I just bought a ice charger, and was wondering if i need a balancer for lipo batteries? Is cycling and balancing the same thing? I'm new to lipos, so I don't know much about them.

Cycling and balancing are different. Cycling is when you discharge then charge repeatedly, maybe 2 or 3 times each. This can be good to revitalise NiMh and NiCd batteries that have not been used for a while.

Balancing is when you charge or discharge each cell in a pack individually. With NiMh you do this by discharging all cells to the same voltage (0.9V), then you charge the whole pack. With LiPos you use a balance charger or balancing attachment to fully charge all the cells in the LiPo pack to the same voltage (4.2V). There are usually two large wires coming off a LiPo pack and a bunch of smaller wires that end in a plug. This plug is the balancing plug. It has a positive, negative and one wire that goes to each connection between cells. So for a 7.4V pack there are two cells and three wires to the balancing connector.

It is possible (I hear, haven't tried it yet) to balance a LiPo pack by just charging one cell at a time to balance the pack. You have to tap into the balancing plug to do this. Since balancing LiPos seems to only be required infrequently (every few months) this is what I will do when I first balance my LiPo packs.

To charge one cell at a time with the Ice you could set up one of the 10 memories in the Ice as a 1 cell LiPo with the same capacity as the whole pack.

The only reason you would ever discharge a LiPo pack is to test it.

wow. Thanks sportesedanman. Thinking about buying a balancer now. Any of you guys recommend any for my ice?

That all depends. What lipo packs do you currently run and what are you thinking about getting in the near future if any?

I'm going to run a 11.1V 2100mAh 3-Cell thunder power pack for my rc18. (prolite series).

Great Planes ElectriFly Equinox lipo balancer. Any good?

I to am thinking about using that balancer with my ice. Will it be good for a 1240mah 3 cell?