Just received my order today (back order was only about a week). Initial impressions: This is a very well built board. I was immediately surprised by the weight of it. Built in voltage meter is a really great added touch. The unit is charging up 3 packs as we speak and about 30 min in everything is working great (charging just below 1c @ 3A). Really happy with this purchase, thanks again Joshua!
I only have one 4s battery so far. If/when I get more, you can bet I'll buy this board. Thanks so much for everything you contribute to the miniquad community.
Ordered. Really appreciated that your brand launched with something fundamental, makes what most of us do more efficient and SAFE. Not something can be hype-loaded..
Nice product Joshua. I may have to grab one next time I'm in the USA. I would have loved to have at least one battery outlet to have 3s and 2s balance ports as well for the google and radio batteries I use. Just for the odd times I charge that stuff. Otherwise it's very nice indeed. Does it have poly fuses?
No poly fuses because of price and space on the board. The other balance plugs were intentionally left out to prevent people from ever making the mistake of accidentally mis-plugging the balance port. You can mis-plug the XT60 of course but that's what the fuses are for.
FinalGlideAus I've been using the SkyRC D100 with dual ports. Fantastic charger for that purpose. FS pack on one side and 4S on the other or micro 2S packs on one. Whatever! Awesome charger.
before watching the video, and after reading the description, i'd already decided to buy one. this is a product that should have been on the market years ago. well done.
Awesome. I did exactly what you explained in the video I wear reading glasses and accidentally plugged a 4s into a 5s balance port. I'm sold, Congrats on JB SIGNATURE LINE balance board.
I have begrudgingly started my 4S journey and just blew my old HK balance board a few weeks ago. This looks great and I would not have even defended the costs. The differences between this design and others is clear and the price is fine. Placed my order through your link and happily waiting for backorders to be fulfilled. Decided on ordering a Monster V2 too since I broke my HS1177 recently.
Nicely done Joshua ... you're working with a very good company that knows how to do it right. You make a good team. I will be picking up this board, it really hits home. Cheers my friend ...
I will be buying these, being in the automotive field for 14 years, was shock to see my parra board not have a fuse holder but a fuse soldered to the circuitry. Very nice josh. Keep that top shinny, you deffently can pull it off. Jeff Evans at evans tuning does. Thanks
I couldn't find the video where you recently discussed this board having problems with the ISDT charger but I wanted to share with you that I've found that problem appears with much less frequency when I power cycle the charger itself before beginning a charge. Thanks Joshua, happy flying!
Honestly, if you had announced a frame or FC I would have been disappointed. But a parallel board that fixes all the dumb mistakes I've made? This is exactly what this industry needs.
You're my hero. Great product. I'm ordering one now. I agree you should include a "standard" 6S balance plug adapter. Also 4S is of course the voltage to start with but I'd absolutely recommend expanding v2 into a line of boards covering all the "S"ss (voltages). I'd readily pick up a 2S board for my goggles batts, and a 3S and 5S as well.
Never liked to charged batteries all at one , now this board is going to make everything SOOO easy. Really nice job! It's going to be my first balance board ever :) thanks. And as always your video are awesome:)
Just ordered one of these. I've been looking around at these for the ideal board. No questions asked I ordered one! Looks like a great balance charging board and can't wait to use it. CRAZYQUADBROTHERSP3 approved! 💯%
HUGE CONGRATS on your first product! I am so happy you came up with this, exactly what I never knew I needed. Ordering 2 now :-). I will just charge my 3S packs with my "old" Paraboards.
Hi Joshua, as you are asking for ideas. There is some idea in my mind which is about having some kind of LiPo-Equalizer. This should generally be a parallel-charging board that has some regulating electronics on it and would do this: During a flight session, you plug all empty 4S LiPos to it no matter how far you discharged them. The board will automatically equalize the LiPos but monitors and controls the C-Rate of the current-flow between those. This makes parallel-charging more safe and more effective. Currently if I fly my 8 packs I check them afterwards and end up with maybe 3 groups of 2 batteries that I can charge in parallel. This board would simply need the time to get all batteries to the same level and then allow to charge them together.
Next design something that where you can plug 10 lipos of ANY voltage in (same capacity and cell count) and it has current limitter between lipo inputs so I never need to check voltages before paraller charging again. I know it can be done and it would make life so much easier. Maybe I have to do it myself.
I have had this conversation with many people, and every time we actually go down the road to designing a solution, it quickly gets so expensive that you might as well just build a charger. The problem is that the current limiter has to be switchable so it allows current with low resistance when you are charging, but restricts current when plugging in. This sounds simple in theory, but in practice, by the time you've covered all the contingencies, you've basically built a charger, and you might as well just go buy somebody else's charger instead.
He did this is from Joshua secret underground lair! i hope he doesn't get mad for showing the prototype!! www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiT6PKysafVAhXIFT4KHYdnB8QQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.instructables.com%2Fid%2FFlux-Capacitor-Back-To-The-Future%2F&psig=AFQjCNEadm-3XlfYmmiSGacqA0wNzyTtUA&ust=1501173351512593
We don't need a complicated charger to do that. Just a small smart battery discharger to carry to the field that can balance all cells down to 3.6v or 3.7v. Land, plug in discharger and it should be done by the time your next pack is done.
