Is there a balancer on the market that will balance both a Maxamps style pack and a Peak/Orion style pack? I don't want to have to buy two.

All balancer will balance any battery as long as it supports the number of cells in the battery pack.

What you have to do is decide on which balancer you want (i purchased the TrakPower V-Balance), and I bought 2 extra harnesses that I can cut up to make a new harness.

I would check into the max amps balancer though, it seems have alot more harnesses available for it then the Trakpower V-Balance. Give Max amps a call too, they might be able to make you the harness you require.


Shawn.

Will the Checkpoint balancer also balance all Orion/Peak lipo batts since it has the 2mm balance port plug?

Sure, a lipo balancer with balance any lipo, within limit. You will have to fab, or purchase a harness for the balancer with a (2) 3mm bullet connectors, and (1) 2mm connector.

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...ducts_id/12577

So you're saying that i can buy any balancer, i just need the right adapter, and any balancer will balance any pack regardless of whether it is a 2s1p, or a 2s2p, or......whatever?

Why then do some balancers only claim to do certain cell counts? I'm a bit confused with this. I thought you had to have one specifically for your pack type.

...and what balancer will work on both Orion 4800 and Orion 3200 packs?

Any balancer that will handle 2 cell (7.4V) packs, which is just about all of them.

You don't have to worry about capacity (which is what the 4800 and 3200 (milliamp-hours) refer to) only the number of cells in the pack.

Ok, thanks for that, but this is where i am sticking. Isn't a 2s2p pack actually 4 cells? OR do only the cells in series count? And if so, why not the cells in parallel? And do the cells in parallel get balanced also?
When a manufacturer says their balancer does 2 cell packs, do they actually mean any 2s pack?

I know this might seem obvious to some, but i don't want to go buy the wrong thing, so i am asking everything i can think of.

The only time cells can become out of balance is when they are connected in series. Cells connected in parrallel will always have the same voltage, as long as both the pos and neg terminals are connected together.

Cell Configuration: 12
34

Cells One and two are connected to gether to create the Main+ for the battery pack, the negative of 3&4 are the negative to the main battery pack. The "Balance port" is connected to negative of 1&2, and the Positive of 3&4.

Hope that helps.

Shawn.

That helps a lot! Thanks. So i just need to find a balancer and the right taps. Simple as that.