Bulk Saber Charging - A Lithium Ion Question

[SophiannaKatan]

So... I recently refitted around 25 sabers to use single 18650s. I won't get into too many specifics, but the battery cases that I had planned to use to make swapping batteries easy (so we could have multiple charged batteries on standby) are not working out quite the way we would like. I would have used recharge ports for them (as it would make the internals a bit simpler and more streamlined), but I felt that being able to easily charge batteries in bulk was a better idea.

My question is this: Does anyone have any ideas on how you would mass charge that many sabers? If I could move to recharge ports it would make things easier in the long run, but I don't really want to invest in 10 separate chargers so we could charge them all at once. Suggestions?

I may go back through and look at the battery cases and see if there is an easier way to wire them up as well.

[Jordandau]

jst connectors on the batteries and the charger. Then you just pull and plug in.

[lonewolf]

If your batteries are still raw batteries, there are several chargers that will do multiple cells at once, like the Xtar WP6 II. This depends on you using a battery holder in your sabers, though. I'm not sure of any solution like that using multiple JST connectors, but I'm sure you could cobble something together to work.

If you go with recharge ports, you're pretty much stuck with multiple chargers, as far as I can tell. I guess you could create some wires that would have a charge plug on one end and a dummy "cell" on the other to plug into the charger. Obviously the dummy cell would have to be non-conductive or you'd short out the charger. The problem then is that all the sabers would have to be brought to the charger, which could be a mess. And you still wouldn't be able to have spare batteries.

What is the problem you're having with the battery cases? I'd probably wire the battery holder itself with a JST connector so that you could unplug it if needed, but could still remove the individual batteries from the holder to use on a bulk charger.

[Jordandau]

I was thinking it was a situation where you'd just pop in a fresh set of batteries and charge the dead ones out of the saber.

[SophiannaKatan]

If your batteries are still raw batteries, there are several chargers that will do multiple cells at once, like the Xtar WP6 II. This depends on you using a battery holder in your sabers, though. I'm not sure of any solution like that using multiple JST connectors, but I'm sure you could cobble something together to work.

If you go with recharge ports, you're pretty much stuck with multiple chargers, as far as I can tell. I guess you could create some wires that would have a charge plug on one end and a dummy "cell" on the other to plug into the charger. Obviously the dummy cell would have to be non-conductive or you'd short out the charger. The problem then is that all the sabers would have to be brought to the charger, which could be a mess. And you still wouldn't be able to have spare batteries.

What is the problem you're having with the battery cases? I'd probably wire the battery holder itself with a JST connector so that you could unplug it if needed, but could still remove the individual batteries from the holder to use on a bulk charger.

There are several issues with the battery holders - they are such a tight fit into the hilts (note: these are not MHS hilts, nor Saberforge hilts - both of which would fit these no problem), for one. The positive connector doesn't always touch the contact on the battery, however, which is the main issue I have right at this time. Yes, there are fixes (someone I did some work for solved it by putting something small in there to bridge the connection, which would be my idea), but I was hoping there may be a easier, more elegant solution via recharge ports for the number of sabers.

The cells, by the by, are protected circuit cells, so not bare batteries.

-- SKA

[lonewolf]

Having JST connectors on your cells would probably fix the space issue, but it does make recharging them en masse a little harder. Do your batteries have the external protection chip, or are they built in and still have normal ends? The Xtar will charge protected cells as long as they fit (70mm or less in length).

The only other option I can think of will require you making some fake battery-sized objects with a JST connector that fit into something like the Xtar. Then you just plug the saber batteries (or the recharge cable) into these fake batteries to complete the connection. It could be done with some plastic rod and metal washers for the ends. Solder the JST connector to the washers, super glue the washers to the ends of the plastic rod, and there you go. You should heat shrink it to make it look nicer and prevent any of the washers from adjacent batteries touching. Delrin would work great for the middle part, and it's pretty cheap for a .625" dia. x 60" length piece (which would make dozens of fake batteries). It's definitely still a bit of a hack, though. Still, what part of this hobby isn't?

[Skottsaber]

This seems to be the right idea. If I were using using multiple sabers at once with multiple swap in batteries (for a saber combat/cosplay group, I presume?) I would have the individual protected 18650 cells wired with a JST connector for easy disconnect, and then a Li-Ion fast charger with a connector that broke out from whatever the charger uses to JST. For instance, with the TCSS charger this would be a Tamiya to JST connector (like the current Tamiya to 2.1mm barrel jack for recharge ports). This would allow you to disconnect the battery from the saber and plug it directly into the charger. As for charging multiple cells at once, there are many, more advanced Li-Ion chargers that would allow you to set the specific voltage and current to charge at. I would recommend you connect the cells in parallel and increase the current per cell. This I'm not entirely sure about, so I would research more, (the CandlePower forums are good for Li-Ion charging info), but I believe that's the general idea.

[Jordandau]

I wouldn't even bother with tamya adapters, just cut the tamya off and wire the jst direct to the leads.