Turnigy AC6 malfunction?

[19000rpm]

I've had a Turnigy Accucell 6 for a little over a year. Put hundreds of cycles on it. All of a sudden it won't balance charge. It goes through the cycle, but it won't fully balance charge any of my 3S packs. The charger will run to it's limit of 120 mins. During the cycle one or more cells will drastically vary in volts from, 3.46 to 4.23, for example. Anybody had a problem like this?

[Solitaire]

Nope. I've had great success with the Accucel-6. Bought one two years ago, sold it to my brother who still uses it and bought a iCharger 106B for better charging options. I just recently bought another Accucel-6 as a backup charger (always nice to have two anyway) when they were on for $19.95 and it's been fine as well.

No clue why yours doesn't work now. Obviously a component malfunction, but which one...who knows.

Does the charger malfunction with both 2S and 3S? Try any 4S or higher?

[19000rpm]

Yeah, sol I got mine when they were on sale too. A great buy. Heck, they're a great buy even when they're not on sale.

I seem to be the only one with a problem. I've never heard a single complaint about this charger. I don't think it's a fixable problem. At least not by me.

I think I'll get another one when they come back in stock. Maybe 2 of them. In the meantime, I'll be using my old RTF chargers...1 1/2 hrs per chg. Fortunately I've got 5 of them; including one that came with my original HB3 4 yrs ago. ;D

[Solitaire]

Well, I'm thinking if it's a balance port problem with either the 2S or 3S port, maybe the 6S port is fine and you could use this...
www.progressiverc.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=21&category_id=11&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Just order the one for the 106B to get the right cable. (6S as compared to 8S)

... Or as you say, just order another one from HC

[19000rpm]

Great suggestion Sol. It could very well be the 3S port.

[19000rpm]

I ordered the cable. That's a lot better set up than the charging ports on the side of charger where I usually need to twist the plug to get it in the charging port. The twisiting has lead to a broken lead or two in the past. Thanks again sol for your suggestion

In the meantime I'm using the Accucel's 4S port to charge my 3S's. I shaved the left plastic guide on the 3S battery balance plug so it will go in easily to the 4S balance plug port on the charger. It balances to within 1/100th of a volt. The balance finish alarm doesn't go off though, so I have to go in every so often and check the status. I think the balance finish alarm doesn't work because it's expecting a 4th cell to balance.

[Solitaire]

Good to hear the charger is at least working. I'm betting a solder joint on the 3S port has come apart internally. Likely something you can fix easily, 19k

[19000rpm]

I'll pop it open and take a look at that sol. You're right; It must be a wire broken, or loose, specific to the 3S port since the 4S works fine.

I hadn't noticed at the time, but in retrospect, the 3S charging time had taken longer and longer over the last few months so the connection break must have developed over a period of time. The 4S port charges very quickly just like the 3S used to.

BTW, the balance finish alarm IS working. I must not have left the charger on long enough, at first, for it to go off.

[19000rpm]

I received the Progressive RC balance board and it works great.

I'm not putting stress on the battery balance leads anymore getting them plugged and unplugged from the charger and that's a plus.

[Solitaire]

Glad it's working now, 19k. I have those boards for both my chargers and they sure make it easier to get the job done.