I agree.... Considering we dont even flinch at buying $30 batts. I would pay $50 plus for a balance board that you could safely and mindlessly plug in same cell batts regardless of voltage.
this thing is amazing, and I am going to buy it. one modification I will do, is to change the fuse into a 4 or 5 amps fuse. I am using 4cell 1300 and 1550mah batteries, which will manage 3,9 and 4,65 amps maximum at 3C charge. I am normally charging at maximum 2C, so I will have a good safety margin for normal use. But, if I accidentally connect a battery with too high voltage, it will exceed the amperage that the fuse can handle, and blow the fuse. No batteries damaged. I really dont see the point of having a 15 amps fuse. if a 1500mah battery takes 15 amps, it is 10C. then you will probably have a fire going on in your house. I also think that a switchable fuse would be better than a one-time-use fuse, so you dont get stucked in the lack of fuses. But overall, good job Joshua!
If you change the fuse to 4 or 5 amps, then plugging in two packs at 0.4 volts difference will blow the fuse. ua-cam.com/video/yTEGhKBv09M/v-deo.html We selected 15 amps because it gives adequate head-room for equalization current while still ensuring that a fault will blow the fuse. And also because the light blue color looks awesome against the yellow XT60. But mostly the first one.
0.4V different seems a bit extreme to put lipos in parallel. The theory says between 3.7V and 3.8V there is approximately 20% capacity. So +10/-10% for the 2 you connect. On a 1500mAh it's 150mAh. If it equalizes in 30s (this number can change everything, but the current is much more at the beginning) after plugging, it means an average current of 18A. By the way JB, a current curve of uneven charged lipos being connected would be very interesting !
Manuel Pellizzari fair enough, but I just tested this myself last night, I had four batteries at 14.9v, all equalized, then I plugged in a 16v (I crashed and didn't get to finish repairs by dark). I put a DC clamp current meter on the battery before I plugged it in, and then watched. The current started at something a bit over 10 amps, I couldn't catch it because it happened so fast, it immediately came down to 10 amps, and then stayed there for a few seconds before beginning to drop down to 9, 8, etc until it got to 5 amps, then it stayed there longer, more on the order of 10s of seconds before dropping down and I lost interest and meet them be to equalize. The batteries were all 1.5ah 4s lipos. So each one individually never even seen 2c for more than a fraction of a second.
That's a great price for a great product dude. And I'm happy you went with readymaderc. I really like that store! I have their 4 port balance board. If and when I get more than 4 batteries and a bigger charger, I'll pick that board up!
I stopped parallel charging because I used that older type board and I also burned balance wires and board traces too. ended up buy 2 other chargers . So I can charge 3 battery's at once. But I think with your new board I think I will go back to it. Thanks Joshua
All I can say is...Thank you. I been looking for a dedicated 4s Board for a long time. Can't wait til it's back in stock! Kinda need some 5s ones too. Lol
I was planning to make something like this over the winter.. just without the fuses and polished look. I think I'll just buy this and enjoy a couple extra hours of free time. Nice work.
Cliffnotes version: So, what makes this rig better than the other stuff on the market is the ability to check each pack's voltage right on the board, the replaceable fuses on each port, and its compact size since it is designed for 4s packs only. it is STILL actually *parallel* charging, and not charging ten 4s batteries as one huge 40s battery. This is why you have to make sure your batteries are all equally discharged when you hook them up.
Nice work Joshua, hopefully this will be the first in a long line of JB inspired gear available. I have a Kakute F4 AIO due to your recommendations and input in the design (Great FC), I think the more stuff you endorse, the sooner you will be able to enjoy the fruits of your hard work in the industry. One issue I have found is the accidental plugging of balance leads back to front in a hurry (lazy) quickly sparks the JST and burns out the traces on the cheaper boards. If you could add lower current protection to the balance leads it would prevent that issue. I guess it is all about room and cost on the board but you never know it may be feasible.
That's a tough one. The keyed connector should prevent this but if you're in a hurry you can jam it in anyway. Adding polyfuses is the best approach but they're expensive and take up space.
Joshua Bardwell yep I have managed to short a few that way the male pins on the JST-XH protrude just enough to make contact around the wrong way User error but can still happen as I have managed to prove
This is FANTASTIC! Totally getting one. FWIW: There is one brand (Crazepony, on Amazon) that actually uses replaceable automotive fuses in their 2-6s balance boards. A few bucks more than yours. That said, I'm gonna get one of yours so I have a dedicated 4s station always at the ready (I fly 2-3s 65-95mm "micros" and 150-220mm 4s "minis", so I have multiple Acucells on my workbench)
I just placed my order with RMRC :) as soon as they receive stock (which said should be any day now) it will be on its way! So stoked for this board its got EVERY FEATURE I could have asked for in a Parallel board without the worry of it being from a cheap manufacture :)
Congrats on the first product! I think you should collaborate with RMRC on a new flight controller and call it the Blue Falcon in honor of JC. God knows the dodo is past its prime.
One other feature I would like, would have been to have two voltage displays. one of the displays is to show the voltage of the whole board, and the other one is to show the voltage of an extra xt60 port on the side of the board. in this way, you will have the voltage of the board just beside the voltage of a single battery that you are to connect. what would have been super cool was if you added two more displays, one that remembers what the lowest battery that you have tested in the voltage-test-xt60-port on the side, and another screen that shows the highest voltage of that have been connected to the voltage-test-xt60-port. It should reset itself when all the batteries are disconnected and the voltage is 0. when it knows the highest and the lowest battery connected on the paralell board, you can place one red and one green LED diode, that lights up and tells you if it is safe to plug into the paralell board or not. this is an idea to a much more complicated paralell board with an easy software on it, but I think it could eliminate much of the danger and insecurity with paralell charging.
