Left lipo charger on last night!

[brad65]

I fully agree with Douggie, cheap Lipo charger gives poor balancing, and yes, well design chargers with built in balancer are just great and safer!

Something you could try is to charge 1S at a time, that's what I used to do before I invested in a proper charger/balancer, you need to make an adapter that will plug on the desired pins of the balancing tab! you might see that each cell reach a proper charge level if they are not toasted!
The balancing tab of a 2S pack is made with 3 wires (4 for a 3S, 5 for a 4S...), the first one (generaly the red one) is connected to the positive of the pack, the second one is connected to the "center" of the pack, at the connection between the two cells, the third one (generaly the black one) is connected to the negative of the pack, through this tab, you can also simply check accurately the voltage of each cell with a voltmeter, I always do it after every charge!

This is the help I'm seeking! So basicly if I find the two wires on the tab that have the low cell reading, then I can charge just that cell with those two wire? Am I correct? Also what amps can I charge through these small wires .5 max?

[Fluid]

Kiss - Keep It Simple S*****

Personally I have never charged a LiPo through the balance taps. It isn't necessary, just another way to sell more expensive chargers - IMO anyway. There is nothing wrong with balancing the discharged pack, then charging through the main leads. My TP and FP packs are then in balance after the charge.

Several charger makers agree with my routine, Schulze among them. But then the Germans never were very good with quality electronics and how to use them.....



.

[egneg]

I have done this but when the packs are done the charger turns off (Triton w/ external balancer). They may continue to balance but have never dropped below 8.19 volts for 2S packs. I have not had any problems running them (they are polyquest). I think that you may have had a problem before this w/ that pack but didn't notice it until now.

[Flying Scotsman]

Personally I have never charged a LiPo through the balance taps. It isn't necessary, just another way to sell more expensive chargers - IMO anyway. There is nothing wrong with balancing the discharged pack, then charging through the main leads. My TP and FP packs are then in balance after the charge.

Several charger makers agree with my routine, Schulze among them. But then the Germans never were very good with quality electronics and how to use them.....



.

The only time I tend to disagree with Fluid . Quality,ballanced chargers..why, very simple and safe

Douggie

[Boatman]

The only time I tend to disagree with Fluid . Quality,ballanced chargers..why, very simple and safe

Douggie

Why disagree with the person who designed schulze charger? They agree with him.
For me, I just plain ole follow instructions and I dont give a rip who agrees. Dont leave a battery un-attended while it is charging. No, I dont stand over it but I sure dont forget about it. Jeez. thats simple.

[Flying Scotsman]

Why disagree with the person who designed schulze charger? They agree with him.
For me, I just plain ole follow instructions and I dont give a rip who agrees. Dont leave a battery un-attended while it is charging. No, I dont stand over it but I sure dont forget about it. Jeez. thats simple.

Look at my previous post to charging

Douggie

[Boatman]

I think and I will be rude you need a better charger, FMA, Hyperion, etc. you get what you pay for with chargers, especially!!! and always follow their instructions for charging...You must be in attendance during the charge cycle
The batteries are probably toast

Douggie

there it is.

[ED66677]

Also what amps can I charge through these small wires .5 max?

you can't really charge correctly via the balancing taps, as you say the wires are thin so a 5000mAh pack that should be charged at 1C (5A) just can't be done this way, although I can confirm you can put easily 2.5A through the balancing taps not bad for a 5000mAh pack that's the minimum (0.5C), that's how I do it sometimes!

[brad65]

Ok I know I need a better charger, I'm glad I got by for the past 2 years with some crappy chargers but I do need to upgrade. I have so many different batterys for my truggys, planes and boat I need a better charger.

I have done two things that worked to bring back the voltage evenly on one battery. I charged through the tap on the low cell and then I used the blinky over night. I woke up to a balance battery 4.11 & 4.11. I balanced charged it and it evenly went to 4.2 on each cell. I'm glad I had the blinky balancer. Now I'm balancing the other battery, it takes a day to balance. Thanks again guys for your help. In all the years I've own lipos with 3 different chargers I've never had a problem balancing because I've always charged them with balancers and took great care in not going lower than 3.2 volts per cell. I know I shouldn't leave the charge unattended but I did and I know how to get out of this problem again if it happens down the road. Thank you guys!

[AndyKunz]

you can't really charge correctly via the balancing taps, as you say the wires are thin so a 5000mAh pack that should be charged at 1C (5A) just can't be done this way, although I can confirm you can put easily 2.5A through the balancing taps not bad for a 5000mAh pack that's the minimum (0.5C), that's how I do it sometimes!

Your balancing taps have to be able to handle your full charge current, in the case where you have a very unbalanced pack.

Andy

[brad65]

Your balancing taps have to be able to handle your full charge current, in the case where you have a very unbalanced pack.

Andy

since the volts was alread 3.99 it wouldn't allow me to but more than 1.3amp in.

[785boats]

I too saw the light some 8 months ago & started charging my packs through the main leads after first balancing the packs. I always check the voltage of each cell after the charge & they are always exactly the same to the 100th of a volt.
They also take on slightly more voltage because those skinny little tap wires & pins & adaptor leads & plugs etc are out of the circuit.
I wish I could afford a better charger with a built in balancer but the way the Aussie dollar is, the cost is prohibitive at the moment. My trusty old Swallow II will have to do for a while longer.
Cheers.
Paul.

[AndyKunz]

At the end of the charge, when the current is down to a trickle, those "skinny little tap wires" make no difference at all due to Ohm's Law. The current is in tenths of an amp, the insertion resistance is well under 1/10 Ohm, the power losses are so close to 0 that you'd need special equipment to measure it.

Depending on which brand of balancing plug you use, the contacts are rated from 2-7A.

As long as your charger is working for you, stay where you are. But do it for the right reasons (money) not based on technical concerns which have no merit.

Andy

[Flyguy55]

I had a similiar problem with a new pack I bought from Pat at RC Lipos. one cell was low. I called Pat and he told me to do a slow charge , .5 amp . I discharged the pacl just a bit and charged at .5 amp , and that solved the problem.
Worked for me.

Dick

[Flyguy55]

BTW I was using a Hyperion Duo