Tenergy Smart Charger Not Working

[H@rrY89]

Hi Guys

I bought 2 NiMH chargers from TCSS. I went to plug in my Saber from JQ but it doesnt work. I got 3 red flashes from the charging light and that's all.

Does anyone have any experience with these chargers??

EDIT

never mind turned out to be a fuse :/

[Novastar]

No worries Harry, when I started reading I was thinking the cells were bad or... yup--fuse. :)

Actually it's good that you mentioned this issue since it could happen to anyone. That is the advantage of "smart-chargers" in that they can sometimes alert you to issues.

As a side note, I love how the Li-Ion chargers I have (Tenergy too I believe) will simply "not work" if you have somehow reversed the current/poles from one end to the other. Additionally protection from the Li-Ion cells themselves do not allow for incorrect polarity either.

It's another reason why I prefer Li-Ion for most of my saber projects... they are nearly idiot-proof. Read: "Novastar-proof". :D :rolleyes:

[H@rrY89]

new problem...

the charger is now flashing red. no power is getting to the batteries

Here's the video:

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk33/jp3man/th_MOV00742.jpg (http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk33/jp3man/?action=view&current=MOV00742.flv)

[Novastar]

The video comes out as a picture to me (.jpg), but my first direction would be to change the cells and see what happens.

If that produces no joy, see if you can charge something different (if you have it)?

If that doesn't work, you may need to meter the leads of everything and make certain + jives with + on the other end, and - to - ... that sort of thing.

Other than that, I'd expect after trying all of the above with no luck... it'd be a bad charger.

[eastern57]

Does the light keep blinking when you pull the plug out of the recharge port? It should turn off completely when it's not attached to anything. Have you recgarged it before? I know it's new but if you've successfully recharged it before, then it's probably the charger.

a few things to check:

- check to see if you have the polarity is correct on the adaptor (yes, they're different shaped holes, but just make sure the red and black from the charger are still connected to the red and black on the adaptor).

- Check to see if the recharge port is wired correctly, you can use the closed circuit setting if you have a multi-meter... if it's wired incorrectly, the charger can tell if it's not sending power anywhere.

- Test the charger with another battery pack. If you don't have a rechargeable pack, you can use a regular NiMh rechagreable battery; use the aligator clips that came with the charger for this.

- Do you have another NiMh smart charger? If you can charge the saber using that, again, it's probably the charger.

:)

[H@rrY89]

Does the light keep blinking when you pull the plug out of the recharge port? It should turn off completely when it's not attached to anything. Have you recgarged it before? I know it's new but if you've successfully recharged it before, then it's probably the charger.

a few things to check:

- check to see if you have the polarity is correct on the adaptor (yes, they're different shaped holes, but just make sure the red and black from the charger are still connected to the red and black on the adaptor).

- Check to see if the recharge port is wired correctly, you can use the closed circuit setting if you have a multi-meter... if it's wired incorrectly, the charger can tell if it's not sending power anywhere.

- Test the charger with another battery pack. If you don't have a rechargeable pack, you can use a regular NiMh rechagreable battery; use the aligator clips that came with the charger for this.

- Do you have another NiMh smart charger? If you can charge the saber using that, again, it's probably the charger.

:)

Well unfortunately i don't have any spare batteries or chargers. I have to wait for next week before I can get anymore.

Try this Link Nova:
http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk33/jp3man/?action=view&current=MOV00742.flv

I opened the saber to see if the insides were hot but everything in there is ice cold. Obviously insinuating that no powers coming through...

-EDIT-

And as soon as I remove the plug the light stops blinking. I think it may be the new fuses...

[Novastar]

Hmm... so... to back up a bit... BEFORE you bought the chargers, did the saber work ok?

If not, it's likely to be the cells going bad or the wiring coming loose.

(Or was it simply out of juice and that's why you bought the chargers???)

Anyhow, if it DID work just prior to plugging in the chargers... are you certain the chargers were made for your saber? If you do not know for certain, the polarity is probably reversed--that could easily occur.

One way to be certain is to always have some alligator clip leads handy that can come from a "phantom" port (from saber) or a phantom quick-disconnect (from charger). Then, you can meter the red & black leads to be certain of what is negative and what is positive.

It's VERY easy to have components wired "backwards" when they were not made together. Sometimes I even forget my OWN leads and screw up the wiring when I make a new Li-Ion saber for my chargers, or a new "head" for a new charger. Hard to explain, but... I imagine you get it.

So finally, it's... how did you charge this saber BEFORE you got these ones from TCSS? That may be key here in troubleshooting. Lesson = we can never be told too much about the goings on in order to help, Harry... :) Cheers...

[H@rrY89]

Hmm... so... to back up a bit... BEFORE you bought the chargers, did the saber work ok?

If not, it's likely to be the cells going bad or the wiring coming loose.

(Or was it simply out of juice and that's why you bought the chargers???)

Anyhow, if it DID work just prior to plugging in the chargers... are you certain the chargers were made for your saber? If you do not know for certain, the polarity is probably reversed--that could easily occur.

One way to be certain is to always have some alligator clip leads handy that can come from a "phantom" port (from saber) or a phantom quick-disconnect (from charger). Then, you can meter the red & black leads to be certain of what is negative and what is positive.

It's VERY easy to have components wired "backwards" when they were not made together. Sometimes I even forget my OWN leads and screw up the wiring when I make a new Li-Ion saber for my chargers, or a new "head" for a new charger. Hard to explain, but... I imagine you get it.

So finally, it's... how did you charge this saber BEFORE you got these ones from TCSS? That may be key here in troubleshooting. Lesson = we can never be told too much about the goings on in order to help, Harry... :) Cheers...