Martin Mehus just follow JBs charging guide, super easy, you can even get away with bigger voltage differences than you would think. I just check all voltages, one at time, then line them in a row, highest voltage to lowest. Plug in all the similar low voltage batteries first, once you've got 2 or 3 on there, they share the load of the higher voltages when the high ones discharge into the low ones. You can safely discharge a battery way faster than you can safely charge. So higher voltage pack discharging into several lower voltage packs splits the amperage between them.
NOOOOOOO! I just bought another one off amazon this am! absolutely brilliant MR. Bardwell! I was saying this the past x amount of times I parallel charged, about all the unused ports! not only that but I, I mean a friend of mine wasn't paying attention, because he cat came close. no kitty danger! well I,,mhhmhm i mean he plugged the balance in backwards. sparks, burning electronic smell. well i started using a black marker, and only coloring the negative side half of the 4s port. this was it makes it a little harder to make that mistake. the price of this board is pretty darn good for what you get!! especially with the xt-60 for supply connection! you are killing me, even though I just ordered a new one this am. i'm going to see order one of yours now! oh plus I think 5s might take over 4s. just a odd feeling! I have a 5s on the way to test this week. hehehe So here's my theory, and analogy that made me order 5s. So since all the new gear can handle 5s no problem people might be switching over. Ok weight quads, so the extra battery weight will make it faster, because of increased angle of attack. now another thing. I pretty much toasted all my new 4s batteries, and that is not cheap! So here it is. You have a 2 brand new cars from dealership only difference is one is a 4 cylinder, and other 6 now you want to get on the highway, and traffic is doing 80 mph. With the 4 cylinder your going to have to redline it to get up to speed fast enough to safely get into traffic. Now you try it with the 6 cylinder, and same scenario, but, and here it is! You only have to give it 3/4, maybe even less! ohh big deal. well that 6 cylinders engine is going to last longer, because with the 4 your pushing it to the max all the time trying to get up to speed. just like any other machine if your riding it hard all the time it's going to breakdown more, and faster. Now the battery is the engine. 4s = 4 cylinder, and 5s equals eight! correct me if i'm wrong, but since 5s has more volts your not going to have to draw as many amps to get the same rpm? you know i'm new to this so I could be way off!
I got mine. Beautiful layout and worked great at first. I've had a trace burn out three times already. I'm very careful and know I'm plugging them in correctly. It seems as though if they balance plug goes in at a slight angle you can burn a trace. The troubling part is, if there is a battery plugged in the port closest to the meter, you'd never know the trace is burned. That's if you didn't smell or hear it flash. That would have you charging all your batteries based of the cell data from the battery or batteries on the good side of the burned trace. I decided to pay for one with poly fuses. Doesn't matter if they are $100 if they keep me from burning down my house. I'd love to see your design with poly fuses.
If you're burning a trace, then they're making contact with the wrong pins. I'm not sure what the cause could be. But yeah if you've popped three of them, I agree this isn't a good product for you.
Just purchased a similar para board from progressive rc. It was twice as much($50) with only 6 xt-60 capacity. However I'm happy to shop local and it comes with a few other connectors like the fatshark barrel plug and some 1s connectors I think. 1 other difference Is that the balance fuses are re-usable somehow, and the main lead fuses are very common. No doubt I would have bought your board last week if I knew it was coming out. However I am quite happy with the PRC board and don't regret my purchase at all.
We want your money too ;) Love the idea of the removable fuses (I'm an auto tech). I don't have a use for one yet since I'm not flying anything with 4s yet (designing my own little 3s beast for my first brushless build), but will definitely pick one up when I do!
I would totally buy this if there was a 5S/6S version - that's when parallel charging starts to become a bit more scary and I like the fuse protection offered :]
Looks great to me! Seems like I hear a lot of guys running 5S these days so that might be the next on to make. But I'm over here with my 2300kv motors and still pretty happy with the power. Thinking about stepping up to 1500Mah batteries from my 1300Mah batteries to get some extra run time.
This is a great board - I do wish it had 5s ports, more and more of my quads are starting to go to 5s. That said, great board! I like the features and the layout, well done. :)
Looks awesome and getting one for my 4s. A great 2nd product would be a version of this with 2s/3s/4s (e.g.great for managing out other batteries for little quads - who doesn't have at least 5 2s batteries for a baby hawk or similar...) I think something that could do both 2s and 3s would be useful but really having just a 2s version would be awesome as I can use 2s/4s to run my goggles.
you can shave off part of the locking tab on the 4s balance lead so it will fit in a 6s balance port no problem and its still keyed so you cant plug it in the wrong way
Good idea Josh, Thanks. By the way, I'll buy one but just ordered some stuff from RMRC this morning, so it will have to wait till the next order. Can't waste another Fedex charge on one single item. This is one of those days I wish RMRC would join the modern world and install (or publish) their frickin' phone number so I could simply change my order... lol 😎
It;s about time! Been wanting to support you in some way for a while now. Have you ever considered getting a Patreon account for people who want to support your testing?
