ORIGINAL: bdavison
While the Triton is almost "un-decieveable", It still cant tell if a multi-celled lipo is unbalanced.
And Ive got a 3cell battery here to prove it. One bad cell and two good ones. Basically it knows something is wrong, it just doesnt know what. The Triton is a superb charger, but not perfect.
Basically the triton will adjust amperage rates to keep the pack from overheating and to maintain max performance. So with this one bad cell lipo I have, it just tries to charge it at a low amperage rate.....for a LONG time. No error messages, etc. I wont fly it again, but I do use it as a test battery when Im just tweaking on my planes at home. I figure one day, Ill take it out back and do one of those lipo explosion demo videos. Crank about 5A to it and watch it go boom. Get it all on video
Most chargers cant tell if the cells are imbalanced. Thats why Tanic and a few others put taps on each cell, so you can manually check them.
I beg to differ. You said it yourself "Basically it knows something is wrong." Is the Triton's failure to complete the charge cycle not an error indication? The Triton charges for a few minutes then monitors battery voltage then starts charging again. If you watch the display you can see this happening. It is this mechanism that keeps from overcharging the battery assuming the user sets the charger properly. If the taps on batteries you mention are for manual cell monitoring, they shure aren't user friendly. The taps are for connection of safety devices that prevent each cell from being over charged. It is possible to measure each cell's voltage with the taps, but that is not their primary purpose.