Series charging is a highly effective and fast way to charge small 1S LiPo batteries for your tiny whoops. I used to make such cable but it’s a lot of work. Now you can just pick up the Vifly Whoop 1S Series Charging Board at an affordable price and save a lot of trouble.
Check out my post about the best tiny whoop and related accessories.
You can learn more about serial charging here.
Table of Contents
Where to Buy?
There are two versions: one with BT2.0 connectors on top, the other with GNB27 connectors on top. Both of these versions have PH2.0 connectors on the bottom.
- NewBeeDrone: https://oscarliang.com/product-d3mu
- AliExpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Dnn0omP
- Amazon: http://bit.ly/3VxGI5d
As far as I know, the ViFly Whoop Series Charging Board is currently the only series charging board with GNB27 connectors. GNB27 is still not a very widely used connector due to its heavier weight compared to PH2.0 and BT2.0, despite having even lower resistance than BT2.0. GNB27 is perhaps more suited for high power whoops and toothpicks.
Features and Specs
- The Vifly Series charging board can be used to storage charge 1S LiPo batteries with a standard LiPo charger
- Capable of charging 1 to 6 batteries at the same time
- Built-in fuse for safety, it’s a replaceable 5A automotive fuse
- Pre-soldered PH2.0 and BT2.0 or GNB27 connectors
How to Use
You have to have a regular LiPo charger to use with this series charging board, it doesn’t work as a standalone charger.
When you connect the 1S batteries on this charging board, it connects them in series (hence the name), it’s basically like charging a single LiPo battery. For example, when you plug in 3 1S batteries, the charger will charge it like a single 3S battery, when there are 4, it would be a 4S battery, etc…
It has a very simple construction, there’s a PCB board sandwiched by two plastic panels, held together by 4 standoffs. It’s easy to take apart for repair. There’s a 5A automotive fuse in the middle for safety, it can be easily replaced.
It has a clever design, allows you to charge anywhere from 1 to 6 1S LiPo batteries at the same time. Simply twist the knob to select how many 1S batteries you want to charge.
It’s best to charge batteries of the same capacity for safety. Then plug in the balance connector and XT60 to a regular LiPo charger.
Most modern LiPo chargers these days can automatically detect how many cells there are (cell count), all you need to do is to set the charging current on the charger and you are ready to start charging. For example, if you plug in 6x 1S 450mAh batteries, to charge them at 1C, simply set the charge current to 0.45A (and double check if the cell count is set correctly).
Note that you should not use the BT2.0 (or GNB27) with the PH2.0 connector at the same time, only use one type of connector at a time.
You must plug in the 1S batteries in consecutive order, starting from number 1 slot. If you skip a slot, or didn’t start from slot #1, you are likely to get an error in the charger.
Now you can charge, discharge or storage charge all six of them simultaneously just like a single battery.
ViFly Whoopstor or Series Charging Board, Which is Better?
I really like the ViFly Whoopstor V2 as it’s one of the best chargers for 1S batteries currently available. However it’s more expensive and you need a LiPo or a bench power supply to power it.
Most people already have a fully functional charger for bigger batteries (like 6S 1000mAh), and you can use it with the Series Charging board and you won’t need another power supply. That could be one of the reasons why the ViFly Whoop Series charging board might be more appealing to some people.
Charging 1S batteries in series is one of the most effective and fastest way. However you have to make sure the voltages of the batteries connected are roughly around the same level. This can really speed up charging because the charger won’t have to do as much balancing between the cells. You can still plug in the batteries when the voltages are not the same but it will surely slow down charging considerably. For the Whoopstor, battery voltage simply doesn’t matter.
Another downside of the series charging board is you can’t unplug or plug in batteries during charging, or you have to stop charging, plug or unplug, then start again. The Whoopstor won’t have this issue as all as the channels are independent, you can plug or unplug at any time you want.
The other limitation of the series charging board is battery type, i.e. LiPo and LiHV. You cannot mix the two as they have different end voltage (4.35v and 4.20v). Not an issue with WhoopStor charger, but this is really not a deal breaker anyway since almost all batteries we use on tiny whoops are LiHV packs these days.
2 comments
“For example, if you plug in 6x 1S 450mAh batteries, to charge them at 1C, simply set the charge current to 0.45A”
Shouldn’t we rather use 2.7A (6*450mah) instead of 0.45A?
No, when you plug in 6 batteries, you are effectively connecting them in series as one single 6S battery. So charging them at 0.45A, each 1S battery will receive 0.45A. If you put 2.7A on them it would be too much, you would be effectively charging them at 6C.