Ahoy, mates!
I wanted to share this nifty balance lead protection box I rigged up.
It’s smooth sailing to 3D print, and the two parts snugly wrap around the standard 4S balance leads for Blue Robotics batteries. I’ve hit rough waters with occasional splashes on balance connectors leading to corrosion, causing quite the hullabaloo to get the H6 battery charger to correctly detect all the cell voltages.
If you’re navigating with the H6 charger and notice voltages drifting higher than 4.2V or dipping below 2V, with other cells anchoring around 3 volts, then you might be facing a poor electrical connection due to corrosion build-up.
The safest course of action is to replace the balance connector. When doing so, carefully splice one wire at a time to avoid shorting and potentially damaging the battery pack.
For both new and replaced connectors, this protection box should keep them shipshape. In my voyages so far, it’s proven worth the effort of removing and replacing it during charging!
You can find the parametric CAD model here, feel free to modify for 6S or other applications. And don’t forget to explore all the treasures in the Blue Robotics Printables collections!
Wishing you safe and swift charging, amigos!
Pictured: recent deployment in Hilo bay running ROV fish transects with UH Hilo researchers!