Will be charging with my "old school" Hyperion charger for now...
It only goes to 7S so I will be charging my packs 4S at a time...
Need to get a reasonably priced balancer... suggestions welcomed.
Does it matter that much if it's a balancer that you charge through the unit vs. something that discharges the cells with higher voltage (like an Astro blinky)?

Mark,

I still charge my batteries the "old school" way using an Astro 109 and a balancer which bleeds the high cells. This approach works, but you have to be careful since the charging current is normally much higher than the discharge current provided by the balancer. This means that it is possible for the one of the cells to be over charged if you are not careful. Before charging, I always check the balance state of the battery before I start charging, if the cells are close, then I go ahead and start charging. If not, I try to balance them first and then charge. In my experience, when the packs are nearing the end of their useful like, the balancing step before charging becomes necessary. The balancer I use is either a TP or Dualsky.

Now, having said that, I believe that a new balancing charger would be a good investment and also potentially safer.

Good luck,

Teo

If your charger doesn't have a balancer and you want the balancing function as well as the capability to stop the charge if any cell reaches a critical voltage or is too far out of balance with any of the other cells, then you could look at the Equinox charger avail at Tower Hobbies. It is basically the same functionality as the Hyperion LBA6. It goes between the charger and the battery and monitors/balances the cells . It can terminate the charge (disconnect from the charger) if it sees any problems.

I have 2 and used them for a couple years with no issues with my AF109s.

Balancers like the 'Blinky' will gradually balance packs but will not provide any level of active protection. The balancing dischange capacity is pretty low and can't keep up with higher capacity packs. IMO

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXMGS7&P=7

Woodie

Mark,

I have an Thunder Power 210 balancer that I no longer use. It works great. PM me and I'll make you a deal on it that you can't refuse. <br type="_moz"/>

Regarding balancing in general...is this something that needs to be done every cycle, or every five cycles, or every X times a pack is charged?

Hi Scott,

I generally balance the packs every time I use them. With a balancing charger, it would be automatically done for you every time you charge the packs.

Teo

My cell pro 10s charger can charge two packs at a time, including balancing. I use it to charge 2 5-cell packs. U may need to check out their manual on charging 2 4-cell packs at a time. The 10s is priced at about $120.

Nope. It's a cinch. You plug one pack into the adapter block for channel 1, and plug the other pack into the adapter for channel 2. If you don't want to you don't even have to use the main connectors, you can just plug the balance leads and hit CHARGE!

I'm doing it right now.