batt balancer

[monster]

hi, does anyone noe the use of the balncer? is it for charging the batt Individually?

[Kam]

Used to ensure that the individual cells are of same voltage when charged. I'm using it but to be honest, i dun feel any difference. Might prolong life of lipo though.

[jameswilliam]

Used to ensure that the individual cells are of same voltage when charged. I'm using it but to be honest, i dun feel any difference. Might prolong life of lipo though.

That bring me to another question, I saw some lipo batt cell got plug for balncer and some without do that make different in charging?


Jameswilliam.

[shmuckerz]

i think, emphasizing the word think,
that most good (high quality) batterys will have a balancer plug as it will help 'lengthen' the batterys lifetime.

cheers
shmuckerz

[lmf]

A balancer is used to:-

1. Equalize voltage for the cells in the pack either during, before or after charging.

2. When used during charging (with adequate balancer discharge current), will help to prevent over charging caused by unbalanced cells.

A balanced pack is important to ensure that the charging and discharing rate for each cell are the same. Lipos are very particular for being overcharged or overdischarged. With a balancer, these can be prevented.

e.g.
A 3s unbalanced pack:

Cell 1 ~ 4.2V
Cell 2 ~ 4.0V
Cell 3 ~ 4.2V
Total = 12.4V

The charger will determine that this battery pack as NOT full and will charge it at the preset current which will caused Cell 1 and 3 to be overcharged.

Of cource, if a balanced charger is used, there is no problem since each cells are charged individually. Though a balanced charger doesn't overcharge the Lipo, it also doesn't ensure that the cells are all balanced and this can cause problem during discharging.

[Adrianli]

I'm in the process to purchase a lipo balancer, anyone care to provide me their 2 cents of advice?

Thks in advance.


I'm contemplating between TP n DualPro(By sky hoobies).

TP - Uses battery own power to balance.

DualPro - Uses charger power to balance.

From previous post, seems like balancing during charging is a better process. But I have 2 packs of TP lipo n 1 pack of Hyperion lipo. If use Dual Pro, must find converter connectors.

Please advise accordingly. Thks.

[Artyspec]

i am contemplating between apache 505, LBA6 and TP205. Advice needed too!

[Helicopter]

I was using TP205 and now LBA6.

My personal views:

LBA seem to blance my cell faster. I have a choice now to charge in series or parallel. But LBA have wires here wires there and can be quite a mess.

All i can say... i felt comfortable using TP205 but more comfortable using LBA6.

[mack]

Here are some information regarding TP205V balancer: -

1/ It balances the cells in the pack to a max difference of 0.005V. Because of this very small difference in voltage between the cells, the balancing process is slow. Comparing with direct charging, balancing a battery pack is a slow process. This also depends on the battery packs too.

2/ TP205 allows offline balancing. To speed up your balancing and charging process, you could charge your pack directly with the charger to ensure that there is sufficient voltage for offline balancing (could be omitted if your cells are of sufficient voltage), then do offline balancing to get the cells balance and continue charging directly with the charger. It is a faster process.

Here are my opinions on balancing your battery packs: -
a/ High capacity cells could get not balance after each discharge. These is especially true for any cells with very high discharge rate.

b/ High capacity and very high discharge rate cells lipoly battery packs should have balancer connector fitted. I would say that it is compulsory to have it.

c/ It is not necessary to balance your lipoly battery packs after every discharge unless: -
c.i/ you are discharging the battery packs at a high/very high discharge rate during flights
c.ii/ the lipoly cells are not of high quality
c.iii/ you are going for competition

d/ A good quality lipoly battery packs require balancing on every 4 to 5 cycles

e/ According to ETEC Korean supplier - when the difference in voltages between any of the cells in a lipoly battery pack is more than 0.02V, the pack is considered not balanced.

Apache 505 balancer (2 - 5 cells) also allows offline balancing and balance a lipoly battery pack to a 0.02V max difference in voltage between the cells.

Does anyone knows the difference in voltage between the cells in a lipoly battery pack after using LBA6, DualPro and other balancer? More information for us would be appreciated.

[Kam]

The LB6 also balances to tolerance of 5mV. Likewise it can also be used in standalone mode or connected mode to use with charging/discharging function of your lipo charger.

Slight difference I see is that LB6 is connected between ur charger and batt, whereas the TP is connected to the batt's balance connector, with the charger output to the batt's connector (deans) during charge/discharge. This might explain why TP is slower?

The only thing that bugs me about the hyperion is that after i balance a pack, let it rest, then connect to the balancer again, its very very slightly unbalanced and it starts balancing again. No harm, and my guess is that the tolerance of the balancer is tight so batt slightly off, it balances again.

TP has alarm that tells u when balancing is complete, hyperion can only tell when the lights are off.

[X34]

I am glad that more people are talking about balancing lipos.

Over the last year more suppliers has come into the market to provide their wares for that purpose. I for one supplied "Suzanne" balancers for more than 2 years.

Now there are talks about low charge level(lcl) balancing, balance while charging etc..

During the development of "Suzanne" balancers(Sb) we tried lcl balancing, balancing while charging and voltage limit controller etc. Sb was developed to managed individual lipos and supposed to be fixed for each cell. The cost was prohibitive, so many modeller used it with a connector and use it as a passive balancer.

The lcl balancing has it pitfalls as well. At low charge level, battery voltage spike up with very little charge, therefore make it near impossible to balance, even at mid charge level, the batt doesn't hold its voltage well. The only time a lipo will hold its voltage is when it is almost full, when the charger is at constant voltage and reducing current phase of charging (most batt charger may not have this phase of charging)

If you don't have a TK charger and think u be limiting yourself to 4s lipo, the best charger/balancer one can buy is a Schulze lipo card or Lipo card II.

[mack]

Slight difference I see is that LB6 is connected between ur charger and batt, whereas the TP is connected to the batt's balance connector, with the charger output to the batt's connector (deans) during charge/discharge. This might explain why TP is slower?

The only thing that bugs me about the hyperion is that after i balance a pack, let it rest, then connect to the balancer again, its very very slightly unbalanced and it starts balancing again. No harm, and my guess is that the tolerance of the balancer is tight so batt slightly off, it balances again.

TP has alarm that tells u when balancing is complete, hyperion can only tell when the lights are off.

Balancing is a slow process.

The condition of one lipoly battery pack in one period of time do not mean that it is of the same pack of lipoly battery in another period of time. After every flight, the condition of battery packs might change. This is subjected to how we used it. It might start to degenerate and take faster to get fully charge again. Just like our handphone battery cell. As it ages, it get charged up faster.

So, it is difficult to make comparison using different balancers on lipoly battery packs of different conditions and at different period of time. I have used different balancers on battery packs and sometimes one brand of balancer balanced a pack faster than the other and vice versa.

[mack]

I am glad that more people are talking about balancing lipos.

Over the last year more suppliers has come into the market to provide their wares for that purpose. I for one supplied "Suzanne" balancers for more than 2 years.

I think that "Suzanne" balancer is the 'pioneer' in this field.

[Adrianli]

I read until my eyes !!! Can we have a conclusion? Batt powered balancing or charger powered balancinig better???


Me engineering guy, dont like beating rd the bush. Will chope dwn the whole bush to get that answer!!! Or worst case, leave the bush alone!

[haowee]

if the thing can balance up to 0.02v is good enough right? Or must get those that balance to 0.005v then good enough?