Description
FMA Cellpro PowerLab 8 V2
Power
FMA Direct and Revolectrix have teamed up once again on this ambitious endeavor. The industry’s first 1344W workhorse! So much more than a charger, we had to call it something else, so we chose to label it a “Battery Workstation”. Capable of charging, discharging, monitoring, or performing multiple cycles on any current or future battery chemistry at alarming speed, PL8 represents the end of all speculation about who sells the most powerful battery management system in its class for the best value. At $0.17 per WATT, it blows the lid off the competition and represents unprecedented VALUE. If for no other reason, the competition will be scratching their heads trying to figure out how to catch up to this one. Add to these facts, the industry’s first, well-conceived plan to support safe parallel charging of virtually any number of same-cell-count packs all at once, and you will realize that the investment in PL8 has paid for itself many times over. You no longer need more batteries. You need a battery workstation that can charge, discharge, cycle or monitor many packs faster than you can fly them to depletion!
The Cellpro PowerLab 8 (v2) Battery Workstation directly supports all Cellpro Revolectrix battery packs. FMA sells adapters separately to interface with various manufacturer’s batteries, including the ALL NEW safe parallel adapters which can be daisy-chained to allow simultaneous, safe parallel charge of multiple packs. Click here to view the Adapters page.Click here to view a pictorial diagram of Cellpro battery standard wiring conventions.
But power means little without other key features of SAFETY, RELIABILITY,FLEXIBILITY, and INTUITIVE OPERATION; the key elements that are painstakingly crafted into the Cellpro product line. The competition will come along with powerful chargers after we lead, but they will have trouble harnessing this power.
From the massive, over-sized heat sink, to the twin cooling fans…From the 40A, 1344W (@ 24VDC/50A input) synchronous charging circuitry, to the 1344W capable “regenerative discharge” capability (see details below)…
Everything about this all-inclusive battery management system screams EXCESSIVE.
SAFETY
Do not be scared off by the claims of this advertisement by thinking this is too much charger for you. This may be the safest, simplest charger you will ever use. That’s because it’s a Cellpro, and being a Cellpro, that means you can not make a mistake when you use it. It simply will not let you. The charger will never let you charge a LiPo by selecting the wrong cell count. It knows how many cells are connected by monitoring charge voltage on each cell in the pack individually. It performs an entire series of tests to make sure the battery is hooked up correctly to the charger before it ever even starts to charge, checking for valid voltages on each cell, reverse polarity conditions, reversed node wiring to name a few. It constantly monitors the total pack voltage and compares that to the sum of the individual cells. It can not and will not ever charge a single lithium cell above the proper end-of-charge voltage, and because it is a Cellpro, it assures you of the most accurate, laboratory quality readings at all times. Every single Cellpro charger is factory calibrated using custom test equipment developed by the engineering team at FMA in the United States. Furthermore, if a pack has been over-discharged, it will automatically enter low-voltage restore mode. It will reduce charge voltage during cold weather to extend battery life; all parameters associated with this feature can be adjusted by the customer. Even though batteries in general, and especially lithium batteries, represent a volatile potential, the PowerLab 8 (v2) reduces the risks associated with maintaining any size battery, any chemistry by magnitudes over other brands. Safety has always been at the forefront of all FMA charger designs. PowerLab 8 (v2) represents the next phase in the evolution of safety.
RELIABILITY
Take top-notch components capable of handling all of the stresses associated with super-high power, high voltage operation; things like an over-sized heat sink, extra-heavy 10AWG input wire, twin cooling fans and a gigantic sendust core toroid inductor to handle higher input current and combine these with stable firmware/software that is thoroughly tested in-house and with outside beta testing, and what you get is a new standard in reliability. We don’t like getting chargers back from the field for any reason. That’s why we’ve gone the extra mile on this one.
FLEXIBILITY
No, the new Cellpro PowerLab 8 (v2) is not just another charger on the block. In fact, it is not just another charger at all. It is an all-encompassing battery management and analysis tool. It is compact, powerful, and easy to use. Combining this kind of performance with the ability to autonomously cycle batteries, graphing all aspects of charge and discharge at the cell level (using the free Charge Control Software) and over multiple cycles provides you with key information about any chemistry battery you might have. As well it will tell you the quality of your battery by monitoring and graphing internal resistance at the cell level; more accurately and faster than ever. It will maximize the health of your batteries and it will quite possibly re-juvinate batteries you thought were beyond repair. It will do all of this faster and more accurately than other chargers by means of the industry’s highest (and adjustable) power balancing current available. After all, what good is 40A of potential charger current if you back it up with spindly balance current? But most importantly, through the type of data the PL8 can provide, it will tell you if you are safe to fly with your battery.
And when we say flexible, we mean it. Simply by calling up the appropriate User Preset, it’s EASY to go from charging or cycling something like 40AH, 8s worth of batteries at 40A continuous output in a little over 1 hour, to a 20mAh, 1s LiPo at 10mA.
