most of the so called "balancers" on the market are just cell
levellers!
if charging an out of balance pack with one of the levellers you can still overcharge an individual cell before the levelling takes place
Lipo's are only really damaged by over charging & running under voltage so a decent proper balancing charger is a must
it can make a real difference to battery life as a poorly treated lipo can crap out in less than 70 cycles whereas a well maintained one ie balanced correctly & never run flat should last up to & over 300 cycles before a noticable loss of performance
