Detailed test of battery active equalizer 1.2A balancer.

[@diyaddictor]

It was a very, very helpful video for me. I also bought an Actis balancer, but I thought there was a problem because it didn't work, but now that I saw the video, I understand why it didn't work. Thank you.

[@SolarEngineering]

Glad it helped!

[@tedhancock68]

According to the instructions, the last three LEDs blink when there is a "circuit failure". Not connecting cells to those leads is likely considered a circuit failure. I have also seen flashing LEDs for low quality battery packs. For example, I have watched cells 1,3,5,7 do transfers while cells 2, 4, and 6 blink. In the end, all LEDs are dark so that sort of circuit failure is temporary.

[@caskwith]

Very interesting video. I think your video shows that this board is really only suitable for maybe up to 4S if you need the balance to be very precise. 2S and 3S will be very precise (less than 60mV), there could be a small difference of up to 90mV between 1 and 4 in a 4S and that error will increase by 30mV as the S number increases.

[@decoy271]

Great job! Just a remark (which doesn't change your end result): Having spent some time on the working principle, I understand that it is a sequential balancer. That means, it compares the voltage difference between two neighboring cells and acts if this is greater than 30mV. This in itself seem to work if you grant it its time. However, if you have a 6s setup, the difference can theoretically get up to 5x 30mV = 150mV between the first and last cell in your setup. But as you reported the biggest difference to be 340mV in a 6s setup, this does not fit the specification. So your point is valid in two ways: 1. It does not keep what it promises (30mV difference) and 2. Based on the principle, it never can reach 30mV between ALL cells if setup is greater than 2s.

[@SolarEngineering]

that's interesting, so theoretically this device works (30mV between neighbor cells), but practically not to much.. thanks!

[@tedhancock68]

It looks for a 100mv or greater difference between adjacent cells and then will balance to within 30mv. The bad thing about this is that cell 6 can be charged up to 4.3v if cell 5 is at 4.2 and it won't do anything about it.

[@tomstdenis]

@@SolarEngineering I think the idea is that you're not supposed to start with your batteries so far out of sync. It's meant to stop them from drifting.

[@dantronics1682]

@@tomstdenis Thats what I was thinking as well, the balancer does what it was meant to do but normally you wouldnt have a battery pack with such a large delta

[@marbesky]

the balancer is very good but it take a lot longer to balance below 100mv under 100mv balancing current is less as the voltage difference drops

[@mhmdsaleh3502]

It is very faild balancer .. I tried it. Thanks for your efforts

[@acineriomendonca4117]

Parabéns pelo vídeo. Eu estou usando uma placa dessa de 20S, com uma bateria de 72v. Porém está esquentando muito, as luzes estão apagadas e mesmo assim está esquentando. Sabe o motivo?

[@wahyuaja65]

Apa bekerja pada saat charge dan discharge pada waktu bersamaan ?

[@toprun95]

Very good video. Thank you

[@burimskvajinu2796]

nice review! Looks like it took more than 8 hours to perform tests.

[@frankfromthailand2190]

I fail to see why you would call this failure!! It does Balance, your spreadsheet that you show for a few seconds at 11.59 clearly shows it works. Specifications state: Equilibrium current: Adjacent pressure difference is 0.1V or more (current is about 0.5-0.7A); Adjacent pressure difference is above 0.2V (maximum equalization current is 1.2A); The smaller the differential pressure, the smaller the equalization current. At difference above 0.2 volt you get 1.2A, under 0.5-0.7A Your test show that it works, perhaps not as fast as you like. For +/- 5 USD per cell, it's good addition. (S4=$20, S16 =$75) More powerful balancers are double or triple the price. A good solar setup would need little to (almost) nothing in balancing. Once every 6 months should be enough. With that rate of getting imbalance, this tool would be able to make it once a year or even longer.

[@SolarEngineering]

In specs it's claiming that it will do 30mV. I measured cell diff after all LEDs was off (meaning that balancing is stopped). Then we see 340mV cell diff. It's definitely working balancer, just not accurate as it claiming :)

[@lukaszlesniak]

@@SolarEngineering On that test where You have 340mV difference when you put tester on desk balancer lights on led to balance, that mean it is fault with youre wires. take a look at 9:35

[@user-uy5gx3li7r]

so good

[@jean-francoisvalliere9812]

Were did you get your HX 3x1 board? cant find one anywere, i need one to add a balancer to my BMS

[@SolarEngineering]

I built it using easyeda.com/ and then ordered PCB on jlcpcb.com/ I wouldn't recommend it to parallel BMS and active balancer, in my case BMS was reading incorrect voltages while balancing pushing amps. So I did run 2 sets of wires (1st set for active balancer, 2nd for BMS).

[@jean-francoisvalliere9812]

@@SolarEngineering ok! Thx for the info. I will run a second set of wires for my balancer.

[@magicpowera]

Great Job! Have also tesed this version with about 100mV difference, but they say about 30mV, so this pcb is no good...