It's not 🌽 y . It's really a great oh shyt idea. Why didn't anyone think of this before.. lol. Great job you've got my support. Got to have one thanks and God bless
oh auto format... here is wthat the lower part should mean: A parallel balacing lead for multiple batteries (sold by HK) and then to connect the charger (minus) pole solder a 4mm banana plug to the (minus) pole of the parallel balance harness and same with the plus pole. Another advantage is that you do not have any short circuits by wrong connection via the XT60s.
UPDATE: I just received my JB signature line charging/balance board in less than 48 hours from ordering. This thing is hardcore and well built. Haven't used it yet but can't wait! Hats 🎩 off to READYMADERC! Congratulations Josh and strix for putting out this awesome product. If anyone doesn't have or wants an upgraded board then bottom line this is the one!!! Buy this...
Just cut the polarization/alignment tip (next to the positive lead) off the balance lead. Don't cut the one next to the negative. It will keep U from putting it in the wrong position. This will make U able to put it in any 4, 5 or 6s balance port. (This can also be done on battery balance connectors, if U want to charge 2s or 3s in 4-6s ports)
Nice smart parallel charge board. Only if it came in 2s, 3s, and maybe 5s, 6s also ? Any plans for those charge boards in the future? Nice work, I'll pick one up.
The paraboard I always wanted was one that would level the voltages on my batteries before charging so I don't have to make sure the voltages are within the correct tolerances.
This is my issue as well. I don't have enough batteries to have enough batteries that are all within a close voltage to really make use of one of these. I guess if i ran 20+ batteries or more during a session, something like this would be useful. Maybe. Given that my batteries all come down with voltages different enough, I'd rather just use two or three actual chargers.
@ thejason51873 Just plug them into the board and let it sit for a little while before charging. They will balance out without charging...meaning all of the cells on the first circuit will balance to each other and same with the rest.
That's just the way it is, otherwise, look the RCmodelsreview UA-cam vid, about balancing lipos , and the special cable bruce made, for a single cell of your lipo.
Joshua, that is such an awesome board! But please don't leave us 2s and 3s fliers out in the cold! How about a Joshua Bardwell Signature Parallel Charging Board for 2s-3s and XT30 connectors? There's a pretty big market here that you're missing out on. Now that you're doing this full time, it might be a pretty good source of added income.
Great idea! I'm on the subscription list for when they're back in stock. Anyway, R-Lines have really short balance leads. Have you tried to plug a few of those in at once? Curious if it'll work as well as my standard balance boards with the balance connector along the edge.
Just received my order today (back order was only about a week). Initial impressions: This is a very well built board. I was immediately surprised by the weight of it. Built in voltage meter is a really great added touch. The unit is charging up 3 packs as we speak and about 30 min in everything is working great (charging just below 1c @ 3A). Really happy with this purchase, thanks again Joshua!
I only have one 4s battery so far. If/when I get more, you can bet I'll buy this board. Thanks so much for everything you contribute to the miniquad community.
Ordered. Really appreciated that your brand launched with something fundamental, makes what most of us do more efficient and SAFE. Not something can be hype-loaded..
awesome stuff mate
Nice product Joshua. I may have to grab one next time I'm in the USA. I would have loved to have at least one battery outlet to have 3s and 2s balance ports as well for the google and radio batteries I use. Just for the odd times I charge that stuff. Otherwise it's very nice indeed. Does it have poly fuses?
No poly fuses because of price and space on the board.
The other balance plugs were intentionally left out to prevent people from ever making the mistake of accidentally mis-plugging the balance port. You can mis-plug the XT60 of course but that's what the fuses are for.
FinalGlideAus connect your 2s batteries in series :P
and if it is a deal breaker, would be easy for those inclined to add to a custom balance connector
FinalGlideAus just unplug this from your charger and plug you goggle batteries and transmitter battery in.
FinalGlideAus I've been using the SkyRC D100 with dual ports. Fantastic charger for that purpose. FS pack on one side and 4S on the other or micro 2S packs on one. Whatever! Awesome charger.
before watching the video, and after reading the description, i'd already decided to buy one. this is a product that should have been on the market years ago. well done.
Fantastic! I'm happy for you and the rapidly growing 4s consumption community! Keep flying and this is a great asset to do so!!! THANK YOU
JB..WOW. A genuine genius. Thank for all that you do for us FPV diehards. Because in everything our batteries will Live Another Day!
I used your referral link, and this is EXACTLY what I have always wanted in a parallel charging board, and I can't wait until mine arrives!
Awesome. I did exactly what you explained in the video I wear reading glasses and accidentally plugged a 4s into a 5s balance port. I'm sold, Congrats on JB SIGNATURE LINE balance board.
This is the one JB! I'm pretty excited about this because I need another board right now. Perfect timing. I will purchase one within the week!
I have begrudgingly started my 4S journey and just blew my old HK balance board a few weeks ago. This looks great and I would not have even defended the costs. The differences between this design and others is clear and the price is fine. Placed my order through your link and happily waiting for backorders to be fulfilled. Decided on ordering a Monster V2 too since I broke my HS1177 recently.
Nicely done Joshua ... you're working with a very good company that knows how to do it right. You make a good team.
I will be picking up this board, it really hits home.
Cheers my friend ...
I will be buying these, being in the automotive field for 14 years, was shock to see my parra board not have a fuse holder but a fuse soldered to the circuitry. Very nice josh. Keep that top shinny, you deffently can pull it off. Jeff Evans at evans tuning does. Thanks
The looks awesome - thanks for releasing and putting the thought into it
Congrats, JB! Hope to see more stuff in the future. Wishing you all the success.
