I have a onyx 230 charger without a balancer and wanted to know if I need to have the balancing plug plugged into the battery when I am charging it. It is a venom 2s 35c 3800mah. Also is 3.8a the correct charge setting for it?

I balance mine every time. It is good practce to do so.

He clearly stated he has no balancer...


Now on to the original question...if you're not balancing, it doesn't matter if its in or out.

And yes 3.8 is the correct charge rate for a 3800mah battery.

Good Luck

You will eventually need to get a balancing charger...I recomend the Thunder AC6 off of www.hobbypartz.com

Thanks racer53, I am getting balancer just deciding which one to go with. I would have bought the ac6 but I got the 230 really cheap.

No problem...and the onyx isn't a bad charger it's just my personnal preference to have a balancer built into the charger.

Some balancers have a restricted amp charge thru rate - this one has the highest charge thru rate and doesn't need adapters like some of the other do to let you charge and balance at high charge rates -

http://www.allerc.com/hyperion-eos-l...0a-p-2916.html

Duster_360 do you know anything about the Equinox balancers?

Hyperion makes the Equinox balancer for Great Planes - or at least thats what I've been told. Look at them, they look a lot alike. Equinox is limited to only 3amps charge thru current unless you buy separate high power adapters and these are only good for 6amps.

The Team Checkpoint balancer is another thats like the Equinox, also made by Hyperions, but comes ready to do 6amps charge thru.

In case you were wondering, a separate balancer can usually operate in stand alone or charge thru modes. You want to use it in charge thru, this give you the safest, most complete charge.

Can you charge through the equinox?

Yes, you can charge throught the equinox, but only at 3 amps max. I have one also, but i use it after I charge and then top the battery off after it is balanced.

Yes, but only up to 3amps charge rate, unless you buy the additional high power adapters.....which you would need to charge at 1C or 3.8amps for your 3800 lipo.

Charging at just 3amps would make charging take longer, like ~20% longer.