PL 8 - Q and A section - How to Set up - Use etc,

[funkykeyboard]

believe it or not - making a espresso is not as easy as it seems - its actually very hard to get it right - alot is involved that has to correct to get that good shot

temp. bean grind - dosing - amount of grams - fresh beans only - temp in the apt. changes the outcome also - different in the morn. than the evening shot -

kind of beans used - once you have a real espresso shot - nice creamy tasty - you cant have one outside any more - they all suck - starbucks is joke -

since i am always trying different beans - not always get the perfect shot - besides the right grinder - and espresso machine - cleaning - water softener - all makes a difference.

if it's possible to try this. https://www.kwmwine.com/en/gb/Whiplash- ... vKEALw_wcB

Beer that tastes like coffee

[expresso]

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10322


Funky - i started a section for this - dont want to mix it with the charger section

if interested - post back in the other section above

[Burgerman]

You cant have too many PL8s. Theres 3 on my bench, for chairs, hobby stuff, camaras, mower, etc. And a 4th one, a BT modded version that I use all over the place daily. Currently in my kitchen charging a couple of powerchairs via BlueTooth.

So hopefully they will be back in sock in the future.
Note all the connectors!
starting on left charger 1, theres a huge multi connector that fits every damned thing. Then a balance connector that does 2S up to 8S. Then a nikon camera battery holder.
Charger 2 is a high power 40A parallel charger board that inc balance for 2 to 6S hobby packs 4 at a time. And a 9V PP3 battery connector. Thats used for 9V batteries and to connect AAA and AA battery holders. And charger 3 has the connector for the wheelchairs. Lithium, and XLR for LEAD.

[biscuit]

If I update the firmware on my PL8 will I need to reinstall my presets as well? Can I even still use them?
I'm using version 3.33 at present.
Is there any point in going to v3.35, actually?

[Burgerman]

Yes all works. Do it! Because as well as adding new chemistries etc which it has, (LTO) it will inevitably have some bug fixes too. If you ever watch a programmer work you will see them spot errors etc while working on new stuff. And they tidy these up while thinking... So you should really update. Your presets should remain. If not just reload them. Before you start save all of them to your desktop.

If you cant be bothered, it will still work as it always did. But you will not be able to charge LTO cells. And will be missing a few bug fixes.

[funkykeyboard]

So how do people share and discuss their graphs on here? I have clicked on the "upload attachment" and uploaded by most recent charge graph. I'm happy to put them on here as images if that's easier for people.

Overview. I only took about 9 miles out of the 150Ahr pack. But I haven't been in the wheelchair for 20 days, so it's just been stood there. So after Nine Mile and 20 days the pack took in about;
71Ahr, in 4 hours 30 minutes, and terminated the charge after sitting at a constant voltage for about 60 minutes.

Any advice appreciated, funky. :-)

PS. This website your said "the extension CP8 is not allowed". So how do people share?

[funkykeyboard]

I just changed the CP8 extension to TXT

[Burgerman]

9 miles you say?
Did you forget to pull up the anchor?

That means you would get just 5 miles from a healthy lead acid battery total. This only gives around 40Ah. Honestly I dont understand how thats even possible. You are driving an electron guzzler. Something wrong somewhere. One possibility you left it turned on for a month?

Graph looks OK but CV time a little long. So raise the termination mA by say 20% in increments until it takes around 20 mins at CV.

[Burgerman]

You should get around 1 mile for every 2 to 3Ah.

For e.g with 170Ah and some remaining afterwards, expresso got 68 miles in a fast heavy bounder chair around new york.

[funkykeyboard]

9 miles you say?
Did you forget to pull up the anchor?

That means you would get just 5 miles from a healthy lead acid battery total. This only gives around 40Ah. Honestly I dont understand how thats even possible. You are driving an electron guzzler. Something wrong somewhere. One possibility you left it turned on for a month?

Graph looks OK but CV time a little long. So raise the termination mA by say 20% in increments until it takes around 20 mins at CV.

Oh that's good news, "the graph seems fine".

Yes that was a mistake. I couldn't go in and have a look at what the actual mileage was, and it guessed wrong. That said, I thought I'd only not been in it for 9 or 10 days and it turned out to be 20. Bloody lockdown messing with my head.

The actual mileage was 13.8. So should be able to achieve about 27 miles.

Oh, I thought you said between 40 and 80 minutes. No problem, I will mess around until it takes about 20 minutes at constant voltage.

Thanks for your input John.

[Burgerman]

INITIALLY it needs maybe an hour at CV but if it balances relatively fast thats not needed. So most of your CV stage is already balanced. So you can reduce it.
This is why you need to look at graphs. Esp at the start. And esp as they age or deteriorate to spot problems before they become terminal.

Why are you eating so many amp hours per mile? 27 miles is what you should get from lead in strait lines. You should be getting a lot more from 150Ah. Maybe vary low tyre pressures, you live on a mountain, or something?

