Practical LiPo charge cable!

[Olle P]

I was annoyed by too short balancing cables and a general cable mess.

I ended up extending a 20cm balancer extension cable to 50cm, and then tie it to my 30cm regular charge cable.
End of cable issues!

Here's what it looks like when attached.

[ik632]

looks good. I've been meaning to do that as well. I have a charger with the board though, I figured I'd just get extension cables for it.

[heyok]

What an excellent idea! They should all be like that. Thanks for sharing.

[Solitaire]

The same place you got your charger and LiPo has these...

HobbyKing R/C Hobby Store : JST-XH 2S Wire Extension 20cm (10pcs/bag)

[Olle P]

Originally Posted by Solitaire

The same place you got your charger and LiPo has these...

That's what I used for base material. As with all other balancing extension cables commercially available (that I've found) they're only available in 20cm length though.

The problems

• The main charging cable is 10cm longer.
• The batteries' balancing cables are usually >5cm shorter than their power cables.
• On the charger the balancing connector is separated from the power output by ~5cm.
• The balancing cables and connectors are fairly weak, so they shouldn't be exposed to harsh mechanical force and using more extension cables in series seems like connection troubles just waiting to happen.

The solution

• By soldering on a more rugged cable in the middle to extend the extension cable I prevent disconnections and resistance there.
• By making the balance cable longer than the charge cable I transfer any mechanical load to the charge cable, that can be bent and pulled in any direction without straining the balance cable.
• By bundling the cables together I also prevent the mess normally associated with using multiple cables, and keep it all tidy and neat.

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by heyok

What an excellent idea! They should all be like that. Thanks for sharing.

+1, looks great.
It would also make it easier to have the pack in a LiPO bag during charge.

[bob1961]

my charger came with instructions not to go longer then so many inches to my charge lead, that might hold true to balance taps as well....just maybe they are short for a reason.........bob

....

[Olle P]

Originally Posted by bob1961

... balance taps as well....just maybe they are short for a reason...

They're short because they're weak (22AWG and flimsy connectors). That's why I use thicker wire to make them longer!
Incidentally I used cables from a scrapped computer PSU, which happened to be 18AWG, the same gauge as the power charge cable...

The only real downside I see with my arrangement is if you want to use more than one type of LiPos. I use only 2S, so it's a 2S balance cable.
If I was to use 3S and 4S as well, I'd either have to use separate charge cables for each type, or attach more balancing connectors at each end.

[Draggermirage]

Originally Posted by Olle P

The only real downside I see with my arrangement is if you want to use more than one type of LiPos. I use only 2S, so it's a 2S balance cable.
If I was to use 3S and 4S as well, I'd either have to use separate charge cables for each type, or attach more balancing connectors at each end.

This.

The only other method of creating an extension for those of us who use more than one type of battery would be to use a charger that utilizes a balance board and extend the balance board cable to get it out by the discharge connector.

Otherwise you'd have to sink each type of cable within the charge cord bundle.

Marcus