"Balancing Lipos" what & why?

[frddyj]

info used from RC Driver November 2009 Issue 71 p. 82

A LiPo pack is comprised of one or more cells & we refer to the cell count in "s" rating (ex. a 2s LiPo has 2 cells).

Each individual cell is capable of holding 3.7 volts and is operates in a safe range down to 3 - 3.25 volts for most LiPo cells.

"Balancing" a pack ensures that all cells in a given pack are at the same voltage.

It is important that cells have the same voltage so that there is less of a chance of a cell's voltage falling below the safe operating range which could result in damage or a potentially dangerous situation.

Example:

Let's say you have a 2s pack that is way out of balance 4 volts in 1 cell and 2 volts in the other. And your LVC is set to 3 volts.

The ESC will continue to see 6volts and draw power while the low cell is essentially being damaged and cause for safety concerns.

 

[Pope]

Good info. How often should you balance a pack?

 

[frddyj]

Good info. How often should you balance a pack?

Great question and one that brings several answers.

I prefer the Hyperion line of chargers which have a built-in balancer so which makes it extremely easy to balance every charge.

There is no reason not to balance a LiPo pack. Balancing a pack's cell voltage improves performance, battery-pack life and safety.

Because of this, I will balance every charge.

 

[BIGDAN89]

you shouldn't have to balance very often if you have high quality cells or when you hit something very hard, but i like to balance every 20 runs unless the battery goes threw a hard impact.

 

[Larsenracing]

I'm with Dan, You do not have to balance every charge if you have a decent quality pack. Also depends on how hard you are drawing from the pack. If your pulling hard on them the more you will have to balance. Also the larger packs will need balancing more often. It will not hurt your packs however so balance at will. I try to balance my lipos every 5 charges or so.

 

[frddyj]

you shouldn't have to balance very often if you have high quality cells or when you hit something very hard, but i like to balance every 20 runs unless the battery goes threw a hard impact.

I'm with Dan, You do not have to balance every charge if you have a decent quality pack. Also depends on how hard you are drawing from the pack. If your pulling hard on them the more you will have to balance. Also the larger packs will need balancing more often. It will not hurt your packs however so balance at will. I try to balance my lipos every 5 charges or so.

thats great advice guys, espec this VVV

It will not hurt your packs however so balance at will.

 

[Freezebyte]

There is no GOOD reason NOT to balance your lipos at every charge. Nothing wrong with protecting your investment with simply just plugging in one more cable.

 

[sue1313]

great info
thanks guys

 

[MikeK1981]

+1. Most new chargers balance while charging so they pretty much eliminate all doubt about this question. Pretty soon no one will need to ask anymore because balancing and charging will be one and the same.

 

[Bankrupter]

I have been thinking about this too. the packs I'm getting can charge up to 5C and my charger's sync-ed can do 2 packs at 20 amps a pop. To me that means very short charge times. But also don't what to hurt the packs over all life too bad. a lil bit I'm not concerned about.

 

[MikeK1981]

Dang, 20 amps a piece is sweet! I'm getting a charger for my heli batts but it only charges up to 5 amps I think. It's OK though cause I won't have any batts bigger than 2200 or maybe 2800 and I'll be charging at 1C so it'll do what I need plus it can charge all types of batts and it's only $55.

 

[frddyj]

I have been thinking about this too. the packs I'm getting can charge up to 5C and my charger's sync-ed can do 2 packs at 20 amps a pop. To me that means very short charge times. But also don't what to hurt the packs over all life too bad. a lil bit I'm not concerned about.

Yeah, ive thought about this too. I'm going with 6500 Mah packs & the duo 615i kicks out 15amps (provided the p.s. has the power).

so the max charge rate i can use is 2c (6500/ 1000 = 6.5 x 2 = 13amps) or 2 & change if i set to 15Amp maximum.

maybe thats a good thing for the overall life of the pack like you said.

 

[Larsenracing]

Ya know the only thing that irks me about these balance plugs is there is no standard and are many different plugs so you need tons of adapters. I think most company's are moving toward one style though.

 

[80KKA]

new to this. what does charging at 1C mean? on my charger it only gives me the option to charge anywhere from 1A to 5A...

 

[SAVAGE CABBAGE]

Great question and one that brings several answers.

I prefer the Hyperion line of chargers which have a built-in balancer so which makes it extremely easy to balance every charge.

There is no reason not to balance a LiPo pack. Balancing a pack's cell voltage improves performance, battery-pack life and safety.

Because of this, I will balance every charge.

i balance every 4 runs renewing an over discharged pack is something i do not enjoy doing bc it is very dangerous but i don't have money for new packs

 

[James B.Valencia]

What's the difference between 2s 3000mah and a 2s 5000mah? is the mah just the battery capacity? does it affect overall performance if I use the 3000mah compared to a 5000mah?

 

[francis Labarbara]

mAh is the battery capacity. If 2 batteries have the same C rating the larger one can dump more amps. So a smaller battery has to have a higher C rating to equal the same performance as a bigger one. This only matters though if you are approaching that maximum discharge amount in your vehicle.

 

[James B.Valencia]

mAh is the battery capacity. If 2 batteries have the same C rating the larger one can dump more amps. So a smaller battery has to have a higher C rating to equal the same performance as a bigger one. This only matters though if you are approaching that maximum discharge amount in your vehicle.

Got it, Thanks for the info...