How often do you balance?

Do you balance your lipos every charge? I beleive I reember guys saying you only ned to balance every few charges? IS this true or should you balance every time? If you don't balance every time what is the advantage?

Balance everytime!
Otherwise if one cell is bad the charger will keep charging the others trying to bring the voltage up and it could catch fire

CONTACT your battery manufacturer for specific details on YOUR battery....but I will say there is no need to balance every charge. Your charger will charge the packs like they need.

I had a 2s pack that was off by about .2v. I balanced it and its been fine.

Things to remember
1) Lipo cut off is per cell, when it detects a cell at the cut off - it stops the car from draining the battery (theoretically).
2) Chargers will not push your pack past the charge set. The charger SHOULD drop to a VERY minute amperage (.1a, attempting to bring both cells to full capacity) and charge until it reaches the voltage cut off set for your personal battery requirement.

If it doesnt balance, then you need to do a balance charge...have dinner, run errands, cut the grass, milk the cow, and then it may be done balancing! [U]Joking! bottom line, balancing takes forever![/U]
[U][B]NEVER CHARGE A LIPO UNATTENDED!![/B][/U]

I have been wrong before, I hope this isnt one of those times. I balance every 10 runs or more.

i balance my lipos everytime.... and it doesn't take forever.....

i charge both my spc lipos in parallel in about an hour @ 1c on a 2300 mah pack

i charge with a thunder ac6

Seems like I have seen every 3-10 runs many times. My 1300 mah batteries take around an hour to charge right now balancing. Are they basicaly balanced or will it take less time to charge if I don't balance?

I also have a Thunder AC6. Got it yesterday and like it! Especialy for the price!

I have the traxxas 2s 2000 mah and an onyx 245 dual charging station and I balance mine every time and it charges in about 25-35 min

Let me clarify

I plug my balance plug in every time. I select LIPO CHARGE - I watch the voltage bounce from pack to pack on the screen. My charger steps the pack voltage up gradually....takes about 20-25 minutes for 2s 1600mah lipo

I have a LIPO BALANCE CHARGE setting on my charger as well....this takes a considerably longer charge time to complete. About 2-4 hours! This is what I mean by "Balance" charge your lipo once in a while. If you're charging your lipo battery at the recommended settings, you will not be able to complete a "Balance" cycle in 25-30 minutes


EDIT: There seems to be some descrepancy with my charge theory and everyone elses....I'm doing some research and I'll get back to this thread with what I find.

Until then, make sure you're using your balance lead, and charging all cells evenly up to the voltage settings (4.2v p/c usually)

I balance charge every time.
I did once compare the difference in time between a balance charge and a fast charger... it was 3 minutes. I figure the 3 minutes of time it takes for my charger to properly maintain my packs is well worth it over having to replace an RC, house, or something else more valuable.

I should add that I can tell my charger when to balance the cells... if the charger is set to "balance always" it is a waste of time on a well taken care of pack. I tell it to balance toward the end of the charge cycle... so it only takes a few minutes.

If a multi cell LiPo pack takes significantly longer to balance charge than non-balance charge, there is something seriously wrong. Within just a few minutes, balance charging should take no longer than non-balanced charging. Overall, balance charging serves two purposes:

1. Prevents any given cell from overcharging before the charge cycle is completed.

2. Provides a significant safety feature by continuously monitoring the cells for relative voltage with respect to each other. It the cells get too out of wack from each other and/or a cell voltage gets too high, the charge cycle will safely shut down.

The issue of whether or not to balance charge should not be one measured by testosterone levels, but rather [B]SAFETY[/B]. Safety is and always will be number one!!!

I have the options on my charger of 'balance charge' or 'fast charge' (and a few others) and I always use balance charge because it doesn't take very long and its safer in the long run. Why take the chance to save a few minutes!?!

Dose the AC6 balance every time if I plug in the balancer port? I don't see anything that differenciates.

[QUOTE=custmemaxx1;5351868]Dose the AC6 balance every time if I plug in the balancer port? I don't see anything that differenciates.[/QUOTE]
Maybe it is covered in the charger manual. If not Hobby Partz support may answer your question. I only say this because you are beginning to tread into the area of third party tech support that is not allowed on the Traxxas forum.

Thanks Will check it out.

Balance charge is the only safe way to go. With the right charger and good batteries it takes no time at all
But then this is how I do it [IMG]http://i1145.photobucket.com/albums/o518/davi3260/2012-10-15_14-39-50_302.jpg[/IMG]

I have seen your set up a time or two. Seems like you have a few wires! haha

I just found out the two charges I did wern't balance anyhow. I will probably go 2-4 runs between balance and see how it goes.

P.S. How long can I leave a battery before charging after I run it? Is a day or two OK? Last night I ran the truck at the end of the work day. Had to leave work to get the kids and left it over night. I would think 3-5 days shouldn't be a problem? Thanks.

That depends on the voltage of the pack. If you stopped when lvc cut in then no charge it up right away. If the cells are around 3.8 volts your good

I keep my lipos stored over the whole winter at 10% capacity...about 500 mah. I only charge them fully when I go to use them....even in the summer I keep them at storage capacity between bashing.

What is cell voltage??
The reason I ask is because recommended storage voltage per cell is 3.85v...

OK, the words I'm getting from my lipo battery/ charging company is its not required to balance every time. Is there a benefit if you do, I'm not sure....

Balancing is for when your cells will not charge equally when charged. Example, if you have one cell @ 4.2 and the other cell @ 3.9, use the balance feature to bring them both up equal.

I have found this to be true and correct.

NOW, when I connect my balance plug in and charge normal, I'm not balance charging the battery, all I am doing is allowing the volt meter on the charge to read the voltage in each cell and display it to me. I can essentially, unplug my balance wire, utilitze my charger in normal lipo mode and be fine. however, if I do this, I can not monitor whether the cells are equal or not and I will not be able to determine if I need to balance them.

So, to the initial question, "do I need to balance every time" - In my opinion, nope, you dont have to. Can you, sure. Will it hurt the battery, not sure but I dont think so....will it inprove the battery life....not sure but I think it may - a little bit.


To address the charging time I posted earlier....Perhaps my personal charge has a software fault keeping it from stopping or perhaps, the internal volt meter is off. But, it does take more time for it to balance, up to a few hours depending how far off the cells were to begin with.

I thank you for allowing me this thread, I have some more research to do. I need to evaluate the way I'm using my charger. I think I may have faulty equipment but then again, I may have a faulty train of thought. :wacko:

For what it is worth I balance charge every time I charge a lipo pack.

The best bet is to follow what the pack manufacturer recommends. That being said this thread as interesting as it is really is outside of the boundaries of support of a Traxxas vehicle or product.

THREAD CLOSED