You can do everything you just did without the step down converter. Put just the fans in series. They will run slower with a 2S and faster with a 6S. It is how I have done mine. I use lightbulbs instead of resistors. Also, mine is encased in a dollar store tupperware clear shoebox size container. I have the fans on both sides of the container...1 is pushing air in and the other is pushing air out. I have had it this way for 12 years. I use computer case fans rated for 12V and they do fine with a 6S battery because they only see half the voltage.
@corbymodelboatclub11 ай бұрын
That is a very neat way of cooling the resistors and Ohms law is well explained. It might be an idea to mechanically fix the wire to the resistor leads by winding once round and then soldering. I have found in the past that if you generate enough heat/wattage in the resistor the solder can melt and the wire falls off. Most of those resistors have a hole in the lead for this purpose. In the good old days when we made GPO (before BT) panels the inspector would fail the kit if the resistors were not mechanically fixed.
@RCVideoReviews11 ай бұрын
I took some temperature measurements with the Admiral and at 17amps, I was seeing about 250F and that wasn't enough to melt the solder on the lugs. Heat sink was immaterial as it didn't influence the temps on the lugs. That said, half the fun of doing projects like this is to experiment and learn, so definitely make mods and play with it.
@corbymodelboatclub11 ай бұрын
@@RCVideoReviews Cheers for the comment. I think you are doing a great job. I have only used a system like your Admiral when testing a 500 Watt MOSFET amp at max RMS output for a couple of hours. That was a long time ago.
@jdduncan7 ай бұрын
Thanks for this! I just built 2 of these to retire my older batteries. I mounted the discharger on a metal ammo box so I can have the battery safe in the box during discharge.
@RCVideoReviews7 ай бұрын
Nice job! They work great.
@jdduncan7 ай бұрын
@@RCVideoReviews I wanted to try using one of the dischargers to discharge down to 3.8v per cell for storage using an Apex RC lipo battery voltage checker and alarm. I set the alarm at 3.8v per cell but when I hook it up it to a 6C battery that shows a 95% charge it starts dropping super fast and the alarm will go off within 45 seconds. With the load connected all the cells are around 3.8v. When I remove the load the cells jump back up to 3.9v. How do you make this setup work to discharge for storage?
@Weiun4 ай бұрын
👏👏👏 I will be building one, thank you.
@RCVideoReviews4 ай бұрын
Have fun!
@ricktaylor5111 ай бұрын
The lipo checker emits a high pitch sound, which I am unable to hear. However, to completely discharge a lipo, definitely a plus. Caution, don't leave unattended. Thank you for all your great videos.
@RCVideoReviews11 ай бұрын
You're welcome. FYI these meters usually have a flashing LED when the threshold voltage is reached if that helps.
@fd223711 ай бұрын
Very handy device John, thank you for sharing! Fotios
@RCVideoReviews11 ай бұрын
Sure thing. Thanks for watching.
@cscientific60779 ай бұрын
Thank you, I liked the video a lot. My biggest take away is that a zero volt lipo battery is inert and safe to discard in the trash. I've had a couple on my desk that I had taped up for a while and didn't know what to do with (other than find a drop off place and bring them there). The calculations and demonstrations with the power supply were pretty cool. I imagine it's not a concern, but if using the device as a battery killer, to drain lipos to zero volts, at some point the 12 volt fan will not have sufficient voltage to run anymore. The cooling fins alone, apart from the fan, would be enough at that point I presume. But I think I'd make mine to run with a separate 12 volt supply for the fans (of course you mentioned that possibility). One last note, descriptions on Amazon are often misleading. I was interested to look into the copper cooling fans in particular. Copper would of course be optimal for cooling (only second to silver). Sadly the fans you linked to are actually aluminum, which is third in line as far as cooling goes. Pure copper would've been cool though. Thanks again
@deanedeane431811 ай бұрын
Simple is good!!! Nice project 😉🤗😎
@RCVideoReviews11 ай бұрын
Yeah, this was fun to do.
@vmddew4 ай бұрын
Nice Killer! Thx.
@RCVideoReviews4 ай бұрын
You’re welcome.
@jlarson4211 ай бұрын
Excellent tutorial for a useful tool. For discharging to storage voltage, I use the ISDT BG-8S tester to charge my usb devices. Phones, tablets, ear buds.... But I don't have a good lipo killer, thanks for sharing. 👍😎
@RCVideoReviews11 ай бұрын
You're welcome. Have fun with it.
@JustKeepLivingFPV11 ай бұрын
Awesome, ive been needing to beuild myself a discharging unit so i dont have to over work my charger. Im gonna try and find a lightbulb free at home stuff type of one.
@RCVideoReviews11 ай бұрын
Good point. No reason to beat on a charger when it's so easy to make one of these.
@leebates757411 ай бұрын
Just a thought, if you wired a small relay to the output of that beeper on the lipo alarm then put it's N/C contact in series on the + or - of the main leads(providing is rated at the correct current!) You'd have an Auto discharger, as soon as it beeps it would break the circuit and stop itself, providing it latches of course
@RCVideoReviews11 ай бұрын
That's how my in-box field discharger works. I have a relay. When the alarm trips, the circuit is opened. Pretty trick.
