I'm having a problem testing batteries. I'm salvaging batteries and I have a few brand new ones but everyone I test comes up with 359 capacity. I charge them at 1 amp then discharge them at 1 amp. Am I doing something wrong or is it the charger?
 
I would buy an Opus charger like most of us are using. The Imax is very inaccurate. You can improve accuracy by using thicker cables, but I found that didn't help with mine much. I would still expect more than 359mAh. What are those brand new cells, did you buy something like Ultrafire, Trustfire, etc?
 
That sounds like the unit may be faulty. You should see some differences. Even if you test the same cell twice, some variation is to be expected.

That said, the Opus (or similar) is far more effective for testing large numbers of cells. To assemble a pack, you will need to know the capacity of each individual cell.

Charging is a different story, to save time on the Opus, it is worth charging the cells with another charger, and checking them for self discharge before capacity testing them.
 
I will have to write it about B6ACs, but i can ask here as well : Do you have a clone ?
Dont trust it.
( and there are many different ones, and all are in a different way buggy and faulty)

Do you have SkyRC one ? You MAY trust them.
I have many details still to write about this, stay tuned.

( But, if you always get the same number as capacitiy, it may just defect)


KevinMason said:
I'm new to this and I have additional equipment on the way but I'm having a problem testing batteries. I'm salvaging batteries and I have a few brand new ones but everyone I test comes up with 359 capacity. I charge them at 1 amp then discharge them at 1 amp. Am I doing something wrong or is it the charger?

What you may Try: Measure the current during discharge, it should be different to the display, but about 0.9 Amps ( for a clone). Look at the loading time, how long is ist ?
Multiply time by 0.9, or what your current ist, that is your capacity.
 
KevinMason said:
I'm new to this and I have additional equipment on the way but I'm having a problem testing batteries. I'm salvaging batteries and I have a few brand new ones but everyone I test comes up with 359 capacity. I charge them at 1 amp then discharge them at 1 amp. Am I doing something wrong or is it the charger?

Thanks Mike, sorry for the delay I've had some internet problems the past couple of days. I have two Opus chargers on the way and that was my plan to use them. I suspect my charger is a clone but it does have SkyRC when it powers up. I guess i will wait and see what the results are when I get the new chargers. By the way the cells were Samsung. Thanks to you all.

Kevin
 
Cherry67 said:
I will have to write it about B6ACs, but i can ask here as well : Do you have a clone ?
Dont trust it.
( and there are many different ones, and all are in a different way buggy and faulty)

Do you have SkyRC one ? You MAY trust them.
I have many details still to write about this, stay tuned.

( But, if you always get the same number as capacitiy, it may just defect)

Not all Clones are completely useless. They do have their shortcomings, but I have one, and it performs just fine. It does not supply the same current as a genuine iMax. Also its balancing is not to be trusted.

That said I would guess Kevin does have a bugged or faulty clone. The only real way to tell is open it up and have a look.

I do alsoown a Charsoon Antimatter - an iCharger clone, and cannot fault it. There are definitely some great chargers out there that won't break the bank. And owning a good charger is very handy.

I even have a $25AUD hobbyking charger. For the money it is an impressive unit.
 
Geek said:
Cherry67 said:
I will have to write it about B6ACs, but i can ask here as well : Do you have a clone ?
Dont trust it.
( and there are many different ones, and all are in a different way buggy and faulty)

Do you have SkyRC one ? You MAY trust them.
I have many details still to write about this, stay tuned.

( But, if you always get the same number as capacitiy, it may just defect)

Not all Clones are completely useless. They do have their shortcomings, but I have one, and it performs just fine. It does not supply the same current as a genuine iMax. Also its balancing is not to be trusted.
I didnt say the clones are useless. I say they are not to be trusted, except you have tested the very function you want to use.

I have 3 clones here in operation, and they are imho buggy crap.
I wanted to put that into a separate thread, but you can get a short list of the bugs they have: (summary, not all have all bugs)
- NIMH/NiCad charge detection is corrupt.
- Clock ist running wrong ( plus one second), you can recognize this type of clone by this bug)
- Charge end of one cell does not only stop charging but starts to discharge uncontrolled ( about 50 mA)
- Current measurement is wrong. It fakes higher amps for 50+W Types. In general, they do 5 A max, not more, even when they show 6 A.
- Gets REALLY hot at 5 A. I never use that much.
- Capacity measurement corrupt , and DIFFERENT corrupt to different Amp settings, and different to charge and Discharge, and ALL THREE are different on this - i built a table....
- once i saw a cell going zero at 6s discharge. Didnt stp discharging, couldnt reproduce it.

What you can do is use it for charging and balancing for LiIon. The still go up to 4.25 V. That is what i use them for, I found no error on this so far.

Thats why i have bought an Opus for discharging and capacity measurement.

The SKYRC original is far better as the clones. You can recognize them on the hologram, on the V2 version, on Resistance measurement.
 
Cherry67 said:
...
I have 3 clones here in operation, and they are imho buggy crap.
I wanted to put that into a separate thread, but you can get a short list of the bugs they have: (summyry, not all have all bugs)
- NIMH/NiCad charge detection is corrupt.
- Clock ist running wrong ( plus one second), you can recognize this type of clone by this bug)
- Charge end of one cell does not only stop charging but starts to discharge uncontrolled ( about 50 mA)
- Current measurement is wrong. It fakes higher amps for 50+W Types. In general, they do 5 A max, not more, even when they show 6 A.
- Gets REALLY hot at 5 A. I never use that much.
- Capacity measurement corrupt , and DIFFERENT corrupt to different Amp settings, and different to charge and Discharge, and ALL THREE are different on this - i built a table....
- once i saw a cell going zero at 6s discharge. Didnt stp discharging, couldnt reproduce it.
...

That is some very handy info. I will keep a closer eye on my b6 Clone, but it has never done anything like that. Mind I haven't used much more than that NiMh to revive 0v cells, and 1s charge functions.

My cheap Hobby King (Turnigy brand), charger is great. Does what it says it can. Balance perhaps is a little slow.

It wouldn't have hurt to post that in a thread of its own. It is very useful information, as it can be hard to spot a fake. Also fakes/clones can be dangerous, if they fail to charge a battery properly, even NiMh or NiCd can be dangerous - let alone an overcharged LiPo pack.
 
The Opus chargers have arrived and I am having good luck with them. I have additional hardware coming to build a large charging station and I will use the Opus to test them. Thanks for the help.
 
Geek said:
Cherry67 said:
...
I have 3 clones here in operation, and they are imho buggy crap.
I wanted to put that into a separate thread, but you can get a short list of the bugs they have: (summyry, not all have all bugs)
- NIMH/NiCad charge detection is corrupt.
- Clock ist running wrong ( plus one second), you can recognize this type of clone by this bug)
- Charge end of one cell does not only stop charging but starts to discharge uncontrolled ( about 50 mA)
- Current measurement is wrong. It fakes higher amps for 50+W Types. In general, they do 5 A max, not more, even when they show 6 A.
- Gets REALLY hot at 5 A. I never use that much.
- Capacity measurement corrupt , and DIFFERENT corrupt to different Amp settings, and different to charge and Discharge, and ALL THREE are different on this - i built a table....
- once i saw a cell going zero at 6s discharge. Didnt stp discharging, couldnt reproduce it.
...


It wouldn't have hurt to post that in a thread of its own. It is very useful information, as it can be hard to spot a fake. Also fakes/clones can be dangerous, if they fail to charge a battery properly, even NiMh or NiCd can be dangerous - let alone an overcharged LiPo pack.
You are correct, and it will come. just a matter of missing time.
 
Back
Top