How many of you guys use balancers when you charge your lip battery packs? I know I have been to hobby stores before and ask them and they say I been charging battiers for years with out them and been fine, so I am woundering how many of you guys use balancers and how many don't.

you don't need to balance every time but not balancing at all shortens the life of the battery.

I balance every time I charge. Just a habit I picked up from charging my surface RC lipos. I use an Onyx230 with an Astro Flight blinky balancer on my air lipos and surface lipos.

But of course if you have a balance charger that charges through the balance connector, it balances while charging.

Even brand new packs sometimes come out of balance. The chargers I have, it's easier to balance than not, so I do it every charge, and I never wonder how long it's been or how the cells are doing. <shrug> I've heard the same stories you have, so maybe it's overkill, but it's one less thing to worry about.

hey guys I was going to get a balaner but got a hole new charger insted it balances and chargers at the same time, I charged my 11.1volt 3s 1800mah lipo's at 2 amps on my last charger that was the highest it would go. My new one is a Tenergy and it goes to 5 amps my question is does anyone know how many amps to charge a 11.1volt 1800mah battery at?

Depends on the pack and the charger. Generally you should follow the rates on the label (for most, it would say 1C charge, which would be 1.8A on the 1800mAh pack). Some chargers (like my Hyperion) claim to safely charge at 2C, and I know of people who do it all the time, but YMMV- check the instructions that came with the charger for what the mfr says about that, and whatever you do, don't experiment with it indoors . Regardless of all that, the safest is always going to be 1C.

whats 1c mean? anyway my manul say lipo voltage level 3.7v/cell Max charge is 4.2v/cell Allowable fast charge current: 1c or less. I aint for sure what that all means thow I know on my old charger I charged everything on 2 amps but that was because the guy at the hobby store said so I don't know for sure if I still should do that becuse I did the math 1800/1000=1.8amps real close to 2 amps

Well, then, you already got it . 1C is just understood to mean 1 X Capacity- in simplest form, you'd think you'd charge at 1.8 A for 1 hour, but that would slam the packs and possibly ignite them; the charger will actually charge to a max of 4.2V per cell at the set current, then it maintains the voltage while reducing current until the pack is fully charged (this is the CC/CV process you hear about: constant current first, then constant voltage to finish).

I just seen on my pack under a velco strip of corse I got these on a trade by the way, and on the sticker it says never exceed 1c (1x Capacity) also never charge over 4.2 per cell. so to be save I guess I need to charge mine at 1.5 amps don't know what do you think Osterizer?

Well, if they're 1800mAh (1.8Ah) packs, then 1C is 1.8A. You can charge them more slowly if you like, and that's reputed to make them last longer, but I've honestly never tried it. All I meant by saying you wouldn't have them charging at 1.8A for an hour was that they will reach 4.2V / cell before an hour's up, and the charger will reduce the current. It winds up taking some bit more than an hour as a result, that's all.