Active balancers - are they any good? + testing a battery tester
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Hello guys!
I ordered some new components for future projects and I will test them in my next videos. Today I will test some active balancers and a battery monitor/tester.
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Components list:
Active balancer: s.click.aliexp...
Battery tester/monitor: s.click.aliexp...
3S BMS with balance: s.click.aliexp...
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Hello, I just wanted to say, the fact that you take the time to read all our comments is truely awesome thank you so much
Nice and interesting video. Usefull information, looking forward to see your next project.
You sir are to blame for my DIY addiction. You were the first DIY guy I started watching on RUclips some months ago, maybe even a year. My brain hurts and I am confused 95% of the time but I like it a lot. I want to become an electrician in the near future but I want to learn and practice more before applying to a job because I don't want to connect two wires and leave my town without electricity. Thanks for all of the content, ideas and commentary, really appreciate your work!
Must have more Sorin content!!! Love all your videos! Keep up the good work!
i think to put in a TP4056 to the middle cell is a brilliant idea, Sorin. If we set the charge rate below 500mA, i don't think it will destroy the cell because the active balancer will transfer some of the energy to other cells and TP4056 will stop the charging if the middle cell reached 4.25v or so.
Would you mind to test it again, letting TP4056 + active balancer to fully charge the pack, please? I think some of us viewers will find it interesting to watch. 😉
you can charge a battery pack this way. but some of the cells will get more charging cycles, because the balancing will start, stop... start... those cells will have a shorter lifespan.
@@Sorin_DIY ah i see... thank you for the explanation. 😃
thank you, I will buy this balancer to help my bms
Excellent very nice first time i understand lithium ion battery active balancer thank you so much for the great video👍👍👍
Those active balancers are very good. I used one to save a cordless tool battery from being scrapped.
Thanks ☺️ sorin
Its the cats for me. hiihihi
Thank you for another wonderful info dump in the world of multi-cell battery charging. It is greatly appreciated (my 18650s will definitely benefit from this)!
Thanks a lot Sorin! Could you make a video for the old laptop battery BMS which how could we use them for our diy battery packs?
Great video ! It's almost 100 k subs !!!!! I have learned a lot from your videos and i hope I will learn a lot more in the future :D
The check engine ligth got me laughing so hard 😂
Your Very Near 100K Subscribers. Congratulations 🎉
Active tester is always good and better than the passive one especially for the home built one. I know well as i have built 14s100p for years for my solar system all from recycle battery. When used batteries are used it is a guarantee to always have cell out of balance; active balance will prolong and increase capacity of cells pack.
I do not use these small active balancers as they take forever to balance a large pack. 100 cells in parallels is NO JOKE!!!!!! What i use is the programmable with bluetooth phone app. for monitor and adjustment that can do 4 A all the time regardless of cell voltage difference. Surprisingly it does not cost that much more than the flying capacitor type.
Best of all it works excellent and always balance quickly live during use both charge and discharge mode.
I am sold on the importance of a good active balancer especially on a home built large battery pack from recycle battery. If it can prolong on recycle battery that has end of life already imagine how prolong it will do to the new or little used cell pack.
It is a worthwhile investment and i paid under $100 that can do up to 16 S.
Interesting stuff, that cat had me laughing, cat be like "pet me human!"
I look forward to your LiFePO4 video. It will be very interesting
That exact active balancer saved my 3s16p battery (made of cells I salvaged, but I matched each bank to within 50mAh out of 30 000 mAh total). the passive balancer in my BMS (Similar but different from yours and has a heat spreader built in) did squat for me. Despite having nearly perfectly matched cell banks and only getting 2 charge cycles out of the system, my battery had 1 bank at 4.25 volts and the other 2 banks at 0 and 0.5 volts... ouch. The active balancer took a LONG time to correct the issue, I helped it by using light bulbs on the full bank and external chargers on the low bank and letting both high bank and the low bank with the larger charger charge bank 2 which the active balancer charged from both sources (in addition to my slower charger on that bank too). Took several days to save my pack. But I think there is a drain from either the BMS or the active balancer because despite each of my cells being tested to hold their charges for more than a week, I am losing charge at an alarming rate... but only when disconnected from power, when power is connected, I measure 0 miliamps after a few days of charging (last little bit goes at
There is a problem with your BMS board with passive balance. you need to test the battery with a different BMS with balance.
@@Sorin_DIY Yes I suspect as much, I still use it because its overcharge, undercharge, and overcurrent protections all work (even per cell, nothing goes above 4.3 or below 2.3 without tripping). However, its wide range is almost certainly not great for the cells long term so I have carefully selected my devices to stop draining early.
However, GreatScott did a video on these BMS boards and quite liked them for small packs as the DIY BMS consumed too much power to be used on smaller packs (smaller than a home sized pack). So I though it was safe to use one... generally maybe it was. Perhaps maybe mine has a faulty passive balancer that is always partially on but then I would expect to feel some heat.
