A look inside this Hobbyking supplied 8S balance charger. From what Hobbyking are saying about fakes, this unit looks like the genuine article. But the way the MOSFETs had been mounted onto the rear heatsink was truly appalling and needed to be fixed.
By Julian
Youtuber, shed dweller, solar charge controller aficionado
I wonder if that bar was also drawing some of the heat away from those devices, which it surely isn't doing any more with the addition of those rubber feet.
My trunigy 8150 charger goes off after couple of minutes.. does any one have any clue what to go check. the power adapter is fine and it works well with my other charger
It is so stupid. One hot mosfet makes hot all the other ones.
send this video to hobbyking and show them what they're actually selling.
I like your videos a lot but rubber thingies there on the components, is this really a good idea? Those can prolly get pretty hot on that side too, also there's no way for that flat bar to keep them pressed against the radiator without bending. Even after your mod there is a slight bend to that bar. I'd get a piece of thick square/rectangular alum tube cut it to properly fit(kind of an u shape) and use that for support…, and lose the rubber thingies 🙂 surely more work but it will be more rigid
Genuine IRF mosfets usually have a mark on the inside of that circular "stamp" on top of the plastic case. So these look like fakes to me.
Destroyed a tact button pulling off the buttons that way, but lacking any other alternatives, you might as well plan on replacing all 4 buttons with a breakout board.
Julian Ilett hi, i was slightly worried when you put thee rubber feet on, i know from experience that the charger can get rather warm, and i am worried the rubber would melt and maybe cause a fire hazard…
whats your thoughts on this?
Thank you for the inside look, especially on how to get the buttons out. My buttons are sort of malfunctioning…they work intermittently and I'd like to replace them. Any idea on how best to go about it? I find that if I apply extra-firm pressure to the buttons they work, but "regular" pressing doesn't really work.
I just bought two of these off Hobbyking and would you believe, the bars are also bent on mine as well. They must churn these things out by the thousand and not care about thermal efficiency. I'll have to rip mine open to bend the bars back into shape at some point.
The bar needs to be reverse curved, so that by the time there is enough screw force to straighten it out, it is applying uniform pressure across all the devices.
Actually it looks really good. Only few things that are not ok but well i suppose cheap solutions are good also :). resistor network is there instead of one good resisistor .but this one is ok also. cheap solution and easy ..What i don't like is ..instead of flat metal support bar for transistors they could spend few cent more and use I_I this shape so there would be no way to bed it at all..another thing is that coil and those two capacitors are not glued to board and that is not good at all…I think i don't have to say this was made in China because no oficial trademark like CE or what ever ..boad should be date coded as well. but even if it was in China or taiwan..quality is really good ..compared to some CH crap we have on market..Nice teardown
the only possibly looking genuine IR mosfet in that pack is maybe the one next to the 5v reg, it has the usual half round ears cut into the tab,
Most IR fets have a cut that from the top down goes in at a sharp angle and then curves back out, like a semicircular cut with a flattened top
Getting genuine mosfets is hard, I even had some from an ebay seller who was getting them off one of the UK main component houses, but I Really Shouldn't name them…..
Your 'spacer fet' looks genuine IR
any views on rubber mat insulation/thermal performance over old mica insulating with thermal compounds ?
I've never liked rubber, to me its an insulation….
I recently bought an IMAX was very unhappy with it as it was a FAKE and the voltages where off by about 700mv that might not seem a lot but when charging LION cells it can be dangerous, I complained to the Ebay seller and got a full refund, plus I pointed out to the seller that selling counterfeit goods is a crime in the UK and even distributing them is a crime, as a result I was not asked to return the item, so got money back and got to keep the IMAX..
I later bought a TURNIGY ACCUCELL 6 with my refunded money from Hobby King and it is much better, but never got a user manual or pretty box was bare cardboard :p
Not to related to the video. But I'm looking for the cheapest way to go about setting up a battery backup. Doesn't need to be super reliable . I'm thinking about getting a couple 50 watt solar panels and a few of those cheap eBay charge controllers. With a 500 – 700 watt inverter. I'd probably only ever use 200 watts for more than 15 or 20 minutes . I just want it to have the capability of running my mini fridge if I have to use it for that. The hardest part is finding cheap batteries. I want it to have a battery bank with a decent capacity
Love your vid
Is there any reason you can't drill and tap mounting holes for each semi on the heatsink doing away with the bar totally? It would be a bit of work but would be a lot more robust both thermally and mechanically.