Great product. I've plugged a 4S into a 5S port and the balance connectors both went up in flames
I couldn't find the video where you recently discussed this board having problems with the ISDT charger but I wanted to share with you that I've found that problem appears with much less frequency when I power cycle the charger itself before beginning a charge. Thanks Joshua, happy flying!
Honestly, if you had announced a frame or FC I would have been disappointed. But a parallel board that fixes all the dumb mistakes I've made? This is exactly what this industry needs.
I only want to participate on products that contribute something to the hobby. "Just another" frame... no thanks.
Good deal!! A couple of weeks ago I learned about the importance of fuses on these boards and bought two similar to this for $50 each!
Pre-ordered! Been waiting for a product like this. Nice timing Joshua
You're my hero. Great product. I'm ordering one now. I agree you should include a "standard" 6S balance plug adapter. Also 4S is of course the voltage to start with but I'd absolutely recommend expanding v2 into a line of boards covering all the "S"ss (voltages). I'd readily pick up a 2S board for my goggles batts, and a 3S and 5S as well.
Never liked to charged batteries all at one , now this board is going to make everything SOOO easy. Really nice job! It's going to be my first balance board ever :) thanks. And as always your video are awesome:)
Sold out already, Good job collaborating with my favorite online retailer
RMRC is fantastic. I'm so glad they could help make my dream a reality. Yes, I dream about parallel boards.
Just ordered one of these. I've been looking around at these for the ideal board. No questions asked I ordered one! Looks like a great balance charging board and can't wait to use it. CRAZYQUADBROTHERSP3 approved! 💯%
HUGE CONGRATS on your first product! I am so happy you came up with this, exactly what I never knew I needed. Ordering 2 now :-). I will just charge my 3S packs with my "old" Paraboards.
Hi Joshua,
as you are asking for ideas. There is some idea in my mind which is about having some kind of LiPo-Equalizer. This should generally be a parallel-charging board that has some regulating electronics on it and would do this:
During a flight session, you plug all empty 4S LiPos to it no matter how far you discharged them. The board will automatically equalize the LiPos but monitors and controls the C-Rate of the current-flow between those. This makes parallel-charging more safe and more effective.
Currently if I fly my 8 packs I check them afterwards and end up with maybe 3 groups of 2 batteries that I can charge in parallel. This board would simply need the time to get all batteries to the same level and then allow to charge them together.
Next design something that where you can plug 10 lipos of ANY voltage in (same capacity and cell count) and it has current limitter between lipo inputs so I never need to check voltages before paraller charging again. I know it can be done and it would make life so much easier. Maybe I have to do it myself.
I have had this conversation with many people, and every time we actually go down the road to designing a solution, it quickly gets so expensive that you might as well just build a charger. The problem is that the current limiter has to be switchable so it allows current with low resistance when you are charging, but restricts current when plugging in. This sounds simple in theory, but in practice, by the time you've covered all the contingencies, you've basically built a charger, and you might as well just go buy somebody else's charger instead.
He did this is from Joshua secret underground lair! i hope he doesn't get mad for showing the prototype!!
www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiT6PKysafVAhXIFT4KHYdnB8QQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.instructables.com%2Fid%2FFlux-Capacitor-Back-To-The-Future%2F&psig=AFQjCNEadm-3XlfYmmiSGacqA0wNzyTtUA&ust=1501173351512593
We don't need a complicated charger to do that. Just a small smart battery discharger to carry to the field that can balance all cells down to 3.6v or 3.7v. Land, plug in discharger and it should be done by the time your next pack is done.
I agree.... Considering we dont even flinch at buying $30 batts. I would pay $50 plus for a balance board that you could safely and mindlessly plug in same cell batts regardless of voltage.
Sold out in 3...2...1...🐙
No joke... still out of stock
this thing is amazing, and I am going to buy it.
one modification I will do, is to change the fuse into a 4 or 5 amps fuse. I am using 4cell 1300 and 1550mah batteries, which will manage 3,9 and 4,65 amps maximum at 3C charge. I am normally charging at maximum 2C, so I will have a good safety margin for normal use.
But, if I accidentally connect a battery with too high voltage, it will exceed the amperage that the fuse can handle, and blow the fuse. No batteries damaged.
I really dont see the point of having a 15 amps fuse. if a 1500mah battery takes 15 amps, it is 10C. then you will probably have a fire going on in your house.
I also think that a switchable fuse would be better than a one-time-use fuse, so you dont get stucked in the lack of fuses.
But overall, good job Joshua!
Martin Mehus this is an excellent idea
If you change the fuse to 4 or 5 amps, then plugging in two packs at 0.4 volts difference will blow the fuse.
ua-cam.com/video/yTEGhKBv09M/v-deo.html
We selected 15 amps because it gives adequate head-room for equalization current while still ensuring that a fault will blow the fuse.
And also because the light blue color looks awesome against the yellow XT60.
But mostly the first one.
Thanks for clearing this up! I thought 15 amps was overkill, guess not!
0.4V different seems a bit extreme to put lipos in parallel. The theory says between 3.7V and 3.8V there is approximately 20% capacity. So +10/-10% for the 2 you connect. On a 1500mAh it's 150mAh. If it equalizes in 30s (this number can change everything, but the current is much more at the beginning) after plugging, it means an average current of 18A.