For now it's fine, I have an active balancer that is doing just lovely keeping things in check, and until the semester is over I'll just leave it as it's good enough and the self discharge of the whole system is low enough for short uses... however, I will be probing deeper into why it fails and getting a BMS that is rated to let through more current (the small current mine allows is way too small for a 3s16p pack of ~30Ah).
what is the link of your BMS?
100,000 SUBS HERE WE COME!
8:22 Correction: You will never distroy a cell from a pack if you charge only one cell while the active balancer board is present!
Cool video bro! Will have to add this to the list.
Excellent job sir
Glad to u see u after a long time
your cat is very cute and adorable
Thanks
👍👍👍
my number 1 vloger ever
Hello sir, I have a question , What if swap the resistance with lower value of resistance in passive balancing in let's say bms, then does it have higher balance current and could reach upto 1amp ???
Hi. you can change the resistor with a lower value for a higher discharge current, but it depends on the maximum current than the mosfet can work with, to trigger the cell balance. usually they work with 60-100mA, but there are some balance board with max 300mA.
there is another problem, with a high balance current, the cells voltage may not reach the overcharge (cut-off) voltage, so the cells will continuously charge and get balanced. the cell voltage must reach the overcharge voltage to complete the charging process and cut the charging voltage, otherwise if the cells are continuously charged, they will get damaged in time.
I suggest you watch my XH-M604 review video for more info.
Love from Bangladesh 🇧🇩
I had a suspicion that passive balancers are bs; now I know for sure; going to buy the active one
passive balancers are cheaper and are ok for new lithium cells. if you use old cells or bigger battery packs, an active balancer is better.
Cue the Star Trek theme: 7:16 _"...Where No (92% men, 8% women) have gone before!"_
You did well, Thank you sir.
You said that the passive BMS have just not quite big enough resistors to dissipate the charging current leading to overvolts and damage.
So, ideally, if you used a much less powerfull charger you would manage to dissipate all the overcurrent and have a fully balance with 4.2 V on each cell right (With a passive BMS)?
Yes, but it's more complicated. lowering the charging current is not enough, because you lower only the maximum charging current (when the charging process is in the constant current phase).
you need the battery to draw less current in the final moments of the constant voltage phase. to make this possible, you need a small voltage difference between the charging voltage and the battery voltage, until one of the cells reaches the over charge protection voltage of the BMS and the charging process is stopped.
for example for a 3S bms with overcharge protection voltage of 4.25V per cell (12.75V total) you need a charging voltage of 12.8V ~ 12.9V. this small voltage difference between the charging voltage and the battery voltage will charge the battery with a small current in the final phase and will slowly reach the cut-off voltage of 4.25V of one of the cells.
you need to test the final charging current to make sure it is slightly above the balance current (so this also depends on the balance current of the BMS), otherwise the cell voltage will not reach the over charge voltage to complete the charging process.
for more info you can watch this video: ruclips.net/video/1kth4iqaHP4/видео.html
Good video. Just ordered one. I have spare cells from old laptops and a solar panel with a charger . I'll try one of these and 3 pairs of 18650 in series. I don't know when I'll get it . I think a lot of ebay stuff comes through Russia and Putin is being a biatch .
Thanks bro! This video was very helpfull.
Interesting. Great video
Great video! It helped me a lot!
Can you please review any 2S balancer? If we use a non balance version of 2S bms, should we use a balancer?
It's recommended to use a BMS with passive balancing. An active balancer is optional depending on the type of project and battery.
I have 32 watts Solar panel and some 32650 batteries and some LED. The controller some charging the battery. What do I need to make this solar light works again¿ please help!!!!
Make us a power bank to run a computer
Thanks,
they are really good balancer while charging they are not shorting cell in balancer
I like your videos, Sorin! Looking forward for the next one!
Hi Sorin! Can you add in the description the wiring of the Batteries, 3S BMS with balance, Active balancer and load?
ok, I will add the schematic soon.
De unde pot sa cumpar beculete din acelea care ãi folosit?....am nevoie pt lanterna...
eu le-am cumparat de la magazine locale - Quintrix si Adelaida.
Hey Sorin. Great video !! I have one question question. Is the active balancer without the header pins is same as the one you tested ?
it has a higher balance current - max 1.3A.
@@Sorin_DIY Thanks !!
Hi, must we use an active balancer only during charge , or is it possible to let it connected to the battery and keep a permanent balance correction by use of the pack?
Hi, the active balancer is connected directly to the battery pack and will always balance the cells.
Great video
That's awesome love your video
great job !
thanks!
