Question about LiPo charging

[Prometheus]

Hi all,

Just a query.

When I set my charger to balance, it seems to charge then take ages sitting there.. So I wondered what the difference is between a normal charge, fast charge and a balance charge.

P>

[guest325]

I always balance charge mine at 1C, it helps to prolong the life of your batteries - the faster you charge the shorter your battery life is likely to be.
I';ve got several batteries that are 3 years old and have been used most weekends, still going strong, the results speak for themselves!
If your batteries are sitting there for a long time it suggests that the cells are not at the same voltage by a fair margin which is not good, I would balance charge them several times and they should improve.

[robshaw]

Or one or more of the cells are goosed. I have a zippy pack that just won';t balance. My charger times out at 120mins. It charges tho. I use it but it doesn';t last as long as another of the same pack which is the same age and usage. At the end of the day they';re cheap. I';ve had that particular pack for about a year. Cost me about 20quid.

Regarding the differences its obvious what the difference between fast and normal is. Fast will pump more amps into the pack and is usually regarded as something that perhaps you shouldn';t do all the time.
Balancing will charge the pack then work to balance each of the cells within the pack. By blanacing I mean to make the voltages of every cell in the pack the same. If theres an imbalance between cells you will put more load on one cell and less on another witch will run it down quicker and lessen the overall life.
Some people balance every time. In my opinion its not required. Balancing say every 3rd charge should be fine. Unless your using the balance plug and one cell of the pack to power some sort of anciliary. For example you have an 11v 3s but want to power something that 7v you can (although its not recommended) use balance plug to give you the voltage from just 2 of the cells. This will force an imbalance. Normal use should maintain a balanced pack for a good few uses.
You can compare it to say a transmitter that takes 8AA batteries. You wouldn';t put 7 brand new baterries in and 1 old one. It would flatten the 7 new ones very quickly.