Hey guys I have 2 tekin Batteries, 3400 mah 23+C , I have a Venom Pro Charger.... It has a built in Battery Balancer in it, As I go to charge these Lipos and connect them to the balancer and charger...... It starts to charge, then 5 seconds later starts to beep....... It then reads [U]Battery Voltage Error, Cell Connect. [/U]

Now I know these batteries are good, But why am I getting this statement and problem??? I am new to LIPOS and BL. If there are things I need to know please help me, if there is something I should read please show me. Thank you.

What voltage do the lipos have before you try to charge it? You will get a voltage error if the lipo voltage is below the minimum cell voltage that the Venom charger is using (I don't know what that is, but usually something close to 3v/cell or ~6v for a 2S).

Can you check voltage on both lipos??

What do you mean that the venom charger is using???

I set the charger to 3.4A and for a 7.4S Lipo then hit the charge button then i get that error.

Is it because that one or 2 of the cells is below the minimum settitng? Im new to this so I dont know much, but I am smart =)

Nobody has any info on this???

If you are balancing I beleive you have to set for 1 cell. The way the balance is set up is same as orion with balance one at a time. check you manual with battery also

Lipos can olny be discharged to a certain voltage per cell before it damages it. Normally I think you only want to use about 70% of the battery. you should charge it as much as poosible but every once in a while use it to 70% Just to give it a good cycle.

But Lipos do not get memory like NiCds or NiMh.

So I think what he is saying is that you may have drained it all the way down untill the battery was completely dead. Maybe the charger does not think its safe to try and recharge it, or the cell is damaged and the charger doesnt think its safe a damaged cell.

What I was saying is that some chargers will let you set the minimum lipo voltage, some do not (TC1030 lets you). Regardless, if your lipos have been drained below what the charger uses for this minimum setting, it will give you a voltage error and will not charge the batt.

OK, so say your charger uses 3.0v/cell as the minimum, then if you try to charge a lipo reading 5.8v, you'll get a voltage error and the charger will not charge. This is what lipo safety requires.

This the reason I was asking is what are your lipos reading voltage wise......

AutieBender saw what I was trying to say.....If this is what is happening, measure the voltage - need to know how far down its been overdischarged before can suggest a safe way to possibly recover.

Ok well the guy I got the Lipos from said I could use the batteries and charge them 4-5 times before I should have to balance the batteries. So I that is what I did, I got my Trakpower Wire. Connected everything. Put It to the charger, put it on Lipo Balance-- @3.4a 7.4v(2s)
Then it will start doing its things., I click over to read the Batt volts, and it is reading like a 6cell batt. Not a 2 cell. I know this because I called Venom and he says I shouldnt read 6 Voltage readings. But it reads
3v 3v 3v
1.92v 3v 2v

Now sometimes the battery reads 3v all the way around the board, then it drops to those #s and then I get the error. I dont know what is going on. the batteries are not swollen or anything.

I have always charged them correctly and when I used them on my Brushed setup I stop driving when I see the car slowing down. Even when I use it on my BL system I do the same.

I have never tryed to discharged them. I know not to and i know a few things about lipos I have been reading.

Thank you for the help again, hope we can figure this out
If you recommend me a new charger balancer for lipos that be great and mb one that I can break in Brushed motors on.

The venom is an excellent charger. More than likely its some unusual error wich is understandable because you are new to the charger. Once you get used to the charger im sure you will love it. everyone at my track uses one.

I went to the Tekin site and I don't see the balance connection type listed. What are you using for a balance harness?? It must have the JST-XH (also called Align style) balance plug on the charger end. Since you're reading on 6 cells, the balance connection appears to be part of the prob and if I understand your prev post, this is the 1st time you've tried to balance it, so the 1st time you've run into this error.

There are 4 types of balance connection in common use today (JST-XH, ThunderPower, Kokam and PolyQuest types) - you can't assume they are the same because they're not, even if the connection appears to fit, the wiring order in the balance connections can diff. You should only see 2 cells voltage displayed, not 6. I know the Venom is made to accept the JST-XH balance connection and suspect you have connected something else.

I think if this is resolved, the error will go away and charger will let you balance charge like you want (provided its not overdischarged, that 1.92v worries me a little...).

I bought 2 of these Balance connector wires http://www.nexusracing.com/product_i...oducts_id=2426

And I have 2 hard pack Tekins and it has the hole for the rocket connecter for the balance plug.

Now I maybe new to this but I am not that slow. And I already know how to use the charger and do what and what not to do. I didnt discharge the batts and I dont think I over ran them.

When I go to charge them with the balance plug connected in the 2s connection. It starts charging. Then like 2 minutes later I get that error message. then I look at the Lcd screen and I see that one # at 1.sumthing and I can understand why its doing that. But what I dont understand is that the guy from venom said since its a 2s Lipo I should only see 2 sets of #s not 6. Because I have a 2s Connected and not a 6.

Now I can charge the batteries without being on the charger. And it tells you how many Mah It gets when its charging and done. I see it doesnt fully reach 3400 and That is because Im guess it needs to be balanced.

AAAAnd also When do you balance? do you charge/balance at the same time?
Or Do you charge the battery then balance it??

Thank you again

Using that harness, 4mm red and black bullets connect to your lipo and the deans connects to your charger's main power output. The 0.5mm white connection goes in your lipo and the white block on other end plugs into the side of the charger in the port labeled 2S.

Your link indicates this is the correct balance connection for the charger. This should work if you are hooking it up correctly and the charger is setup correctly. Make sure you hooked up correctly and if it's still is doing this, call Venom and make them go thru this with you. You may have a charger prob - these chargers have had some probs.

There are only 2 cells involved, they are wired in series, the charger should only report voltage for 2 cells. You would only see 6 voltages if you were charging a 6S lipo (it has 6 cells wired in series), not for a 2S.

I use a balancing charger and I balance everytime I charge, its just too easy and it keeps the lipo at its best (cells balanced). If you balance after charging, all balancer is doing is discharging the cell with the higher voltage down to match the cell with the lower voltage. You get a better charge charging and balancing at the same time since that balances both cells at the max cell voltage.

Thank yoiu very much for all your info,. Yes I think We have a charger problem because I see 6 cell voltages when I go see what the batt is doing. I have read and read and read about the charger, lipos and all. I still am new to it, and need to learn more about this low volt, and where and wehn not to let it go to low. THank you

The minimum voltage business is pretty simple - you shouldn't let the voltage fall below 3volts/cell since that may cause damage. That's the reason there is a minimum to start with - lipo when overdischarged below 3v/cell can swell - literally, puff up like a balloon. Once a cell has swelled up (its called puffed), the lipo is unsafe to use or try to charge. In this puffed condition, lipos have been known to suddenly fail - they sorta vent, release a lot of smoke, get very hot and maybe cause a fire.

The better quality lipos tolerate overdischarge better than the cheaper ones. You may get away with overdischarging an Orion to 2.9v/c where a lipo of lesser quality would puff.

Hope you get your charger prob resolved.

I had the same problem when using this particular charger . Yes the charger needs to be set for 3.7. Also their is a safety timer setting that needs to be set at 140 min or so. I also had to set the amps to 4.0 . It was preset very low and that's why I kept getting a low voltage error after 5 minutes of ballencing.I'm not a pro at this but it's working fine since the change. Good luck!