Accucel 8 Charger DOA

[cuban8]

Just tried my Accucell 8 charger from Hobby King and all I get with any of my packs is CONNECTION BREAK. The unit is correctly set and connected to the cells for charge. I've seen a few complaints about this problem before, but I took a chance and ordered one anyway. I suspect it's just a bit of rubbish soldering but before I open it up to check, has anyone found/solved the problem before?

Thanks

C8

[RCModelReviews]

Most likely a solder joint on the circuit-board. I've fixed a couple of chargers for club members with that fault.

[cuban8]

Thanks Bruce. I'll take a look at it.

C8

[S-rob]

this may help....
Look at the balance leads/socket 1st
I got that error with lipo's that had a broken bal lead
see what happens if you try & charge with the bal lead disconnected.

3 lipos with same isssue, so much for brand name lipos. 1 internal bal wire too short so it breaks off the lipo (fixable)

[cuban8]

FIXED!!

Dismantled the charger and was suprised at the very poor soldering therein. Solder beads and splashes all over the place, no wonder the magic smoke is sometimes seem coming from these units. Spent an hour with a magnifying glass and bright lamp cleaning up the PCB (which itself looked to be of good quality, but with signs of rework to a few of the SM devices at the factory) and re-flowing as many of the dodgy looking joints as I could get at (I used to work on SMT reworks years ago and still have my tools).
Re-assembled the unit and.......CONNECTION BREAK!
As a last resort, I metered the very nice looking battery power lead with very neat heat shrink to the XT60 and.....OPEN CIRCUIT!! Further inspection revealed the so-called soldered joint to the the 4mm plug was made from what looked like chewing gum. I'm glad that I found the busted lead after stripping and cleaning up the PCB as I wouldn't have seen the horrors lurking inside the unit itself, so the time wasn't really wasted.
Anyway, my Accucel 8 is fine now after some TLC, but what a shame that an otherwise perfectly good product is being spoilt by appalling quality control.

C8

[RCModelReviews]

Anyway, my Accucel 8 is fine now after some TLC, but what a shame that an otherwise perfectly good product is being spoilt by appalling quality control.

What?

Poor quality control on a low-priced Chinese-made product?

I find that hard to believe!

[cuban8]

True enough Bruce, but the problems with the charger were caused by carelessness at the factory not an intrinsic design fault. As I said before, the quality of the case, PCB etc was as good as anyone's, why don't they get their act together and employ people that can solder? If it means putting the price up by $10 or so for a better product, I'd be happy to pay it.


C8

[cuban8]

I saw Imax b6 chargers being advertised on Ebay for £15 including delivery to the UK a couple of weeks back, so I decided to order one. Item arrived yesterday and after the hassle with the Accucel 8, thought I'd strip it and see what was inside. Very pleasantly surprised. The PCB was clean with no solder splashes and only one solder ball stuck in a bit of flux. Quality of assembly was OK, although the soldering to a couple of components looked a bit rushed but was acceptable. The only change I'd suggest would be to get rid of the connector for the power input and hard-wire a lead to the board. All in all far better quality that the Turnigy. A lot has been mentioned about Imax clones, and I suppose for 15 quid this must be one.....however it works and looks to be quite well put together. Have charged six 3 cell lipos and a couple of 6 cell packs and so far no magic smoke LOL.