help with tp lipo balancer!

[tallyram]

i need to know the exact process you guys use to balance and charge your lipos. should i balance them first and then charge, or should i balance towards the end of the charge? i use an ice charger and a tp 205v balancer. thanks!

[BrianG]

Most charge and balance at the same time.

Balancing after charging is not recommended IMO for 2 reasons:
1) Balancing discharges any high cells so if you do it after the charge, your pack will have less capacity (very little though).
2) If you have an imbalanced 4s pack that the charger is dumping 16.8v on, one of the cells might be at 4.3 while the others are at 4.16v. The chargers just knows to CV charge at 4.2v X the number of cells.

[jnev]

You charge first, then balance. Or you can charge and balance at the same time.

Edit: Brian beat me to it.

[tallyram]

can i charge and balance at the same time with my setup? i will have my tp 1010c next week and i will be able to charge/balance at the same time.

[tallyram]

please help!

tallyram,

The TP balancer is not the best balancer to use as a standalone unit and that is what you are doing with the TP205 and ICE. The best balancer to use with the Ice, that I've seen, is the Hyperion LBA10, because you actually charge through the balancer and if a dangerous imbalance should occur, the LBA10 can shut down the charging process.

With the TP205 balancer, all it can do to stop an imbalance is to discharge the higher voltage cells, and it only does this at a rate of around 300mA. There's no way that the TP205 can drain a cell fast enough when the charger is charging at 8A or anything over 300mA.

When you are using the TP205 with the Ice, all you are doing is charging the battery while passively balancing. You can do this, but I'd have the balancer nearby so that I could hear it if the alarm goes off.

Don't get me wrong, the TP205 and Ice will work fine for normal situations. I used that combo for over a year. It just won't provide much protection for when things go wrong. As I said, just keep an eye on it while it's charging.

I typically just left the battery plugged into the balancer while it charged.

[tallyram]

thanks AAngel! i'll try charging as you recommended. i should have my tp1010c next week, that should make things easier!