Balancing Taps?

[BP-Revo]

Are Flightpower Balancing Taps the same as Thunder Power ones?

Are Polyquest taps the same as Hyperion/Maxamps ones?

(I know the wiring may be different but I'm just wondering if the actual plugs are the same)

Thanks guys

[MetalMan]

Flightpower uses their own balancing taps, that are unique to their batteries. Polyquest and Hyperion taps use the same connector, although I'm not sure how the wiring compares.

[glassdoctor]

You have 3 major taps on the market now:

Thunderpower
Polyquest
Align

Each have a number of manufacturers following one of the above. For example,

Align is the same as 3e Models, Electrifly, E-Flight or most any Chinese battery.

Thunderpower is also the same as Apex, Flightpower.

Polyquest taps are also used by Hyperion, Max Amps, E-Tec

Kokam is also the same as Graupner.

From a post on another site... not my info... I have to assume this is accurate...

[BP-Revo]

They look the same on my reference pics, so they must be. If not, then I'll figure something out.

Thanks guys.

[glassdoctor]

Yeah just be careful to check the wiring, like you said. Sometimes the same connector is used but they are wired backwards....

[BP-Revo]

I'll be checking wiring for sure.

I think flightpower, from the looks of it, designates the positive wire, then has a bunch of "negatives" which procede it.

All I'm going to do is re-arrange wiring on the adapter (and possibly the pack itself) so I'll have a Y adapter that will balance a 2S and 3S pack as a 5S.

Then, the 3S Y output will also be able to individually balance a 2S or 3S pack, which what I'll do for charging, since my charger does just 4S max.

Anyway...in case you were wondering why I am asking - I crunched some numbers and figured if I can get EVERY one of my batteries sold for decent prices (besides 2 of my stick packs so I can still use my EZ-Starts) I wont be too far away from getting 2 sets of 5S (2S+3S) FlightPower Evo20 4900 packs. :D Its not a big deal...since I only use my 8K's right now anyway...so I'm actually not loosing anything by doing this. I'm just gaining flightpower and some floor space in my room lol...

Then, I'll order some .065 inch sheet 6061 aluminum and cut out and bend little protective cases for them. However, more importantly, the case will allow them to key into the slots on my G2R chassis, keeping them secure.

I'm hoping these with the 1950/6 will get me some serious speed :D

I saw a flightpower pack last night, and its taps were completely different to my Thunder Power packs...

I believe that I saw on a flightpower site where they say that you can balance the fp pack with a thunderpower balancer. The plugs and wire orientation should be the same.

I'm using a thunder power balancer and when I've needed to, I just removed the wires from the plugs and attached them directly to the pins on the balancer. What balancer are you using?

I was able to get an adapter from cheapbatterypacks.com which allows me to balance a battery with a hyperion stle tap with a thunderpower balancer. They also have an adapter that allows you to balance a battery with a thunderpower type tap with a hyperion balancer.

[BrianG]

Aside from the physical connector size differences, the only other difference I've seen is that the Hyperion skips connector slots. So, if you have a 2s pack and a 4s tap connector, the layout goes: + - . . - (the dots are empty slots in the connector). Aside from that, don't all other connectors wire the cells in succession? Like this: -C1-C2-C3-C4- (the dashes are the tap wires from each cell).

It seems like there is much confusion about taps in general. Some balancers like the the "ultra Balancer" have 0.1" spaced pins that will fit most of the connectors except TP. And for those you get a little adaptor plug.

The only other thing to remember is to make sure you have the plug oriented correctly I guess, but the wires are usually marked something that makes sense. Even without markings, it takes about 10 seconds to measure the taps and mark the most positive wire.

[MetalMan]

All of my Lipo/A123 packs use Hyperion/Polyquest taps, but I have removed the spaces between the wires on the connectors, and moved them all closer to the negative side of the connector. I have done the same with the adapters for my balancers. It just makes things much easier this way, including charging individual cells and checking balance with a voltmeter.