By the way JB, a current curve of uneven charged lipos being connected would be very interesting !
Manuel Pellizzari fair enough, but I just tested this myself last night, I had four batteries at 14.9v, all equalized, then I plugged in a 16v (I crashed and didn't get to finish repairs by dark). I put a DC clamp current meter on the battery before I plugged it in, and then watched. The current started at something a bit over 10 amps, I couldn't catch it because it happened so fast, it immediately came down to 10 amps, and then stayed there for a few seconds before beginning to drop down to 9, 8, etc until it got to 5 amps, then it stayed there longer, more on the order of 10s of seconds before dropping down and I lost interest and meet them be to equalize.
The batteries were all 1.5ah 4s lipos. So each one individually never even seen 2c for more than a fraction of a second.
Ordered mine. Thanks for making our tools of the trade better, and safer!
That's a great price for a great product dude. And I'm happy you went with readymaderc. I really like that store! I have their 4 port balance board. If and when I get more than 4 batteries and a bigger charger, I'll pick that board up!
wow incredible wish this came out earlier i bought 2 parallel boards this year! it will surely be my next
My favourite UA-cam celebrity has a product, definitely in my shopping list.
Thanks, Jack. You're a great supporter. It's good to have you.
I stopped parallel charging because I used that older type board and I also burned balance wires and board traces too. ended up buy 2 other chargers . So I can charge 3 battery's at once. But I think with your new board I think I will go back to it. Thanks Joshua
Excellent at last a design dedicated just for 4s packs. Best part is 10 packs at a time 😮. I do hope it gets to the UK 🇬🇧 . Great job by all 👍🏻
Finally the board I have been waiting for! Thanks, Joshua! Orders on back order, but placed anyways. I think it will be well worth the wait.
This is great! I plan my whole day Friday around charging all 16 batteries. This is gonna be such an improvement. Thanks J.B
I really enjoyed this, and I too love my Babyhawk. This little thing rips, and its small enough you can fly it places you wouldn't fly your 5".
All I can say is...Thank you. I been looking for a dedicated 4s Board for a long time. Can't wait til it's back in stock! Kinda need some 5s ones too. Lol
10 ports... perfect fit for my Q6 Plus. Nice Josh!
I was planning to make something like this over the winter.. just without the fuses and polished look. I think I'll just buy this and enjoy a couple extra hours of free time. Nice work.
Honestly, try building one for cheaper than $23.
HI I'm Joshua "Board-well" as in, balance boardwell. But seriously, this is an excellent concept. Congrats Joshua!
Cliffnotes version:
So, what makes this rig better than the other stuff on the market is the ability to check each pack's voltage right on the board, the replaceable fuses on each port, and its compact size since it is designed for 4s packs only.
it is STILL actually *parallel* charging, and not charging ten 4s batteries as one huge 40s battery. This is why you have to make sure your batteries are all equally discharged when you hook them up.
P.s. where is the manual for this?
Nice work Joshua, hopefully this will be the first in a long line of JB inspired gear available. I have a Kakute F4 AIO due to your recommendations and input in the design (Great FC), I think the more stuff you endorse, the sooner you will be able to enjoy the fruits of your hard work in the industry.
One issue I have found is the accidental plugging of balance leads back to front in a hurry (lazy) quickly sparks the JST and burns out the traces on the cheaper boards. If you could add lower current protection to the balance leads it would prevent that issue. I guess it is all about room and cost on the board but you never know it may be feasible.
That's a tough one. The keyed connector should prevent this but if you're in a hurry you can jam it in anyway. Adding polyfuses is the best approach but they're expensive and take up space.
Joshua Bardwell yep I have managed to short a few that way the male pins on the JST-XH protrude just enough to make contact around the wrong way
User error but can still happen as I have managed to prove
This is FANTASTIC! Totally getting one. FWIW: There is one brand (Crazepony, on Amazon) that actually uses replaceable automotive fuses in their 2-6s balance boards. A few bucks more than yours. That said, I'm gonna get one of yours so I have a dedicated 4s station always at the ready (I fly 2-3s 65-95mm "micros" and 150-220mm 4s "minis", so I have multiple Acucells on my workbench)
I just placed my order with RMRC :) as soon as they receive stock (which said should be any day now) it will be on its way! So stoked for this board its got EVERY FEATURE I could have asked for in a Parallel board without the worry of it being from a cheap manufacture :)
I keep watching this and waiting for RMRC to ship lol
Where are your hairs ? :0
Looks fresh! :D
Alexander Karas yes :D
since when he had hair? ahaha
kidding
wait for vlog #2
Joshua Baldwell?
Congrats on the first product! I think you should collaborate with RMRC on a new flight controller and call it the Blue Falcon in honor of JC. God knows the dodo is past its prime.
One other feature I would like, would have been to have two voltage displays. one of the displays is to show the voltage of the whole board, and the other one is to show the voltage of an extra xt60 port on the side of the board. in this way, you will have the voltage of the board just beside the voltage of a single battery that you are to connect.
what would have been super cool was if you added two more displays, one that remembers what the lowest battery that you have tested in the voltage-test-xt60-port on the side, and another screen that shows the highest voltage of that have been connected to the voltage-test-xt60-port. It should reset itself when all the batteries are disconnected and the voltage is 0.
when it knows the highest and the lowest battery connected on the paralell board, you can place one red and one green LED diode, that lights up and tells you if it is safe to plug into the paralell board or not. this is an idea to a much more complicated paralell board with an easy software on it, but I think it could eliminate much of the danger and insecurity with paralell charging.
