crusey_aus

iTrader: (3)

During the charging process weaker cells will hit 4.2v first

The balancing process uses bleed current to stop them from over-charging while the other cells catch up

Better chargers have a higher bleed current so are able balance more effectively

Crappy charger may have a 50 mah bleed current

Most decent chargers will have around 300 mah

Revo Powerlabs have a 1 amp bleed current

Higher the bleed current quicker the charger is able to balance mismatched cells

Faster the cells are balanced, quicker the charge cycle takes to finish

Badly mismatched cells are sometimes not able to be balanced using lower bleed currents, hence the reason why balance charging takes forever on cheap chargers


Cheers

Paul Susbauer

Racer, about your first comment. I have observed this for years when speaking to people at tracks, flying fields, etc... They keep complaining about packs puffing all the time, even though they balance religiously.

One of my best friends was religious about balancing and was constantly having packs go bad from all different brands. I told him how I don't balance at all. He stopped balancing for the most part, just every once in a while. He hasn't lost a single pack since.

I personally don't balance any packs.
1) I'm lazy
2) I like to see worst case scenarios. I run packs hard, don't properly put them in storage mode, leave them fully charged, leave them discharged, etc. Out of 100 or so packs routinely in use, I very rarely have any go bad.

Is it a good idea to maintain them from time to time. Yes.

And as always, your mileage may vary. This is my experience.

Paul Susbauer
Venom Group Int.

BTW... I'll be away from internet contact for the next week or so, so you probably wont see any responses for a bit. Not hiding, I'll be back.

ELIMINATOR

iTrader: (2)

INTERESTING THREAD, THE UNKNOWN OF BALANCING ALL THE TIME VS NOT BALANCING, WHO REALLY KNOWS? I JUST RECENTLY SWITCHED TO A CHECKPOINT WITH PRO BALANCER FROM A ICE WITH BLINKY BALANCER AND NOTICED MY CHARGE TIME HAS ALMOST DOUBLED DONT KNOW WHY.

Dave H

I always balance charge with a good quality charger, mostly because it’s faster, and I’ve never had a pack puff.

MDawson

iTrader: (27)

Hi-

Where did you find the value for the bleed current?

crusey_aus

iTrader: (3)

Bleed / balancing current is usually listed in the manufacturers specs if you dig hard enough

Only reason to not balance is if you are in a hurry (at the racetrack between races)

Think people misunderstand why we do balancing at all

The only reason is to stop weak cells being overcharged during the charge process

If you are using decent packs on a decent charger it only adds a few minutes

Charging at 2c from storage voltage should only take 20 minutes or so

Cheers

tdt1805

iTrader: (23)

Or just get a truly good high powered charger that will charge in under 15 minutes.... POWER LAB 6... I cant wait to get mine haha. Fast charging here I come.