Hi, guys,

i just got the brand new LRP Quadra Pro 3 charger. Since the manual of this charger is so poor, there are few things i don't understand and have no idea where to read about them. The main thing i ain't gettin' is the balance function of the charger. I always thought the charger not only balances the battery but also charges, when you start the balancing. I left the half charged battery (3S, 1250mAh, LiPo) connected to the charger on the balance mode all night long, and it ain't done yet. The charger display shows something like 4.15V, 4.15V, 0.00V, Pack. V: 8.3V and looks like it's still doing something. Is this the intented behaviour? What the balance function actually does in this case anyway? And how can i force the charger to balance my batteries every time i charge them?

I don't have this charger, but looking at the manual it appears to be like most others.

Use the Charge menu function to charge the pack. As long as the balancer is connected it will also balance the cells while charging, ie balance charge. Notice in the Programme Structure flowchart the first flow that starts with charge the next step is the balancer settings for the number of cells.

Balance mode is just that, balances only, no charging. Really little reason to use it, just balancing is almost always a waste of time and can even be detrimental to the pack. Balance mode discharges higher voltage cells to match others, as shown on the balance mode portion of the flowchart, the 4th flow. Notice how the higher voltage cells are all brought down to match the low cell of 3.32V in the example.

Although there appears to be some issue with the pack, as the 3rd cell voltage of 0.00 is not good.

Hi, Dave, thanks for quick reply!

Yup, i can see the same "Balance Conn. xS PACK" note on the display when i go to charge menu, but there's no balance settings in this one (like charge w or w/o balancing), it simply shows the note "Balance Conn. xS PACK" and goes to "Charge Autostart:00min". I presume it just informs the battery is connected to balance port. Well, i hope it just does the balance charging, if the battery is connected to the port.

So, the balance function in this charger does pretty much... nothing?

Try charging without connecting the balancer wires, the charger will probably let you know with a reminder or something. Many (most?) balance chargers have a warning and/or require another button push to charge without the balancer connected. If connected it's typically fairly automatic other than setting or confirming the number of series cells correctly.

Well technically the balance only mode equalizes the cell voltages. But for the most part this wastes time for no real benefit. The most common reason cells get out of balance when discharged is they have different capacities and thus end up at different voltages as the same amount is discharged from each. But if such a pack is balanced, then the cells take a different amount to get back to full, which requires more balancing while charging, which takes more time. Simply a waste of time.