@HeadBassVTEC5 ай бұрын
have the same tweezers, did not know they are that much temperature resistant, I bought them for their electrical non-condutivity and anti-staticness nice clean setup....I ordered a 300W 10R one, should work without a fan on 6s and I only need a lipo killer for disposal so don't need it super fast, just something usable, not like that lipo killer device sold on ebay which only does 2.5W at 6s and will take a month (bought that one and it's useless)
@FASTFREDDIE-R.C.11 ай бұрын
Fun little project 👍🏻
@RCVideoReviews11 ай бұрын
Yup--Easy and functional.
@Gavs_rc_hobbies11 ай бұрын
Awesome video. I think I might build one of these as all of my battery chargers (except for my LRP Pulsar touch) only ever discharge my batteries at a max of .2-.3 amps (even if you set it at say 3-4 amps) which is very annoying. Plus it will come in very handy for killing a battery that I need to dispose of.
@RCVideoReviews11 ай бұрын
Right on. And you can customize to suit your needs too. I've been using a janky single resistor with an XT60 pigtail wire strapped to the resistor leads for a few years. Figured it was time to make a discharger I wouldn't be embarrassed to be caught using. :)
@dadog9211 ай бұрын
Great video!! i was thinking (and maybe is not a great idea) but if would be possible to use a stack of peltier modules instead of the resistors.
@RCVideoReviews11 ай бұрын
I've been thinking about that too. I'm going to order some and give it a go. I thought about using them for this build, but I wasn't sure about fixing them mechanically to the setup (tape/glue) etc. I do want to try them though.
@Gwanpo_Friend11 ай бұрын
내가 원하는 방전기 입니다. 영상 잘보고 갑니다. 👍
@RCVideoReviews11 ай бұрын
Thank you.
@shotbyarian5 ай бұрын
incredible useful video, thanks! also thanks for sharing the excel file! why wouldn't i want to use a 1 ohm 100w resistor and get 100w across all lipos from 3s to 6s? thanks in advance!
@RCVideoReviews5 ай бұрын
Use the law and work out what you need. Lots of options to get things working the way you want them to work if you can do the basic math.
@HoratioRadkliffАй бұрын
Can this be used for 1- li-ion 18650 battery?
@marianoaldogaston11 ай бұрын
I use a electronic load about $20. and do a lot more like telling you how much energy battery have
@RCVideoReviews11 ай бұрын
I need to get one of those.
@trevorc679311 ай бұрын
Great video, I'd like to build one. what are the benefits of connecting the resistors in Parallel series and not in Series? Thank you
@RCVideoReviews11 ай бұрын
Download the calculator and tinker with it. Changing how resistors are connected changes the resistance in the circuit.
@Vedak20116 ай бұрын
Is there a max wattage that you would recommend staying under? This project really has me curious. I currently use an ISDT FD-200 and it works awesome, but takes about 30mins or so to discharge a 6s 8000mah Lipo to storage voltage. Recently picked up an Icharger 4512 Duo that's rated for 2000w per channel (according to specs) in both Regen and External discharge.
@RCVideoReviews6 ай бұрын
It's just math. You can use whatever wattage (current draw) you want as long as your resistors support it and you can dissipate the heat. You should meet 'the admiral' here: kzbin.info3Szq9KolwVY
@ricktaylor5111 ай бұрын
This discharger can discharge faster than using a lightbulb, I presume.
@RCVideoReviews11 ай бұрын
You have to do the math. Figure out the resistance of the bulb, and you can make comparisons based on the resistance (4ohms) of the configuration I used. At 25.2v, these resistors have 159 watts input @ 6.3a.
@technicalsupport698311 ай бұрын
I use a 12volt 4ams ductile fan tfor discharge ......
@RCVideoReviews11 ай бұрын
I built a stand with a motor/esc/servo controller. That's fun too.
@saltyfpv32217 ай бұрын
I would like to make this exact set up to use on my 8000 mah 6s2p liion packs. On my charger they take all day to discharge. Will this be safe on my liions? The have a 45a continuois and 55a peak discharge rating
@RCVideoReviews7 ай бұрын
Yes.
@mcvinda3 ай бұрын
Can the lips be recycled ?
@RCVideoReviews3 ай бұрын
When they are fully discharged, they're inert. Basically cardboard, plastic, brass, aluminum, and silicon.
@glenncain11 ай бұрын
Are you gonna sell the Admiral on your etsy?
@RCVideoReviews11 ай бұрын
I've thought about selling a kit on Etsy. The only reason I haven't done it is because I would be adding limited value (like putting all the parts in one kit) and then flipping it for a small profit. I don't know what the take rate would be. It's also a somewhat limited use case as it requires an iCharger with Extra Discharge mode to be fully functional.
@afcl19845 ай бұрын
Does this work with the Hota F6?
@RCVideoReviews5 ай бұрын
This is a standalone device.
@afcl19845 ай бұрын
@@RCVideoReviews I know, but the Hota f6 has external discharge and can control the discharge. Using this it can discharge a lot faster.
@nuddin992 ай бұрын
@@afcl1984I do it with my HOTA D6 with ext discharge function.