rc_heli_flier

My Feedback: (12)

All,
I've looked for this info and can't find it anywhere, including the manul for the charger. When you are charging a lipo pack, is the battery connected only through the balancer plug, or is it also connected through the main output plug as well?

Thanks.

VVRC

Yes you need to connect both the balancer connection (if you want to balance that is) AND the charge leads.

HLANG

Attention.
Plug FIRST the charge leads and SECOND the balancer adapter leads
Always do it this way. If not, you can DAMAGE your charger!
You can upgrade your charger with firmware version 1.6
There are some bug fix and new program updates.

wolf@ma

you need to plug both in so it can do a battery chck and then it will charge.

Mamba Max

Wolf - you don't need to plug in both so it can do a battery check, it can do a battery check through only the main charger leads, I charge my lipo's with a balancer and my LiMn with NO balancer and it does the battery check and moves on without the balancer, after letting me know I am not balancing

HLANG - ABSOLUTELY CORRECT! LISTEN TO THIS MAN! HE CLEARLY KNOWS (or at least read the same instructions I did)

Rc_Heli_Flier - BEWARE ALL CHARGERS THAT CHARGE THROUGH THE BALANCER

Max

Hiflyer001

Mamba...I just bought a eflite balancer as a backup. It charges and balances through the balance plug. Is there a problem with these chargers????? thanks for the info

Mamba Max

Hiflyer

"Mamba...I just bought a eflite balancer as a backup. It charges and balances through the balance plug. Is there a problem with these chargers????? thanks for the info"

I am not familliar with the eflite balancer but I will tell you what I know about balancing through the plug -

From what I know of Lipo tech, for ultimate safety when charging, one always wants to use a CC/CV charger. (Constant current, constant voltage). What they does is actually slow the charger down when it gets near capacity. What "peak" chargers do is charge the battery till the charging voltage/current that is absorbed by the battery drops dramatically (a little after overcharging the battery).

Many, particularly cheaper Lipo chargers, many that charge through the balance port, use more of a peak detection style system.

I do not believe that these chargers can properly charge a lipo the way a cc/cv does. I just don't. I don't care how good they are and how consistantly close they get, I just don't believe they can do as good a job. I am NOT saying that they cannot do the job!!! I am saying that after I use my good charger, to charge them properly, they will have many more cycles with much closer to the capacity of the battery when purchased. NOTE: I have not done a direct comparison to prove this theory, this is from all the stuff I have read and all the experiences that I have witnessed and watched with friends.

Now when I am running expensive batteries, I want a MORE expensive charger to care for them for me so that they last a long time and I do not have to have a repeat battery investment for an extended period. $140 for a charger is not that much when you have 300+$ of batteries I suppose...

One of the biggest reasons I am against charging through the balance port is that my favorite battery supplier
APOGEE BATTERIES (pfm distribution-makes the best all around batteries on the RC market in my opinion) will NOT warranty batteries that have been charged through the balance port. Sure Thunder Power Elite lightweight flight/racing batteries are very very light, but these are not much heavier and well worth the differences.

Apogee are LiMn not LiPo.

They don't burn up the same way when punctured. Check it out on youtube. They DRILL HOLES IN ONE...
They weight 5-10% more than Lipo
CHARGE TWICE AS FAST (I charge my 2200mah 2S at 4.4amps! my 1000 3s at 2amps)
BEST BATTERY REPLACEMENT WARRANTY IN THE BUSINESS!!! NO FAULT REPLACEMENT!!!

You would think I work for them. No... I just am THAT much happier with their products over the competition.

AND THEY ARE 25% cheaper!!!

Max