Do you have to balance charge lipos ?

[raymondkerr]

New to lipos and just picked up 2 packs of 4200 intellect saddle pack lipos for my b44. I use the muchmore silent chargers and charge at 1c (4.2amp)

I have been looking at the muchmore balance add on for my chargers

http://www.muchmoreracing.com/store/...oducts_id=2964

but do I really need to balance charge ? Will I get any more performance out of the packs ? if I don't balance, will I damage the batteries?

Any advice for a lipo newbie would be most welcome.

Thanks
Raymond

[scotoap]

Hi Raymond the advice I got was, not nescessary every time but does keep them at peak performance as they come new already balanced and do not usually go out of balance like nihm or nicad cells that often.
You will probably get much better info from the Professional on here though, hope this helped

[AmiSMB]

I always balance charge my Lipo cells as then you can also keep an eye on the individual cells and it makes sure that you get maximum life out of the pack. If you run the cells to the Low Voltage Cutoff on the speed controller you may find that a cell could have gone lower than you would have liked but without a balancer you would not know that this has happened. Sometimes the pack under discharge one cell will drop voltage faster than the other and again if this is not balance charged then the voltage difference is never made back up and will lead to a shorter lifespan. I know many would say just balance every now and again but I look for long life and want to know what my cells are upto. When I ran NiMh I used a Spintec I.C.C and Trinity DPD so that I could keep my cells in the best condition posible.

[mikeyscott]

I balance charge the day before I go racing and then know they are all spot on. I have 5 packs of LIPOs, but if I need to re-charge a pack at the track I charge it at normal rate due to it being quicker.

I always balance charge otherwise and again it's to keep the batteries in good condition as these things aren't cheap.

[RichB]

I'm with AmiSMB, there seems no reason not to use a balancer all the time (if you've got one), it makes sure the cells have equal voltages at full charge, and makes it most likely they will stay close in voltage when discharged.
Balance charging shouldnt be any slower, all they should do is make tiny adjustments to the charge state of one of the cells if its voltage gets slightly above the other.
There are many options, e.g. I use tis one:

http://www.microtechracing.com//prod...at=DISCHARGERS

[Also (while I'm here), I don't quite understand why people would rather take a case-load of (expensive) LiPo's to a meet, rather than alternate a couple of packs, and charge them up inbetween heats - is it a hangover from NiMH usage where battery management was a lot more involved? When I was using NiCd's, and you used a whole pack charge per heat, everyone was charging inbetween heats.]

[Marvin]

Balance charging can take slightly longer, (it does balance throughout, but the cellls tend to change a lot during charging, so effectively) it starts just before the end of a charge. This can then overrun, but if you have balanced your cells constantly, and they are of good quality, then balancing shouldn't take any longer than a normal charge.

If you balance your cells when charging, you know that each cell is at 4.2V. As the cells discharge, providing they are good quality and properly matched, they should drop at an even voltage. When the LiPo hits the low voltage cut-off, both cells should be at, say 3.1V each, however, if they have not been balanced, there is the possibility that when it hits the low voltage cut-off, that the total is still 6.2V, but one cell is at 2.8V and the other is at 3.4V. There is potential there for a ruined cell.

It is definately worth balancing at least on every other charge, but you may as well do it every charge.

[stampede vxlboy]

I HAD A BATTERY LIKE THAT . I GOT IT BRANDNEW

[mikeyscott]

It definately takes longer with my charger and that could be down to a quality issue.

As for having lots of LIPOs, got them at a good price, like to have spare and also lend them when required to a couple of friends to aid their racing.

[Si Coe]

From the plane guys, who have been using Lipos way longer than us:

Balance charging is not essential, but it is a good idea. If you don't run the pack all the way down to the LVC (which you wouldn't in a 5 minute race) there is very little risk of a cell going under 3V. It could have a slight effect on performance if the two cells are significanly out of balance, and that would in turn cause a shortened lifespan.
It is certainly advisable to balance when possible but with careful use dozens of charges can be safely performed without balancing.