[@SolarEngineering]

yep.. waste of money, I tested another one, also inexpensive and got good results. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJOafKmKhN2YoNE

[@tedhancock68]

@@SolarEngineering I wouldn't consider these a waste of money. Before, I was loosing cells in the middle of the pack and the positive end. It seems those cells take all the abuse in fast charging and discharging. These boards distribute the load, over time, enough for those cells to survive and slowly give excess power to adjacent cells. I lost $300 in 18650GA cells before discovering this technology.

[@dc42887]

It looks like the 30mv difference is specified for in between cells, not across the whole pack, hence the pyramid shape results. The test in the video was great at showing this.

[@ciprianbeniuga5042]

I think to buy one off this to put inside an ebike battery but I’m not sure . Maybe you can give a advise. It will be useless ? Maybe to slow? Is 36v 17Ah and cell number 6 is always reach 4,2 v and the bms shut of charging . A fully charged battery shoul have 42v but i get 40 instead . I am ok with results because I build the battery myself from old battery tools and I get 60-70 km range att medium assistance and 50km with max assistance but I am thinking if is something I can do better . What do you think . You made a great test with this little board . Congrats .

[@SolarEngineering]

this balancer is totally useless. Cell difference is HUGE. I would look at some other options: 1. Another active balancer (review is coming soon) 2. Passive balancer. Pros for #1: not wasting energy Pros for #2: smaller size (I guess size is important for e-bikes) Another review for active balancer coming soon. Ir you now any other balancers - send me message and I would like to test it.

[@ciprianbeniuga5042]

SolarEngineering this ? A bit bigger for sure but I can eventually remake the battery pack and made it bigger . This can be worth because I have seen a review on KZbin about a big battery . www.ebay.com/itm/3S-4S-6S-8S-15S-5A-Balancer-LTO-LiFePo4-Li-ion-Battery-Active-Equalizer-Balancer-/303427546569?var=&mkevt=1&siteid=1&mkcid=2&mkrid=711-153320-877651-5&source_name=google&mktype=pla_ssc&campaignid=10428844302&groupid=103146265403&targeted=pla-293946777986&MT_ID=&adpos=&device=m&googleloc=9077372&itemid=303427546569&merchantid=116792603&geo_id=192&gclid=CjwKCAjwsan5BRAOEiwALzomX0CoSVgX5cI4m-OwDbSquGkwVLjlCmxKkJ65DRvWIW6tf30jylYwMhoCrmgQAvD_BwE

[@SolarEngineering]

@@ciprianbeniuga5042 I'm going to order and test it. here is what I'm waiting to arrive to test: www.ebay.com/itm/2A-Balancer-Active-Equalizer-2S-24S-BMS-APP-For-Li-ion-Lipo-Lifepo4-LTO-Battery/312684990374?hash=item48cd7a4fa6:g:kGgAAOSwwRtdHXuI heard good reviews about this balancer

[@ciprianbeniuga5042]

SolarEngineering I guess passive balancer generate more heat and inside a battery case when charging can be problematic . But maybe is ok . It will be is interesting to know how warm the board can be when balancing .

[@frankfromthailand2190]

If one cell is too fast reaching high voltages, you might have less good connection between the bus-bars and cell. E-bike is totally different ballpark then solar for unbalanced cells. Both charge and discharge goes at much higher speeds. Solar setups one thinks in days instead of hours for doing Balance. As it is for charging, yes, this is a good solution. It might not work as fast as you like, you get what you pay for. Charging the battery, disconnect, leave it balancing for the night and charge in the morning the remaining capacity. This way you get maximum charging capacity for the cells. If you have good charger, naturally you can leave it on the charger.

[@techackology3290]

where did you buy the test Leads splitter?

[@SolarEngineering]

was not able to find a place where to buy it, so made it myself. I used the website jlcpcb.com, paid $20 for 5pcs with shipping.

[@tedhancock68]

You should be able to use a parallel balance charging board. You just don't plug in the xt60

[@NSAwatchesME]

why it fail

[@sreekumarUSA]

071121/1618h PST 🇺🇸. Thank you for the presentation. Two things I want to point out is that….. 1) What was the meaning of the TITLE of this Video presentation? The title says FAILED BALANCER. I did not see any failure as I watched till the end. Was there any failure of Battery Balancer? alright… 2) Sir, while appreciating your presentation, it’s very necessary to PRESENT it loud n clear. Remember, you know the procedure and you are imparting your knowledge to lesser informed audience. Every word you say, needs to be LOUD and spotless, so people can understand the procedure. It was not. Remember, the whole world is watching you…… you need to impress them, right? So, the next time, please increase the Microphone signal higher and present the lecture assertively. Please do not misunderstand my comments. With due respect and stay safe. 73s…

[@ahmadnajibfirdaus]

how to physically distinguish active bms with capacitor and inductor

[@paulhamacher773]

what?

[@TheMossberger1]

I gave you thumbs up till i saw that you didnt just leave us the time-lapse. who knows if you are selling these unites. verse you are just doing it for our community. I did subscribe. next time leave the video like you are showing off a magic trick!. We need this in a world of deceit.

[@SolarEngineering]

Thanks for your feedback Providing false tests would be straight and quick way to loose public confidence, I really hope you understand this.