Martin Mehus just follow JBs charging guide, super easy, you can even get away with bigger voltage differences than you would think. I just check all voltages, one at time, then line them in a row, highest voltage to lowest. Plug in all the similar low voltage batteries first, once you've got 2 or 3 on there, they share the load of the higher voltages when the high ones discharge into the low ones. You can safely discharge a battery way faster than you can safely charge. So higher voltage pack discharging into several lower voltage packs splits the amperage between them.
Very Nice. I don't know if I need one, but I'm going to get one anyway (when they come back in stock). You rock Bardwell!
Nice shave and shine. Could use some anti-glare powder.
He's enlightening, that's all.
"you are here to learn"... im not coming for anti glare powder, please dont use it
The JB product line, awesome!!!
NOOOOOOO! I just bought another one off amazon this am! absolutely brilliant MR. Bardwell! I was saying this the past x amount of times I parallel charged, about all the unused ports! not only that but I, I mean a friend of mine wasn't paying attention, because he cat came close. no kitty danger! well I,,mhhmhm i mean he plugged the balance in backwards. sparks, burning electronic smell. well i started using a black marker, and only coloring the negative side half of the 4s port. this was it makes it a little harder to make that mistake. the price of this board is pretty darn good for what you get!! especially with the xt-60 for supply connection! you are killing me, even though I just ordered a new one this am. i'm going to see order one of yours now! oh plus I think 5s might take over 4s. just a odd feeling! I have a 5s on the way to test this week. hehehe
So here's my theory, and analogy that made me order 5s. So since all the new gear can handle 5s no problem people might be switching over. Ok weight quads, so the extra battery weight will make it faster, because of increased angle of attack.
now another thing. I pretty much toasted all my new 4s batteries, and that is not cheap! So here it is.
You have a 2 brand new cars from dealership only difference is one is a 4 cylinder, and other 6
now you want to get on the highway, and traffic is doing 80 mph. With the 4 cylinder your going to have to redline it to get up to speed fast enough to safely get into traffic. Now you try it with the 6 cylinder, and same scenario, but, and here it is! You only have to give it 3/4, maybe even less! ohh big deal. well that 6 cylinders engine is going to last longer, because with the 4 your pushing it to the max all the time trying to get up to speed. just like any other machine if your riding it hard all the time it's going to breakdown more, and faster. Now the battery is the engine. 4s = 4 cylinder, and 5s equals eight! correct me if i'm wrong, but since 5s has more volts your not going to have to draw as many amps to get the same rpm? you know i'm new to this so I could be way off!
Awesome product! I'll definitely pick one of these up next time I increase my battery collection.
I got mine. Beautiful layout and worked great at first. I've had a trace burn out three times already. I'm very careful and know I'm plugging them in correctly. It seems as though if they balance plug goes in at a slight angle you can burn a trace. The troubling part is, if there is a battery plugged in the port closest to the meter, you'd never know the trace is burned. That's if you didn't smell or hear it flash. That would have you charging all your batteries based of the cell data from the battery or batteries on the good side of the burned trace.
I decided to pay for one with poly fuses. Doesn't matter if they are $100 if they keep me from burning down my house. I'd love to see your design with poly fuses.
If you're burning a trace, then they're making contact with the wrong pins. I'm not sure what the cause could be. But yeah if you've popped three of them, I agree this isn't a good product for you.
Pretty darn cool! ...if I didn't already have a board I'd totally jump on this. Great price, imo. Congrats!
Congratulations Joshua on getting your idea into a reality without having to call George Forman 😂
Just purchased a similar para board from progressive rc. It was twice as much($50) with only 6 xt-60 capacity. However I'm happy to shop local and it comes with a few other connectors like the fatshark barrel plug and some 1s connectors I think. 1 other difference Is that the balance fuses are re-usable somehow, and the main lead fuses are very common. No doubt I would have bought your board last week if I knew it was coming out. However I am quite happy with the PRC board and don't regret my purchase at all.
Yeah. Polyfuses for the balance ports were not in our budget.
Yeah finally! Thanks Josh... just ordered two of them!!!
We want your money too ;)
Love the idea of the removable fuses (I'm an auto tech). I don't have a use for one yet since I'm not flying anything with 4s yet (designing my own little 3s beast for my first brushless build), but will definitely pick one up when I do!
I would totally buy this if there was a 5S/6S version - that's when parallel charging starts to become a bit more scary and I like the fuse protection offered :]
Looks great to me! Seems like I hear a lot of guys running 5S these days so that might be the next on to make. But I'm over here with my 2300kv motors and still pretty happy with the power. Thinking about stepping up to 1500Mah batteries from my 1300Mah batteries to get some extra run time.
This is a great board - I do wish it had 5s ports, more and more of my quads are starting to go to 5s. That said, great board! I like the features and the layout, well done. :)
I'm sure a 5S board is in the future, given how fast this board has sold!
Great, now I'll be buying batteries 10 at a time, instead of 6 at a time hahah. Great innovation Josh
Thank you for answering quickly thats awesome! I will be ordering one of your boards here soon!
Looks awesome and getting one for my 4s.