[stampede vxlboy]

YES IT TAKE LONGER TO BALANCER CHARGED THEM . I GOT TOLD TO BALANCER CHARGED THEM ONCES A WEEK IS THAT RIGHT OR NOT ?. BUT I BALANCER CHARGED EVERYTIME I NEED TO CHARGED MY BATTERYS

[Si Coe]

Well you can't over balance charge so if you want to to it every time thats fine.
Personally I balance at home and straight charge at the track. I've got lots of different lipos for different cars, and they don't all use the same balance connectors. Also, the ones with built in leads are very short so can't be charged still in the car. However, everything (even the micro T and the lipo in my transmitter) has been fitted with a deans connector so rather than faff with balance leads when time is short I can just hook up to the Deans and go.

[Marvin]

Well, I've been balance charging 6S packs, and I do not think that balance charging takes any longer than just straight charging. Even if it does, it's an extra minute or two at most.

2 cell packs should hardly require much balancing, there are less cells to balance after all.

It's best to balance at least every other charge, but you may as well balance on every charge - it can't hurt, and you're not that pushed for time at a race meeting.

[raymondkerr]

I don't have a balancer as yet, but will be looking to get the muchmore docking balancer for my silent chargers. I have two packs of 4200s for my B44, this should be enough for a club night, maybe topping up in between heats if I have time. I think I will get into the practise of balancing each week before a club night.

Thanks guys for your input.

Raymond

[Dazzler]

My opinion (for what it's worth) is that it's better to balance charge every time. As said it will only be slower when actually making the balancing adjustment, so if you do it every time, the adjustment, if any, will add no time at all really. If you don't do it every time, this adjustment may stack up and then when you do ballance charge it could potentially take considerably longer. Plus, why risk anything for the sake of a few mins.
I've read that good quality lipo's don't need balancing very often, but you never know if something may have gone wrong with the pack, so it's a good safety net.

[traffman]

As i am still waiting on my charge lead for my Bantam which no one in the world can supply me ive no option other than to carefully charge my lipos without a balancer.
This also echoes Mark Knights sentiments aswell.

[Dazzler]

I'm not familiar with the Bantam charger as I don't have one, and also not sure which lipo's you have I'm not sure this is what you would need. But take a look, or give them a ring tommorrow to see.

http://www.microtechracing.com//prod...T&cat=CHARGERS

Worth a quick look, it's in stock.. Maybe someone elso on here can advise?

[traffman]

Cheers matey, ive allready spoken to Microtech with reference to the harness theyve got advertised.
The cells im using are the reedy ones and it doesnt match that particular pack.

I currently have the actual harness on preorder from Microtech and he has been waiting on the back order to come through for about 2 months now !

Thanks anyways

[dodgydiy]

i balance charge every time, one thing not thought about by most is the possibility of one cell failing to charge properly and the other cell then being overcharged and either puffing up or in the worst case, overheating and combusting, good enough reason to balance every time??

[Marvin]

traffman, I think I may be able to get you a Bantam balance board, if I remember correctly, we have quite a few at the shop where I work. What kind of balance connector do the Reedy packs have? JST-XH? Thunderpower/TP? Polyquest/PQ? The weird LRP ones?

Edit: They look like the JST-XH ones, I'll check at the weekend if you want.

[DaveG28]

Originally Posted by traffman

As i am still waiting on my charge lead for my Bantam which no one in the world can supply me ive no option other than to carefully charge my lipos without a balancer. This also echoes Mark Knights sentiments aswell.

I've got a spare align balancer for the bantam if that's the one you need?

I've got an issue at the moment, a balance wire has failed in my 4s pack. It balance charges fine still (weirdly!) on my bantam but how many cycles can I safely put through it before having it fixed, and will balance charging when one cell is not covered properly cause more damage than straight charging?