lipo balancing question

[dirtysouth31]

i was told that if you charge a lipo at 1/2 an amp than you dont need a balancer now i think if thats true than why would they sell balancers than.dont matter if its 1/2 or 2 the lipo isnt smart enough to equally charge each cell exactly on each one,it needs some help.hence the balancer....somebody clarify this for me!!! im still buying a balancer i just want to find out if this is true or false...i vote for false

[Eyekandyboats]

Ok i'll take a stab at it dirt.
Well the whole idea to charge batteries at a very low amp was to balance each cell. With conventional Nimh the cell that got charged fist would get warm and dissipate the energy getting put into it by heat. Therefor one cell would warm up and lose the energy fast enough to make a low amp charge not effective. So basically stopping the hi cell from being charged. there for upon each cell getting warm it will be at the same "voltage"
make sense?
But a lipo is charged at 1C( or 2C in some cases) and the pack does not get warm while the charge is going
Thewarmth a lipo pack produces is not the same as warmth a nimh pack produces; So when your pack gets warm the IR goes down and the cell will not dissipate the energy through heat. so therefor each cell will charge at the same constant rate.
There for my verdict is charging a lipo at a low rate will do diddly squat but take a long time to charge.
Also they it is normal practice to balance the cells every charger So are you going to charge a like1/2 or 1/4 of the C rating every time you charge the packs? That would be just plain brutal.
my $0.02

[SJFE]

Taylor that makes sence to me. No reason that can not be fact. I would also like to hear from Mr Hill on this subject.

[Eyekandyboats]

Thanks.
Oh yeah Steve would probs know more on this subject!.

[Diegoboy]

...Nobody knows the definite answer? I'm curious now!

[Eyekandyboats]

I am pretty sure, No charging at a low amp will not balance your packs.

[sjslhill]

LiPoly cannot be balanced by slow charging....get you a balancer of some type.

thanks,
Steve

[Flying Scotsman]

...Nobody knows the definite answer? I'm curious now!

Yes, you should ballance your LI-PO batteries, unless you want an explosion or fire to happen. Safety first

[dirtysouth31]

so if somebody gives that bad of advice should you hold them liable when your house burns to the ground???your liable if you buy somebody a beer and they drive somebody over and kill em,then your held responsible too!!i think in the future if your not sure about what your talking about then you shouldnt speak about it..i was told this and i knew better but i still asked..thanks for clearing the air before somebodies life is ruined over a lipo explosion

[SJFE]

LiPoly cannot be balanced by slow charging....get you a balancer of some type.

& there we have it. Case closed.

[LJH]

Steve is totally correct but I have found in my 6+ years of using Lipos that slow charging can help a pack stay in ballance. Most of my bigger packs only get flown on the weekends so starting friday morning I would charge them at 1/4-1/2C and would periodicly check individual cell voltage and never had cells that were more then .03V from each other. Most of my bigger packs are Thunder Power so YMMV with other brands. I really believe that treating your packs gently when charging them goes a long way in pack life.


Cheers,
Jim