Yet another Lipo charging/balancing question

[MetalMan]

The only time a cell is disconnected from charging is when you are using "active balancing", also known as parallel charging. To charge/balance like this you need a charger that charges through taps - a balancer built into the charger.

Conventional balancers discharge the cell(s) that is (are) at a higher voltage than the other(s). So, the charger (conventional) will still be putting out the same current, but the voltage might drop a little on the charger side due to the the balancer sinking some of the charge current (to bring down the voltage on the higher cell(s)).