Asked — Edited

Very Hot Balancer Charger

I did a search on charger and looks like no one else is having this problem.

I got six assembled and briefly test all is great.

So I thought I would check out the charger. (Balancer Charger S3b01, that comes with six).

I plugged in like tutorial says, Red light comes on. I plugged the cable from battery to 2cells plug and green light come on.

After a few minutes the Balancer Charger was VERY HOT. So hot I could not touch it.

Pulled the wall plug, let it COOL to touch and disconnected from six.

Is this normal? to get so hot?

J

p.s. per ARC battery 8.15 v.

stress stress stress stress

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United Kingdom
#1  

It should get hot, if it doesn't get hot it isn't doing anything.

How hot is very hot though? I can touch mine but wouldn't want to hold it for long, it's not overly hot but it's certainly classed as hot.

Does it get hot at all if it's not connected to the battery?

#2  

@Rich

I was afraid it would start a fire, put it on a tile, and let it charge the battery or turn off.

It was just got very hot to touch.

my imax b6ac charger gets hot but not this hot.

So I pulled the plug and asked the question.

j

PRO
Belgium
#3  

mine gets very hot to,but they cool off also rapidly.

#4  

Most chargers have a fan and heat sinks to keep them cool. These chargers don't appear to have either. I would elevate one side of it to keep it from laying flat on the table and put a small desk fan blowing over it. I bet that will make a big difference.

#5  

Since I have a second unit, I am testing that one. So far it has not got as HOT even after 1/2 hour plugged in to power and charging battery pack. It even finished charging correctly.

I will monitor the other one.

Thanks everyone for your responses.

J

:D

Canada
#6  

These particular chargers use the metal external shell of the body as a heat sync which is why they get quite hot. We've tested hundreds at the office, some get a little hotter than others but we have never had an issue with burning or fires. We have plastic shelving that we charge batteries on as well as a wood desk.

#7  

@alan

thanks for your answer. I will monitor this one.

j

Australia
#8  

Thanks for your info on the charger @Alan I've also been a bit concerned about mine getting hot. Metal heatsink case makes sense - the heat has to go somewhere! It does a great job charging all of my batteries

PRO
Synthiam
#9  

There is a Lesson in the LEARN page about how to charge the battery. There is a footnote about the battery charger getting hot in the battery charging lesson. That's quite normal in the r/c world, etc. because those little batteries take a lot of juice:D

#10  

I checked the temperature of the charger, the metal housing got up to 112ºF, so yes hot. blush

PRO
Belgium
#11  

thats why they are made from metal cases

#12  

Just giving some feedback, between me and the kids, we have all kinds of power devices and nothing that we have gets that hot, metal or plastic casing. The reason I bring this up, to me it doesn't bother me. My kids on the other hand, picked it up and dropped it cause they thought it was going to burn them. Yes I warned them before hand, but kids are kids. I think there should be room for improvement on this device. Not barking, just wanting to help what I think is a GREAT product even better.

#13  

Options are somewhat limited.

Needs to be inexpensive and charge through the balance port.

#14  

I fly r/c electric airplanes and have 3 chargers, 1 of which I can charge 4 battery packs at a time. None of these chargers get as hot as the ez charger. the one thing in common that my chargers have is they have ventilation slots that the ez charger does not. If you look at the Traxxas 2-3 cell charger, it has similar specs to the ez charger except it has a plastic case with ventilation slots. Traxxas 2-3 cell charger

I have a Roli and would like to see main battery connector moved to the battery compartment with the battery so I can easily take out the battery and put in a fresh one while recharging the depleted one.

Just food for thought:)

#15  

I really think there is an issue with the charger. It gets way too hot. My little girl picked up this evening and she dropped it as she though it was going to burn her. Then she made EZ-Robot do a lil dance and she wasn't to mad at JD anymore.

I have two battery's that I swap in out of JD. One I use the charger that came with the kit and one that I use the iMax charger that I have. The iMax dosnt even get warm, and yes it has a bigger casing, but maybe the EZ-Robot charger needs to be revamped. Its also a pain to swap batteries.

PRO
Belgium
#16  

69developer

the charger gets really hot,its normal,mine does too.

#17  

@69developer It didn't burn her though... What you have to do is put it out of reach and tell her not to touch it like you would with the toaster, iron, stove or any other hot appliance...

112F is not all that hot, really. There are places in the US (like death valley) that regularly exceed that temp.....

Gibraltar
#18  

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47.9c /118.22f and charging just fine

#19  

@Richard, when it comes to kids (at least mine), yes that is hot to the touch. You have to remember, JD is not just used by adults.

@bborastero, didn't say it wasn't charging ok. I have watched both batteries charge via software, and they are charging.

Just keep in mind SAFETY first: lithium-ion batteries can suffer from an event called thermal runaway.

Just trying to give feedback on product is all. I have other chargers that the kids use and none get that hot. Some people don't want to hear about change or improvement, but I always want you to pick my stuff apart, just makes me a little brighter...

Gibraltar
#20  

yeah li-po and lithium-ion battery is scary I,ve seen the videos on youtube I once tried making a solar li-po charger and got bit bad, I'm not gonna play around with them again