"connection break" on 3500mah lipo
 

I have the Trinity I-Balance charger, I use it for nimh and 2S lipo batteries. I just got a brand new Reedy stick pack 3400 mAh 2S lipo. It came without any connectors and I soldered on a Deans. When I try to charge it I get a "connection break" message and it refuses to charge (I've yet to use this battery in my car). If I stick a voltmeter on it, I get a 7.8V reading.

Any suggestions on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated.

my thread title says 3500, but it's a 3400mah.

Also, I have several intellect 4000mah 2S lipos and a orion 3500mah 2S lipo that charge with no errors in any mode (regular, fast or balance).

I'm guessing that the charger is seeing something it doesn't like about the Deans you soldered. Charger may be looking at the resistance of the leads, I know my Hyperion does and if the charge lead resistiance is outside a given range, I get a charge error.

Did you make a real long set of leads - I've had issues with Hyperion chargers trying to use long leads too.

The leads had solder on the tips already so I kept the original length (almost 5 inches/12.5cm), but now that you mention it they are longer compared to my other LIPOs...

I should've asked someone at the track to charge it with theirs yesterday... I'll give Reedy a call before I cut the leads in case that will void their warranty or something..

Off topic but Duster with your Hyperion I would guess you only have a problem with the lead length when you balance charge. The leads come with a deans on them so they have to assume that your battery leads are going to vary in length some, no? I only use packs that have the 2mm bullet for balancing and the lead was ordered with my charger so I've never had a problem just looking for useless knowledge to fill the empty head my wife says I have..:weird:

Yes, the prob were when balance charging, I was charging a 3S tx lipo and with that tx conn, I had a long servo lead I used to make up a new lead. That wouldn't work at all and I never tried it without balancing. I eventually soldered a 2" pc of servo on a spare set of hyperion leads and that did (and still) works.

torq - I wouldn't expect leads a few inches longer to be the prob. It would have been helpful to know what another charger would do as far as charging them or not. I'm not familar with your charger, but the Reedy lipos are supposed to be real good ones and that plenty of voltage. Check charger and make sure teh minimum lipo voltage is not set too high - it should be ~3volts/cell.

I'd still be suspicious of the soldering. If another charger charges you lipo, then its the charger.

Knowing me, I'd be suspicious of my soldering too :lol:

I just got a "connection break" on a 3600mah nimh w/a tamiya connector, I've charged that without a hitch ever since I got this charger (Trinity I-Balance).

I'll try the LIPO again in a little bit, if it's still doing it I'll solder on a new Dean.

thanks for all the suggestions.

bring it to a hobby shop