Yeah the Saber worked Fine before i charged it.

It was already fully charged when I got it from JQ so I didn't need to charge it when I got it.

The sabers just out of juice at the moment. I still get the boot sound but its all crackly and i cant turn the saber on. I think it may be the new fuses. The new ones have different serial numbers than the one that came with the charger. So I'm leaning towards that as the option.

Here's a picture of the fuses:

http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk33/jp3man/?action=view&current=DSC00745.jpg

I had to link because the pictures massive

Smaller one, the original one. Larger, New ones.

[eastern57]

I noticed it didn't give a boot sound when you were playing with it before... is it just that low on power?

Shot in the dark... leave it plugged in for a little bit. I've had those chargers blink on me before - not that fast blinking, but similar - it might just be really low on power.

[H@rrY89]

I noticed it didn't give a boot sound when you were playing with it before... is it just that low on power?

Shot in the dark... leave it plugged in for a little bit. I've had those chargers blink on me before - not that fast blinking, but similar - it might just be really low on power.

ohh yeah she's low on power alright :(

http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk33/jp3man/?action=view&current=MOV00746.flv

That should explain it :)

[Strydur]

I am going with Nova..how do you know for sure the charger is wired correctly for the saber?

[Kal El Rah]

Hey guys, I have a question, could he possibly have Li-Ion batts in there as opposed to Nihm, could that be the problem?

H@rrY89, check out the batteries and make sure what type you have, and of coarse make sure the wiring is correct and also check for any type of shorts.

Just something that may have been over looked.

[H@rrY89]

Here's a Picture of the Re-charge port:

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk33/jp3man/DSC00751-1.jpg

It could very well be that, so worst case scenario, I'd just have to re-solder the connections?

The batts are NiMH. Daren told me that they were and I also asked him to use NiMH. But thanks for the suggestion ;)

[Madcow]

Hey Harry,
I know you've had trouble charging the saber you got from me as well.

I always wire up the recharge port so that the pin in the middle is positive, and the outside is negative.

Positive is almost always the red wire.

Negative is usually black or white - on my charger I make the black wire with the white stripe negative also.

At any rate - get a multimeter or some other way to KNOW for sure that the polarity is right.

Hope you get it sorted out.

[H@rrY89]

Hey Harry,
I know you've had trouble charging the saber you got from me as well.

I always wire up the recharge port so that the pin in the middle is positive, and the outside is negative.

Positive is almost always the red wire.

Negative is usually black or white - on my charger I make the black wire with the white stripe negative also.

At any rate - get a multimeter or some other way to KNOW for sure that the polarity is right.

Hope you get it sorted out.

I Do have a Multimeter but im unsure as to how to test the Polarity.

Could someone please let me know how to do the test.

[Madcow]

You should have instructions with your meter... if not...

To test polarity you need to...
1. ensure that - on the meter - the red probe is plugged into positive, and the black probe is plugged into negative.
2. turn your meters knob to measure volts
3. attach the probes to the recharge plug (you may need to insert a small nail or metal pin to get contact with the inside (positive)
4. Plug in the charger
5. look at the meter - if it is digital - it should read a number of volts - if it reads a negative (minus) number, then the polarity is opposite.
6. if your meter is not digital but has a needle meter - the needle will jup up to read the volts... if the needle hugs the far left side - then the polarity is reversed.
7. do not leave it connected for long - just long enough to get a reading

Try that.

[H@rrY89]

You should have instructions with your meter... if not...

To test polarity you need to...
1. ensure that - on the meter - the red probe is plugged into positive, and the black probe is plugged into negative.
2. turn your meters knob to measure volts
3. attach the probes to the recharge plug (you may need to insert a small nail or metal pin to get contact with the inside (positive)
4. Plug in the charger
5. look at the meter - if it is digital - it should read a number of volts - if it reads a negative (minus) number, then the polarity is opposite.
6. if your meter is not digital but has a needle meter - the needle will jup up to read the volts... if the needle hugs the far left side - then the polarity is reversed.
7. do not leave it connected for long - just long enough to get a reading

Try that.

So I try this with the charger plugged in or not?

The Multimeter is a Digital one :)

[H@rrY89]

Sorry for the Double Post but I just found This:

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk33/jp3man/DSC00752.jpg

Could be onto something here..

[Madcow]

Yup,
Multi meter test with the charger plugged in...

But at this point it is only for confirmation - from the pic you posted of the recharge port - it appears that this saber's port is wired OPPOSITE of most others.

All it means is that you will need a special plug just for this saber. One that has the wires reversed. that should do it.

Try the multimeter - if it's confirmed - then switch the wires from your charger to the plug.

MC

[Jay-gon Jinn]

I have to agree with Madcow, that recharge port is wired backwards to how the charger and adaptor wire are set up. It should be like this:
http://www.plecterlabs.com/Media/RechargePort.jpg

This comes from Erv's site, so you know it's right for the CF board. If you can solder, H@rry, it should be an easy fix.

[Novastar]

Don't worry Harry.

Even Chewie put on 3PO's head flucking bass ackwards... :)

But yup... it appears that you have reverse polarity going on. In a way, we should all BE so lucky, because... if that charger wasn't made to "look out for" rev pol, you might have easily destroyed the batteries, and possibly CF... or both.

The kill line might confuse you, but just note that it SHOULD be the negative lead that gets cut from the port (at least in the "standard" way most all of us are doing it).

Your photo appears to show the POSITIVE line being cut--so that is another glaring indicator that--yes--you have C3PO's head on backwards, hahahahahhaa.... :D :rolleyes:

:mrgreen:

[H@rrY89]

Haha :D

Thanks nova

EDIT

Just saw Jay's pics, Thanks Mate!!