Great video my friend i dable with batteries for a while now and didn't know about this balance board i always use BMS and as you said since i use old batteries from laptops they often broke because one of the batterie from the pack disscharge more then the others. My question is can i use only this Active Balance board without the BMS when i make some batterie pack and is it better ?? Thanks and again great video
Hi. You still need a BMS board, because the balancer module doesn't have battery protections: overcharge protection, overcharge release voltage, over-discharge, short circuit protection.
👏👏👏
Interesting video. That's a really cool active balancer you got there.
Does this video suggest the passive balancers are not that good?
passive balancers are ok if you use them with new lithium cells. if you have old cells or a bigger battery pack, active balancers are better. active balancers waste less energy than passive balancers, so they are also better for battery packs that are charged from solar panels.
the link of the TESTER/BALANCER has expired, how can I find it? seems a must_have tool!
s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DBDvs4D
How to make 24v lead acid battery equalizer.. pls. make a video as soon as possible.
La mulți ani România !
Do all BMS boards partly regulate the charge in this manner or are there types of boards that completely stop the charge to a fully charged cell while charging the lower voltage cells?
all BMS boards (with or without balancers) stop the charging process when the first cell reaches the overcharge protection value. this voltage value depends on all BMS boards. the charging cannot be stopped for just one cell.
Hey can I use this active balancer in my 3s 50p pack 85ah 😅pls reply thanks
yes
Nice video clip, keep it up, thank you :)
👍👍👍
is good for the cycle of battery ?
because it works by charging and discharging every single cell to reach same voltage
what do you think ?
Hi. with new cells this will not be a problem. they will get unbalanced slowly in time and the active balancer will help to use almost the entire capacity of every cell. the battery pack will take longer to discharge, so it will be charged less often. it also depends on what you use the battery for. in a UPS the cells are charged very rarely, but when you need them, it's better to last longer, even if the cells get a few cycles in that time. but if you use the battery daily in a flashlight or a portable bluetooth speaker, the cells will get a lot of cycles. this may cause some damage in time, especially with old cells. then again, you do need the entire capacity. but if you use the cells between 20-80%, the damage will be minimum.
Excuse me sir, is it has a protection charging to prevent overcharge?
no. you still need a bms protection board.
Clean cat equals raised thumb
Sir, Sorin, where can i buy like the battery tester you use in this video. 🙏🙏
I added the components list in the video description.
@@Sorin_DIY thank you sir, i hope next time you will have a give away for your subscribers. 🙏🙏🙏
Can 1a active balancers do a good job or it's best to have something between 2a-5a
1A should be enough to balance the cells. If this is not enough, then there is a big problem with the battery.
Hi sorin can you make an external power supply for canon eos500D camera, need to run the camera for 4-5 hours without battery
I tried one with xl6009 dc-dc booster but not positive outcome
hi. xl6009 is not powerful enough. you need a powerbank with the same specifications (or better) than the camera charger. the battery I found for your camera has 7.4V and 1.6Ah. so it has 2 cells in series. the charger probably has 8.4 - 8.6V. you need a powerbank similar to my fast charging powerbank, with multiple cells connected in series for a higher voltage, then a powerful step down converter like xl4015 with a CC/CV output. and set the voltage and current to the charger specs.
Thanks alot, I will try and update you with the outcome.
@@Sorin_DIY hi Sorin, after some more work and as you mentioned in your message, I gave ot a try with my lm 2596 module with 3 18650 cells in series as input and adjusted the output to 8.3 volts and on the multimeter readings the Amps were 3Amps+, and when I connected the dummy battery and inserted in the camera canon 500d , it started normally, Thanks for your replies, you are the best
@@Sorin_DIY How can I share some images or videos of my work with you?
Tie microphones are they any good?
Can i use 6 tp4056 to balance charge 6s battery back using 5v charger
no. I made a separate video about that.
Poti sa folosesti in balansor activ fara incarcare/descarcare? Doar daca il conectezi pe direct la acumulatori fara niciun alt bms? Isi face treaba sau are nevoie de incarcare/descarcare?
Salut. modulul de balansare activa nu ofera protectii pentru celule. Ai nevoie si de un BMS sa protejeze celulele la supraincarcare si supradescarcare.
Hi, if you have 4 battery and charge in 12,5v without bms , no probleme over charge,
at first it's ok, but after a few cycles the cells will get unbalanced. if you use an active balancer is ok.
@@Sorin_DIY I agree with you
hello brother - i have a question - i have a headlight and i need to use an 18650 2600 mah sunnyBatt battery -
now we are in 2022 - if i buy a 2020 sunnybatt it will give me less power than 2021 sunny batt ?
both 2020 and 2021 batteries are unused
i mean produce date is very important in 18650 lithium battery or not ??
yes. you should buy the battery as new as possible. if the cell is not stored at the ideal voltage of 3.8V, it will lose some capacity in time.
