Common Sense RC Cell Spy 8 User manual

Common Sense RC Cell Spy 8 User Guide and Manual - #CELLSPY8
Battery Voltage Capacity Checker / Balance Discharger / Servo Tester
1. INTRODUCTION
The Common Sense RC Cell Spy 8 is a clever device that can show you the condition of your battery packs while also serving as a battery
balancer and servo tester.
It can be used with the most common battery types used for RC modeling:
• Li-Ion (Lithium Ion) • Li-Po (Lithium Polymer) • Li-Fe (Lithium Ferrite)
• NiCd (Nickel Cadmium) • NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) • Li-HV (High Voltage Lithium Polymer)
For Lithium battery types (Li-Po, Li-Ion, Li-Fe, Li-HV), the Cell Spy 8 can support 2S~8S without the need for an additional power supply. To test
1S Lithium batteries, you need to also connect more than 3S of Nickel batteries or a 5V UBEC to the NiCd/MH port to provide enough voltage
for the Cell Spy 8 to power on, then press the TYPE/SETUP MENU button to select the correct battery type.
For Nickel battery types (NiCd or NiMH), the Cell Spy 8 can support 4S~8S without the need for an additional power supply. If you need to
test less than 4S of Nickel batteries, you need to connect a 2~8S Lithium battery to the 9-pin/Lithium port to provide enough voltage for
the Cell Spy 8 to power on.
2. CONNECTING A BATTERY PACK
There are two battery connection ports:
Lithium battery: The 9-pin/Lithium battery port has 9 pins with standard 2.54mm spacing. The balance plug of your Lithium battery should
be plugged into this port with the outside negative (black) wire aligned with the symbol on the Cell Spy 8.
Nickel battery: The Nickel battery port is labeled Servo 5V Power IN NiCd/MH. It has 3 pins with 2.54mm spacing, designed for receiver/servo
type plugs. The main leads of the Nickel battery receiver pack generally has 2 wires. The connector should be plugged into this port with
the negative (black) wire aligned with the symbol on the Cell Spy 8.
3. PARAMETER SETTINGS
The Cell Spy 8 allows you to adjust certain parameters for battery and servo testing, including discharge end voltage, servo signal range, and
more. To enter Parameter Setting Menu, connect a battery to the Cell Spy 8, then press and hold the TYPE/SETUP MENU button for 1 second.
Press the CELL/SERVO TEST button to reduce the parameter, or press the MODE/DISCHARGE button to increase the parameter. Press the
TYPE/SETUP MENU button again to advance to the next parameter setting. Press the TYPE/SETUP MENU button again to advance to the
next parameter setting.
Lithium Battery and Nickel Battery
Connection Diagram
(Can simultaneously connect Lithium
battery and Nickel battery)
Voltage
Display
(Default Mode)
Discharge
Cut-off Voltage
Setting
Servo Test
Frequency
Setting
Servo Test
Signal Range
Setting
LCD Backlight
Opening Time
Setting
Sound Switch
Setting
Hold
TYPE
Press
TYPE
Press
TYPE
Press
TYPE
Press
TYPE
Press TYPE
Button
Hold
TYPE Voltage Display Hold TYPE Voltage Display Hold TYPE Voltage Display Hold TYPE Voltage
Display
Voltage Display Mode
Discharge Cut-o
Voltage Setting
Discharge Cut-o Voltage Setting
Range: 2.000~4.200V
Servo Test Frequency Setting
Servo Test Frequency Setting:
50Hz, 60Hz, 100Hz, 125Hz,
200Hz, 250Hz, 300Hz
Servo Test Signal
Range Setting
Servo Test Signal Range Setting:
500~2500us,1000~2000us
LCD Backlight Opening
Time Setting
LCD Backlight Opening Time
Setting: O, 10s~60s, On
Sound Switch Setting
Sound Switch Setting: On, O
1

4. LITHIUM BATTERY DETECTION MODE
Connect your Lithium battery to Cell Spy 8’s 9-pin/Lithium battery port. The LCD screen will power on and display the number of Lithium
cells, total battery voltage, battery type detected, and the charge state of the battery as a percentage. The charge state of the battery is
also represented by the strip pattern at the bottom of the screen. The percentage and strip pattern will change in accordance with the
battery type if the battery type is manually switched.
Press the TYPE/SETUP MENU button to switch between Lithium battery types (Li-Po, Li-Ion, Li-Fe, Li-HV). The Cell Spy 8 has a smart detect
feature for Lithium cells. If the voltage of any cell is higher than 3.6V, the display will not switch to Li-Fe. If the voltage of any cell is higher
than 3.6V, the display will not switch to Li-Ion.
Press the CELL/SERVO TEST button and the display will switch from the total voltage of the battery to displaying the individual cell voltages.
Press the MODE/DISCHARGE button to switch back to the total voltage of the battery.
Hi/Low Voltage Check: Press the MODE/DISCHARGE button and the display will show the reading for the highest voltage cell in the pack.
Press the MODE/DISCHARGE button again and the display will show the reading for the lowest voltage cell in the pack. Press MODE/DISCHARGE
button a third time and the voltage dierence between the highest and lowest cells will be displayed.
5. NICKEL BATTERY DETECTION MODE
For Nickel based batteries, the Cell Spy 8 will only show the total readings for the battery, not the individual cell voltages. After connecting
the battery to the NiCd/MH/3-pin port, press the TYPE/SETUP MENU button to toggle between NiMH and NiCd types. You must also select
the correct cell count using the CELL/SERVO TEST button to toggle between 4S (4.8V) through 7S (8.4V) batteries.
6. LITHIUM BATTERY DISCHARGE AND BALANCE MODES
Connect the battery’s balance connector to the 9-pin/Lithium port, then press and hold the MODE/DISCHARGE button to enter Discharge
mode. The battery will then discharge until all cells reach the pre-set discharge voltage (Default value: 3.700V per cell). The Cell Spy 8 will
beep when this process is complete. Please be sure to disconnect the battery when this process is complete, as the power used to operate
the LCD display will continue to slowly discharge your battery and could lead to over-discharge if left unattended.
During discharging, press the MODE/DISCHARGE button to enter Balance mode. In this mode, all cells will simply be discharged until they
are equal to the lowest voltage cell in the pack.
7. SERVO TEST MODE
To power the Cell Spy 8 for servo testing, connect a 4S NiMH or NiCd battery to the servo 5V Power IN port, then connect your servo to the
Servo Test PPM OUT port. Caution: using higher voltage batteries for servo testing may damage your servo.
Hold the CELL/SERVO TEST button to enter Manual Testing mode. In this mode, the position of the servo is changed by the user via the PPM
Adjust wheel. The adjustment range is 500~2500uS or 1000~2000uS, depending on which settings you select during setup.
Press the CELL/SERVO TEST or MODE/DISCHARGE buttons again to enter Automatic mode. In this mode, the servo will move from the maximum
to minimum PPM setting continuously, and the user can adjust the speed of the cycles using the PPM Adjust wheel.
Press the CELL/SERVO TEST or MODE/DISCHARGE buttons again to enter Midpoint mode. In this mode, the servo will center itself (1500uS signal).
8. EXAMPLES OF LCD DISPLAY IN VARIOUS MODES
Lithium Battery
Balance Mode Servo Midpoint Test Mode Servo Manual Test Mode
Max-Min of Lithium Battery
Total Voltage of
Nickel Battery
Lithium Battery
Discharge Mode
Lithium Battery
Minimum Voltage
Lithium Battery
Maximum Voltage
Total Voltage of
Lithium Battery
2(cellspy8_instructions_10-18-16.pdf)