[steves1977uk]

If I can get 30+ miles out of a 75Ah pack then FK should be able to do 50+. Maybe he goes off-road a lot or has steep hills to climb.

Steve

[expresso]

from what i recall - i get about 30 miles to 35 depending using about 90ah

[Burgerman]

Most get around 2.5 to 3Ah used per mile on faster chairs. Some like snaker only use 2Ah per mile as he is in a 6mph chair.

I am fat. I use 3Ah per mile average...

[Furio]

I AM RUINED.

After about 3 years of life, my PL8v2 departed at a critical time for his heavenly abode. The end came swift and smooth.A requiem for his memory.

While charging LIFEPO4 8S set, the charger started beeping continuously. On checking found the display lighted but blank. Disconnected the battery, switched off the charger then powered up. Again the beeping started but now with a moving display showing error code 32 - push to reset. Resetting doesn't work and the beeping continues with the same moving display. The displayed error code 32 could not be found anywhere in the official list of error codes. Is it something that I can do to remedy. Any suggestion/solution is appreciated.

[expresso]

Call the company see what they say and when are they going to start shipping the chargers again - we better hope soon

when they do - its best to get at least 2 of them - if not buy one now - one in xmas time - another next year - slowly build up to you have 3 at least for spares and only use one

maybe BM will know what that error code it - hopefully with a solution

[Burgerman]

Reload firmware. And test again. Also look inside make sure ribbon cables are connected firmly.

[Furio]

As suggested by BM,I reinstalled the firmware. Now the continuous beep became a short series and stopped .The CCS displayed two error code:#3 High i/p voltage, varying from 30~31.5 when the actual i/p was 28vdc. I reduced the i/p to 13vdc,but the ccs still displayed 30~31.5. Then I loaded the new firmware (36),but to no avail.All this was done with the battery disconnected.

The second error code is 100, that is for high temperature .Iam totally lost. The charger can't be reset.

I haven't opened the charger for inspection.

[Furio]

As suggested by BM,I reinstalled the firmware. Now the continuous beep became a short series and stopped .The CCS displayed two error code:#3 High i/p voltage, varying from 30~31.5 when the actual i/p was 28vdc. I reduced the i/p to 13vdc,but the ccs still displayed 30~31.5. Then I loaded the new firmware (36),but to no avail.All this was done with the battery disconnected.

The second error code is 100, that is for high temperature .Iam totally lost. The charger can't be reset.

I haven't opened the charger for inspection.

[Burgerman]

Well you may need to send it in. But look inside for obvious problems. Sounds like it might have had an input voltage spike...

Try powering from a 12v or 24v battery. Your supply may have a noise issue.

[funkykeyboard]

As suggested by BM,I reinstalled the firmware. Now the continuous beep became a short series and stopped .The CCS displayed two error code:#3 High i/p voltage, varying from 30~31.5 when the actual i/p was 28vdc. I reduced the i/p to 13vdc,but the ccs still displayed 30~31.5. Then I loaded the new firmware (36),but to no avail.All this was done with the battery disconnected.

The second error code is 100, that is for high temperature .Iam totally lost. The charger can't be reset.

I haven't opened the charger for inspection.

sorry to hear that mate I hope you get sorted

[funkykeyboard]

I'll start another thread on why this chair gets such low mileage. Not really bothered by it, but if anybody has any suggestions.

[steves1977uk]

Just had CCS update itself with newer firmware...

***VERSION 3.36 Mar-7-2021*** Sped up current ramp up time at the start of a charge.

Another sign that the PL8 is still being supported.

Steve

[Burgerman]

Yes I added that to 1 charger to test a week ago. So far I didnt test! Forgot about it... They originally slowed that because many users complained that the original rapid ramp up times upset generators. Many clubs have a generator at the flightline to charge planes/helis/starter packs/rc gear etc. And some didnt like the fast start and ramp up to high current as it stalled the low throttle generator. So they slowed it to give the generator chance to ramp up power. Now they are speeding it up again! Maybe it should be adjustable.

[steves1977uk]

Well now it seems to take about 20 secs before it applies full power. I agree it should be user adjustable depending on the power source.

Steve

[expresso]

should this be up dated on all i have or not a big deal - just update the one i am using at the moment -

i wish they start shipping them already - i paid over a year ago -

[steves1977uk]

Just update them expresso when you use them. Although there may be other hidden fixes too.

Steve

[expresso]

yeah i just leave the others alone till i use them - right now and lately i been only use one - leaving the others alone till needed

come to think of it - the last time i did use it - it did do an update - but i didnt realize what it was doing - didnt check the firmware -

what is the new firmware number now ? the latest

[steves1977uk]

what is the new firmware number now ? the latest

Look 6 posts above!

Steve

[Arima]

Bought 2, 12v agm batts to have on the workbench bench. I've looked back as far as 2017 post in this thread and I can not find a 24v agm preset. Also not able to add a new preset thru CCS. PL8 came with 23 presets, and slots for 2 more. Is there a trick to entering data and getting it to save?