Good to see you are putting out more interesting videos. You need to do more of that. One small piece of advice: get a better microphone to improve sound quality.
Hello sorin i had a question i have made a power bank of 4s cells with passive bms board. Can i add a 4s active balancer board with it too since i see that all the cells have voltage difference of 0.2 v and more ?
yes. it will help.
Hi bro, can I have the link to order fir the balancer and the battery monitor thanks
hi. I added the parts links in the video description.
Sorin can I charge 3 18650 batterys with a TP4056 module
yes, if you connect the cells in parallel.
I love ur acsent ❤️
WHICH ONE IS BETTER ?? GREEN OR BLACK PCB ??
black is better.
@@Sorin_DIY WHY YOU THINK THAT IF I MAY ASK..THANK YOU FOR YOUR REPLY BRO...LOVE YOUR VIDEOS
in India those lipo battery u used in ur project is very costly but 12v 7ah lead acid battery is only 35% of its cost here can i use that will it give enough current? i am talking about the 12v 7ah sealed lead acid battery from bikes from amaron company. also can u make diy battery charger and discharger like shown in this video?
lead acid batteries have a lot of current, it depends where you want to use it.
I’m looking for this active balancer but can only find ones for LiFePo4 batteries. Where did you find the ones for 18650s?
I added the components list in the video description. the one I use in the video works in a voltage range of 2.0V-4.5V. so it's good for li-ion, lipo and lifepo4.
@@Sorin_DIY ah thank you
Green or black better ??
black is better
So, we do'nt need BMS anymore.... great!
Hello. Can I use this active balancer in a 3s7p setup?
yes
@@Sorin_DIY thanks!
Hi Sorin, I have a question. I have a almost new 3S battery. I have been using it for 3 months and charging it with a iMax B3 charger. Now the battery has voltages 3.9 3.94 3.5. Will the green BMS damage it?
What solution should I use?
hi. first you should test the lithium cells, because the voltage difference is very big. you need to test their capacity. if there is a big difference in capacity between the cells, you should not use them in that configuration anymore. if the capacity is ok, the 3S BMS will work.
Okay, I will try that. Thank you.
@Sorin - DIY Electrical Nerd I have measures the capacity of the batteries and they are close to each other. I have connected a variable load while it was charging so it was charging only with 200 mA. I have kept an eye on it just in case. Now the batteries are again balanced. Thank you for your advices.
Whats the brand name of the battery tester/balancer?
s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DBDvs4D
@@Sorin_DIY Thanks for getting back, my friend, love your videos keep it up👍
Can TP4056 can parallel 10pcs and charge 10A?
I don't think it's good for the lithium cell, it won't charge properly.
6S battery pack and 6S active balancer the use 10 tp4056
Can you tell me what the lights mean
When there is energy transfer between 2 cells, the corresponding LED lights up.
very disappointing that passsive balancer doesn't cut the current until 4,3V. very surprising. Whats the point of using it then? it must cut it absolutely at 4,2
great review btw subbed
Hi. These are active balancers (not passive balancers). Their job is only to draw energy from the cells with the highest voltage and use that energy to partially charge the cells with a lower voltage, within the specified voltage range and with a low efficiency.
They are not meant to protect the cells/battery. the battery still needs a BMS (battery management system) protection board. Some BMS boards also have a passive balancing feature, which works only at the end of the charging process.
@@Sorin_DIY i mentioned about the cutoff of BMS. BMS cut the voltage at 4.3. This is so much. Surprising
I thought you were talking about the active balancers. Yes, this BMS board has an overvoltage protection feature at 4.25V +/-0.05V. In this test the BMS stopped the charging process at the maximum value of 4.3V, which is pretty high for regular Li-Ion cells. There are also Li-Po cells that can be charged to max 4.35V, so this BMS will be very good for them.
But usually this type of BMS stops the charging at 4.25V and then the balance feature continue to decrease the voltage to 4.2V.
Other type of BMS boards have an even higher cut-off voltage...
@@Sorin_DIY Yes it must absolute 4.2 IMO. Thanks for response
Never mind are they any good. Are they really necessary? I'm not convinced.
Your Batterie Tester link is broken. If you post it again, I will buy it of your affiliate link. 👍
Hi. the battery tester link works: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_ALYQ6g
@@Sorin_DIY so then it’s a problem with the destination. No shipment to Germany :(
You are right, try this one: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Dcvdu3v
@@Sorin_DIY you are great! Thanks. Just bought it :)
Yuhuuuuuu
Misto
what are the names of ur two cats
Aris and Cici - the annoying cat.
lol@@Sorin_DIY
Hello sir please upload a video of making megaphone by your own made speaker at home from scratch please upload
First! Ce mai faceti domnu' Sorin?😁
Jlenjiniya
Now I will check if it is available in Indian online stores 😂
Bro please make phone cooler