New Optipower Parallel Charging Board

[Andy from Sandy]

6 deans,12 fuses,Andy

Yes I can see those and they are the ones I would recommend a lower rating. It is the poly fuses that protect the balance connectors I am referring to that only appear to be on one side.

[rapidgaz]

Andrew Hinton-Lever Sadly no as the EC5 is not a surface mountable component whereas the Deans is. We will however be supplying Deans to EC5 converter plugs. This has been a bit of an issue and we did raise this very question with the designers but these are float soldered boards so the components on them are placed by machine and floated across the solder. Typical process for this type of board and an EC5 is just not suitable. So a converter plug which is plugged in will give you the EC5 connectivity you require.


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[smiles]

Midland already have the paraboards in stock with the EC5 connections,12 gauge wire more than capable of carrying 30 amps.

[sacko]

You got a link?

[Aidi]

Yep, they are stocked in various UK Retailers, but what makes this attractive is the built in fuse for added safety. Thats not to say they ones available now are dangerous.

Personally i would be more happy buying one of the Opti ones due to their track record of thorough testing before being released to the public hence holding off buying one of the cheaper boards currently available.

[Aidi]

You got a link?

Parallel Charger Adaptor Board for XH Battery - EC5 | Midland Helicopters Ltd

Parallel Charge Board for JST-XH & EC5 AC-PCBJE5

Just make sure you the fly cable is compatible with your charger!

[smiles]

The fuses are only there to protect the kit from being abused i can see your point about peice of mind but i f people stay within the parameters of the kit and fuses are not required

[Andy from Sandy]

The fuses are only there to protect the kit from being abused i can see your point about peice of mind but i f people stay within the parameters of the kit and fuses are not required

There is nothing stopping a battery from going faulty in some way during charging. FMA Direct must have put a fair amount of thought into this when designing their safe parallel charging boards. Hence the poly fuses or resettable fuses they have used. Also if there is some kind of catastrophic failure of the pack then the fuses in the discharge leads will hopefully blow and save you and the charger. 40 Amp fuses are a bit high though and need to be selected based on the C charge rate and the pack capacity being charged.

[Mark_T]

The fuses are only there to protect the kit from being abused i can see your point about peice of mind but i f people stay within the parameters of the kit and fuses are not required

You could say the same about pretty much any safety related protection though, if used correctly it is not needed, but it still seems sensible to me to prefer a unit with protection over one without.

[rapidgaz]

For me I would buy the opti over ther others any day.


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[PeteStewardson]

For me I would buy the opti over ther others any day.


Sent from my iPhone using Internet.

Yup same here. I'll probably look at getting one of these.

[johnsandywhite]

I have just bought one via ebay for £6.79

[AcidDrink]

Looking good, I'll be getting one if it's designed to work with PL8

[cjcj1949]

Fuses need to be as small as possible. They need quite a lot of current to blow. A circuit diagram would be useful and also the instructions so people know the guidelines. If low value fues are used there would be a tendency to blow them when connecting packs at different volts. Using long individual battery leads would help as this would make a big difference to the inrush current when packs are first connected. Do any of these units have CE approval?

[Andy from Sandy]

Obviously they want our business but from the horses mouth, so to speak

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