A great 2nd product would be a version of this with 2s/3s/4s (e.g.great for managing out other batteries for little quads - who doesn't have at least 5 2s batteries for a baby hawk or similar...) I think something that could do both 2s and 3s would be useful but really having just a 2s version would be awesome as I can use 2s/4s to run my goggles.
Will buy, love both of my strix 1s boards. Cant wait for a 2s version since my babyhawk gets the most play these days
you can shave off part of the locking tab on the 4s balance lead so it will fit in a 6s balance port no problem and its still keyed so you cant plug it in the wrong way
Heck yeah! Definitely gonna be picking up 2 of these. Im so sick of all the extra ports I never use. Great job Joshua!
Nice. I'll be getting one. Would buy the 3s version also. Still flying 50/50 3s-4s.
Good idea Josh, Thanks. By the way, I'll buy one but just ordered some stuff from RMRC this morning, so it will have to wait till the next order. Can't waste another Fedex charge on one single item. This is one of those days I wish RMRC would join the modern world and install (or publish) their frickin' phone number so I could simply change my order... lol 😎
Congratulations Joshua
perfection, congratulations this will sell well.
Great idea on the parallel board! Just ordered two from your link :)
Thank you! Finally! Great job Joshua!
It;s about time! Been wanting to support you in some way for a while now. Have you ever considered getting a Patreon account for people who want to support your testing?
Nicely done Josh! I have been waiting for a better para board! Way to choose a market space that has gone untouched by a youtube channel FPV big name.
It's not 🌽 y . It's really a great oh shyt idea. Why didn't anyone think of this before.. lol. Great job you've got my support. Got to have one thanks and God bless
Most people are moving to 5S like a lot of people I bought 10 5s batteries the other day so hopefully we can somehow start making everything 5S ready
Damn, nice board there JB! I like it!!!
Within in one week ! Banggod will sell this one 😑😑😑
A week? They're slacking! 3 days, tops!
Joshua, awesome board ! I only wish there was an XT30 version. I have long abandoned XT60 and will never go back !!
I finish some flights with a pretty warm XT60. I'm not sure I would trust XT30.
I am mostly a 3S user. Would love to see a 3S like this in the near future. Insta-Buy!
I hope that we can get 3S, 5S, maybe XT30 version soon.
GREAT PRODUCT AT A GREAT PRICE JOSHUA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)
CONGRATULATIONS MY FRIEND!!!!!!
Nice job! Another fine contribution to the community
oh auto format... here is wthat the lower part should mean:
A parallel balacing lead for multiple batteries (sold by HK) and then to connect the charger (minus) pole solder a 4mm banana plug to the (minus) pole of the parallel balance harness and same with the plus pole.
Another advantage is that you do not have any short circuits by wrong connection via the XT60s.
thank you!!! finally a board i feel safe using
UPDATE: I just received my JB signature line charging/balance board in less than 48 hours from ordering. This thing is hardcore and well built. Haven't used it yet but can't wait! Hats 🎩 off to READYMADERC! Congratulations Josh and strix for putting out this awesome product. If anyone doesn't have or wants an upgraded board then bottom line this is the one!!! Buy this...
Hope you enjoy it!
Joshua Bardwell Thanks buddy!👍🏻
Just cut the polarization/alignment tip (next to the positive lead) off the balance lead. Don't cut the one next to the negative. It will keep U from putting it in the wrong position. This will make U able to put it in any 4, 5 or 6s balance port. (This can also be done on battery balance connectors, if U want to charge 2s or 3s in 4-6s ports)
Nice smart parallel charge board. Only if it came in 2s, 3s, and maybe 5s, 6s also ? Any plans for those charge boards in the future?
Nice work, I'll pick one up.
The paraboard I always wanted was one that would level the voltages on my batteries before charging so I don't have to make sure the voltages are within the correct tolerances.
This is my issue as well. I don't have enough batteries to have enough batteries that are all within a close voltage to really make use of one of these. I guess if i ran 20+ batteries or more during a session, something like this would be useful. Maybe. Given that my batteries all come down with voltages different enough, I'd rather just use two or three actual chargers.
@ thejason51873 Just plug them into the board and let it sit for a little while before charging. They will balance out without charging...meaning all of the cells on the first circuit will balance to each other and same with the rest.
That's just the way it is, otherwise, look the RCmodelsreview UA-cam vid, about balancing lipos , and the special cable bruce made, for a single cell of your lipo.
Is this your first officialy sponsored product?
Awesome. im getting 1
Joshua, that is such an awesome board! But please don't leave us 2s and 3s fliers out in the cold! How about a Joshua Bardwell Signature Parallel Charging Board for 2s-3s and XT30 connectors? There's a pretty big market here that you're missing out on. Now that you're doing this full time, it might be a pretty good source of added income.
Great idea. Ordering now. Thanks. Love the new doo.
Congrats, looks like an awesome product. I would buy one.
This is fantastic! Are they going to be making other boards for different sizes of batteries like this one?
Joshua Bardwell any idea when it will re-stock? This charging board is exactly what I’ve been dreaming off! 🙌
Great product Joshua ! Please try to find a way to sell in Europe too ! ( Hobbyking ?) looking forward to your future products !
Great idea! I'm on the subscription list for when they're back in stock. Anyway, R-Lines have really short balance leads. Have you tried to plug a few of those in at once? Curious if it'll work as well as my standard balance boards with the balance connector along the edge.