code blue

iTrader: (1)

Ive always thought you had to balance charge lipos but a lot of the people at my local track do not. so i was wondering if balancing really is necessary when you charge. thanks...

b4wires

iTrader: (19)

No it's not necessary but, if you want lipo's to last longer. You might want to balance them once in awhile.

Duster_360

iTrader: (21)

No, there's nothing that say you must balance charge everytime. But I do anyway. The only way the charger knows what the individual cell voltages are is with the balance wires connected and charger balance charging. That is the safest way to charge a lipo since it'll let the charger catch any lipo issues sooner than it would if you're not balance charging and the charger only had the total voltage to go on.

There have been a couple of lipo incidents where houses were almost burned down that could have been prevented if they had been balance charging. Maybe its not such a big deal at the track, but I'd still be balance charging personally. If its a time deal, measure the time diff doing it both ways. Good charger there shouldn't be much time diff. You could use fast lipo mode and balance and prob save some time that way, but still be as safe as poss.

ganymede

iTrader: (2)

IMHO, there is no reason NOT to balance charge Lipo.

Unless you have a cell monitor on hand all the time to check the balance, balancing a pack on a good charger will tell you which cell suffers from low voltage.

reptile

iTrader: (138)

Always balance charge people who don't are just being stupid ... why would you not balance charge when it's 100% safer?

Over-rev

I thought that you had to balance at a lower charge rate.? That would explain why people alternate the balance cycles on their batteries. I usually balance every 3rd charge at 1 amp, and normally charge at 5 amps.

red dog

With my set up I charge through my main power wires and balance through the balance lead. You are right that if you charge through your balance lead you can't charge at the same current because of the size of the wire. But a lot of balancers these days connect to both so there is no difference in charge time. If you don't balance your cells can be at different voltages and when charging you can over charge a cell which is why it becomes dangerous. It also damages the sell and you will find that it won;t last as long.

Duster_360

iTrader: (21)

Some chargers will slow down at higher charging rates due to balancing, but its charger/balancer dependent as far as I know. Think this is what you're referring to. You shoukld be fine bvalance charging at 5amps unless your chargers balancer can't keep up - I'd be surprised if that happened at 5amps.

I balance charge 5000mah 4S lipos charging them at 3C or 15amps. Higher powered chargers typically have options on when to balance - my iCharger is set so the balancing is only done in the CV part of the lipo charge. There is no time disadvantage in charging that way. The charger still knows what the cells are doing and if a prob were to happen, it'd still be able to stop the charge.

jaggededge

iTrader: (2)

You should monitor all cells to be sure they are within .01v of each other.
If not, balance 'em.

I balance charge all packs every time. If it takes longer than usual the charger is spending the extra time balancing the pack.

Over-rev

I was under the impression we had to use lower rates. I know we have to use the main wires as well as the balance connector when charging, but I thought we still need a lower rate. I'm using the Venom charger which maxes at 5 amps.

With this in mind it's like grany said, there should be no reason to charge without balancing, unless your charger can't keep a higher rate while balancing. Even then it should still be done as often as possible.

I usually balanced every third charge, from now on though I will always be balance-charging when charging my packs.

ganymede

iTrader: (2)

Good man! To me balancing charge my lipo is like putting on seat belt everytime I am in a car.

Here are some of the interesting "reasons" why people don't wear seat belt:

1. Seat belts wrinkle my clothes
2. I don’t need to, I have airbags
3. It’s uncomfortable
4. I’ve heard of people trapped in a burning car who couldn’t unfasten their belt
5. My parents never wore them
6. There’s dust on them that gets on my clothes
7. I don’t believe there should be a law requiring me to wear them
8. I’m a good driver

By the way, I am Ganymede and not grany...

Duster_360

iTrader: (21)

I'm pretty sure the Venom charger will balance charge at 5amps. It does have a little of a rep for being slow, but I think thats at any balance charging rate.

I've been doing lipos for 8yrs and thats the 1st time I've heard this.

traxxdigger

iTrader: (16)

Where can I buy 3-pin Align/E-Flite style balance connector JST-XH adaptors?