best lipo balance charger
 

whats the best lipo balance charger, i have smc packs with the hyperion plug. and how exactly do you balance charge. any help is appreciated

Balancing is basically letting one cell charge/drain till the other catches up. This way all the cells have the same charge amount and you don't over charge, or over discharge individual cells.

Couple really good AC/DC chargers to start out with are

Hyberion EOS0606i $149

and if you are cheap

Onyx 230 $79 but you'll need to get a separate balance for $10-$40. Like this one Balance Pro

+1 for hyperion. Been the best Lipo charger I've had.
Tim

i already have an ICE charger. Do i need to balance charge every time or once a day or so on? I'm new to lipo's and i want to get the most out of the packs.

Core UDC-20 with built in balancer, $95.00 at Ultralinehobbies.com. I balance charge the batteries about every ten charges.

I use the Thunder Power 610. $119 or so, but if had it to do over, I'd spend the extra 30 and get the Hyperion. ACDC capability is NICE.

Once a day is plenty. Put the pack on a balancer before the first charge of the day, and you'll be good to go. You could probably get away with doing it once every other race day if you wanted to, but I'd go once at the beginning of each race day to be safe. Stick to 1C charge rate or less to get the most lifespan out of your LiPos. Most current LiPOs will take a 2C charge rate, but I wouldn't do it unless you're in as hurry... charging regularly at 2C will shorten the service life of the pack.

Then yeah, you can just pickup the Balance Pro I linked earlier and throw that on there anytime. It balances within .02 of each cell and is a nice handy tool to see what each cells voltage is.

I use one and walk around and balance other peoples packs. With brushless + LiPo you have to fill your time in with something.

I love my Bantam BC6. I always balance while charging at 1C. I've watched guys complain about short lifespans on their lipo packs. Hooked to the bantam showed that while the pack might be 8.4 volts, one cell is at 4.5 volts and the other is 3.9 volts. These guys would have an astro blinky or something that they occasionally used, most have Bantams or Hyperions now. :) If you shop around you can find the Bantams for a decent price. The Hyperion is another I'd look at if I already hadn't bought the Bantam. AC/DC input is worth the extra $$$ so you can use it in the field and on the bench.

I'd avoid any charger without a built in balancer, while they may get the job done, it's not worth the risk. How many guys use their external balancer _EVERY_ time they charge? With the built in balancers it's cake.

best
 

Hyperion EOS 0720i NET DC INPUT 11V~28V
7S 250W 20A max Charge, 80W/10A max Discharge
Network Charge up to 2x7S for max 14S Flightpacks at 500W max

thanks for the info:nod:

+1 for the Core UDC balance charger....I balance charge every time, because I'm anal that way. :rolleyes:

I also like the looks of the ac/dc Venom Lipo balance charger. No need for a power supply!

I was considering that charger also, but a wise old man told me to stay away from venom stuff...so I'm not sure if it's any good or not.

That is a DC only charger and has been produced to replace the 0610i NET charger. The 0720i NET is around $200 also and I only found it one place so far (overseas, but might be more now). The Hyperion 0610i NET charger can be had for ~$150 also and is better than the 0606i if you don't need the AC part of it. I was considering the 0610i NET charger until I got a killer deal on a Lipo ready GFX w/ 2 lipo packs.

I've been using a Hyperion 0606i and am very happy with it. But then I haven't used any others so........

I had a limited choice as I really wanted AC/DC and mostly use the AC input. I use it to charge every sort of battery I have and it handles them all just fine.

I have the Hyperion EOS0610I -- awesome balancing charger for $149 !!!