Part 1.1 : Getting the right tools for the job.

Since I had these grandiose idea with limited tools, it was a bit long and difficult to do all the testing needed. So as my usual self, I ended up ordering the stuff I needed to make a proper charging and discharging station.

The station consist of a few things put together. First I wanted a decent battery discharger that would be able to test more then one cell at a time. The Atorch DL24 is really nice but it’s very limited with a single input. I would have loved to have that exact system but for 4 or 8 cells at the time. Sadly the only available system that fits my needs ( and that I don’t have to build myself ), is using resistors to discharge the cells instead of a transistor. From my testing, it is giving very similar results from the same cell so it’ll work out until I go crazy and decide to go full pro tools or make my own.

The other parts are, charge circuit with battery holder, and a PSU that can drive everything at the same time. I went for some rather inexpensive charge circuit as I’ve used them in the past with good results. Plus they only need to charge the cell, not the whole thing they’re designed for.

the power supply had to be extra big for 2 reasons. The first one is that each charge circuit eats 1amp at 5v, so that makes it 8-12amp total, and the tester requires 10a at 5v. I would probably have been fine with a 20amp but, the 80% rule and the few dollar extra for the 30amp spoke loud to my ears.

In order to put everything together, I’m planning to make a right trapezoid box, with the tester in front end the 8 charge circuit on top, with the power supply under. It’s still not fully designed yet but it’s the next step. I’m also planning to have a proper connector for the power input, and the charge PCB should be held in place using a mix of lifted platform and melted plastic to hold it, because obviously I didn’t thought of ordering a circuit with mounting holes…..

To be continued…