So i am trying to get back into racing after being out for 7 years

I bought some Lipo 2s packs, 7.4v 2400-5000s packs

I bought an Onyx 230 charger and think i may have made a mistake. Should i have bought a balanced charger?

The 230 says it can charge lipo but do i need a balanced charger? Whats the risk of charging 2s with a non balanced?

Is there something i can add to balance them or should i just get a different charger?

Thanks

There are several stand alone balancers as well as charge through balancers that will work with your charger. Until you get one, charging without the balancer can be done safely for quite a few cycles. This is 100% at your own risk, I only say that because no matter how slim, there is always a chance things can go wrong.

If you can exchange it, get a charger with a built in balancer. If you're doing this at your lhs and he sells the Onyx lineup, get the 235, it has the balancer built in.

For 10 bucks more, you coulda got the Onyx 235, so yeah, if you can exchange it, it'd probably be worth it. I use one of these which can balance Via charge or discharge. There are others out there, but they typically run about 30-ish bucks.

When I started running lipo packs we didn't even have balancers, and even when they did come out the balancers were an extra add on device you plugged in between your pack and charger. As a result I never took it with me to the track, and what I found out over years of hit and miss balancing was that while balancing is good to do to extend the life of your packs I also came to believe it was over-rated. Guys like to act as if the world is going to come to an end or that it'll ruin your packs by not balancing, and it's not the truth. I've charged packs dozens of times between balancing, hundreds of times back in the early days, and they were never off more than a 10th of a volt or less when I actually did balance them. One battery company even says that as long as you don't charge at more than 1C (1amp charge rate for every 1000mah of the pack) that you don't even really need to balance their packs.

If you can't exchange you're charger. Buy a cheap additional charger with balancing feature. If you are racing it's always hand to have an extra charger. Whether it's to keep one in the pit bag and one on the work bench, or a back up one at the track, or even a spare for charging radio batteries at the track.

Whilst I balance charge most of the time, I don't do it all the time.

Thanks all! this really helps! Yeah i realized i should of got the 235 now. It was used so no return.
I ordered a balanced one today so now i have a back up. Thanks for all the info!

Well, I hate to contradict anyone's post, but you've just been lucky if you've never had a pack unbalanced by more than 1/10v. I've seen packs out by more than 2v. And yes, you can ruin (shorten the life, of at the very least) lipo cells by forcing them into a state of over-voltage.

IMO we're not lucky, you're unlucky. If a pack gets that far out of balance it's got a bad cell and it's life is limited anyway and isn't because of charging without a balancer.

gotta agree, I only balance charge my batteries as that's what I decided I would do. With that said, I would have to say at least 50% of the guys at the track don't balance more than once a month at most.

I say that to agree with racer1812's post but also note, I only balance charge. I'm not saying my way is the only way as so many others don't balance and have no issues. For me I see no reason not to balance charge as my charger does it and it can do it with up to a 30amp charge rate.

Sure that's one scenario, but the fact is lipo cells are like a finger print, no 2 are identical, and they can vary in charging/discharging characteristics, especially on cheaply made packs. This has nothing to do with one cell being bad, just slightly different. After numerous cycles the difference adds up to an unbalanced pack. If you've been in rc long, you are aware of the practice of balancing NiCad and NMHi cells, and/or using "matched" cells. It's the same concept. Try using a cheap ebay lipo for a year or two without balancing it and let me know what happens.

I'll agree, and we'll leave it at that, no need to start another cheap vs. expensive lipo war. Maybe my choice to crack my wallet open a little further has contributed to the fact that I've never had a lipo "go bad", other than reaching the end of it's useful life. I also balance charge 90% of the time, it's not any extra work really so why not.

If 2 cells need constant balancing from day one maybe it's a marriage that should have never happened.. Higher quality (not price) packs don't tend to have this issue.