So you don’t have a 12v, 700W or a 26.35v, 1700W power supply lying around? Not many people do. With smart power management in the PL8, it’s easy to limit the unit’s input current to match what you do have. This innovative feature has been standard on Cellpro chargers for years but has been vastly expanded in the new PL8. It is now possible to create 2 unique and custom Input Power Source profiles. Using the CCS, begin with a template and adjust parameters to meet your needs. Or enter the appropriate parameters right at the charger. Then easily choose between “Battery” or “Power Supply” input each time (and one time) before you start to use the PL8. Now, thanks to the new 4 button, intuitive interface and high capacity microcontroller in the PowerLab 8 (v2), adjusting power limiting at the CCS or at the PL8 just got a whole lot easier.
But perhaps one of the coolest new features makes PL8 the “greenest” battery management system on the planet. Environmentally friendly, regenerative discharge capability of up to 1344W. Unlike traditional methods of discharge, which deplete the output battery’s energy in the form of heat across a transistor, regenerative discharge takes most of that energy and puts it back into the input battery. In other words, when you discharge your LiPo for storage, you will be re-charging your Lead Acid input battery. The total amount of power that you can achieve is limited only by the amount of current that your input battery can accept, or 1344W, whichever is lower. Regenerative discharge is an optional feature. Turn it on when you need the highest power discharge. Turn it off and use standard internal discharge of up to 100W if you choose.
Intuitive Operation
The original Cellpro 4s introduced the whole idea of a super-safe, super-simple charger with power balancing built right into the charger. The Cellpro 10s expanded on this theme enabling customers to do two batteries simultaneously. It also introduced the concept of two-way P.C. communication opening up new doors into customization at the customer level, not just in terms of printing graphs, creating or modifying presets or charger settings, but in streamlined and 100% reliable firmware updates. Cellpro Multi4 took these concepts and extended them to multi-chemistry batteries and open architecture presets, fully customizable with some 80 adjustable parameters. Still, the chargers are easy to use and fool-proof. That’s what we hear day after day from happy customers around the world. Sure, they are rich in features, but designed to be simple to use and simple to understand. Cellpro PowerLab 8 (v2) is the epitome of the Cellpro philosophy. Its basic operation is patterned after the Multi4, so if you have one of those, you will instantly be familiar with the charger as well as the free Charge Control Software (CCS). But the charger sports a totally new 4 button interface for accessing information. Let’s face it, with 4 buttons, it’s just easier to use. You requested it. We gave it to you. When REVOLECTRIX says “Designed by You”, that’s what we mean.
For Battery types:
- Lithium Polymer (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced)
- Lithium Ion (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced)
- Lithium Manganese (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced
- A123 (LiFePO4) (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 10s unbalanced)
- NiCd (1s to 21s), NiMH (1s to 21s)
- 6v, 12v, 24v Lead Acid batteries (Flooded, Gel, AGM, SLA)
Pack capacity: 20 mAh to 360Ah
Input voltage: 10-32VDC, reverse polarity protected
Input current: 1A to 50A, software limited
Power conversion:
- Synchronous DC/DC converter
- supports multiple switcher frequencies of 31.25 kHz, 62.5 kHz, 125 kHz
- user selectable by preset, 85% to 93% efficiency depending on output current
Output battery charge current: Adjustable range 10mA to 30A, limited by 50A input current*
Output battery discharge current: Internal discharge 10mA to 10A, 100W max Regenerative discharge 10mA to 40A, 1344W max**
Continuous max output power: 612W @ +12VDC input, 1344W @ +24VDC
Cell balancing: Resolution 78uV (16 bit) for 1s-8s Li or A123 (LiFePO4) balanced charging
Voltage calibration: Cell voltage measurements are factory calibrated to a standard traceable to NIST; calibration is to +/- 6 mV
Current calibration: Charge current is factory calibrated on a 4A standard; calibration is to +/- 1mA
Measurement accuracy:
Voltage resolution: 78uV (16 bit)
Voltage tolerance: +/- 6mV
Charge current: +/- 1%
Capacity added to pack: +/- 1%
Percent capacity (“Fuel”): +/- 5% (with accurate fuel table defined for battery being charged)
Serial data output: 19.2kbps, 8 bits, 1 start bit, 1 stop bit, no parity
Data integrity: Checksum, CRC checking
Cooling fans: Twin, 13 CFM, 50mm diameter
Heat sink: Internal 200W aluminum, thin finned
Output battery connector: “Cellpro” compatible, JST PA series, 9 position
LCD: 2 line, 16 character, light grey/blue backlit
Footnotes: * Please note, for safety reasons, available charger current may be limited for certain battery types and/or charging modes, e.g., non-balanced charge of Li
** Please check bullet number 8 in the section titled “Major Features” below for a detailed description of Regenerative Discharge
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