Like guver, I’m also in the minority … it isn’t necessary to always balance charge if the 3S cells are relatively close in voltage (within 0.02 volts of each other) before recharging. Always check the resting recovery cell voltage differentials a few minutes after landing and again before recharging. As a general rule most parkflyers will always have to balance charge when they fly right up to the LVC of 9.0 volts for a 3S 11.1v LiPo. That is because the difference between individual cell voltages becomes more dramatic with a LVC of 9.0v (3S LiPo) as compared to say at 10.2 volts for a 3S LiPo.

Having a voltage cell checker (like E-flite photo) is kind of like the difference between night and day. You need to know what the individual cell’s resting voltages are after landing, even moreso if LVC (LowVoltageCutoff) is reached. As the individual cell resting voltages recover( bounce back) you can then determine which way is best for charging with your Accucel 8, or PKZ balance charger. As a general rule if the resting recovery cell voltages are within 0.05v of each other you wouldn’t need to balance charge until the last 15 minutes of charging. If there is a difference of say 0.05v-0.10v … balance charge the last half of charging cycle. If they are off by more than 0.10v from each other balance charge the entire time (just my 2 cents of LiPo balance charging experience).

The following refers just to your use of the PKZ 2-3 cell Balance Charger and a 2200mAh LiPo. I charged up one of my PKZ 2200mAh with the PKZ 2.3 Cell Balance Charger this morning using three different methods.

1. Charged for a while with AC wall charger (12VDC 1200mA). However, the highest setting I could use was 1.0amp. Also, the wall charger got quite warm so I stopped. Then I used a small 1.5amp battery trickle charger, but again I wasn’t able to charge higher than 1.0amp without the charging beeping after a few minutes and shutting down.

2. Used an older car battery I had in workshop, and was able to charge at 2.0amp setting. However, as the capacity filled I had to keep decreasing the setting as it would beep and then shut down charging. Even with car battery it would beep and shut down in 10-20 seconds at … 1.75amp dial setting, 1.50a setting, and 1.0a setting.

3. Then I moved outside to van and plugged into cigarette lighter. I also put in a 5 amp fuse to see if I could keep charging while driving to McDs for morning coffee. AGAIN, this was just an experiment as even my expensive Vision Peak Ultra AC/DC charger uses just a 2 amp fuse. Any way always start the engine first and then plug into cigarette lighter. It worked (no blown fuse). As the PKZ 2200mAh 12C finished the last 10-15 minutes of its charge cycle (some with engine running and some turned off ... I had to turn the dial all the way down from 0.50a to 0.30a. This seems to be the preferred way after a LiPo exceeds 4.05-4.10 volts. My Vision Peak Ultra does the same thing automatically dropping from 2.2amps/26watts down to just a trickle during the final charging (15 minutes) of the PKZ 2200 at charge rate of 1C.

Even though I kept recharging two and then *three times after the first supposedly full charge beeping shut down, I still wasn't able to fully charge each cell to 4.2 resting volts with the PKZ 2-3 Cell Balance Charger. But that may be because my PKZ 2200mAh LiPo is 4 years old. The most I got was 4.18v, 4.18v, 4.15v. The green blinking balancer light was blinking all the while during the *three attempts, but the Charger was not able to equally balance each cell to say ... 4.17v, 4.17v, 4.17v. Ideally, a pack should have equal resting cell voltages at the top-end. HOWEVER. It’s my opinion you get more life out of your lipos with a balanced charge of 4.15v per cell than 4.20v per cell, and can still manage to get 80% of a pack’s mAh capacity between 4.15v at top-end and terminate flying or LVC around 3.40v per cell (10.2v 3S LiPo) with conservative to moderate parkflying. That works out to at least 1760mAh from a 2200mAh 3S LiPo pack.

Ideally, every RTF ESC should have two LiPo LVCs. The first 3S LVC at 10.0-10.2 volts followed by the next 3S LVC at 9.6 volts at say 1/3-1/2 throttle for your approach landing. IMO, every RTF manufactured ESC should have these two sequential LVCs (10.2v and then 9.6v) The first noticeable drop-off in engine performance begins just after 3.4v per cell (10.2v for a 3S LiPo.)