Individual cell management on Lipo?

[cooper_xl]

There's a charger that allows individual cell management on LiPo?

I have a 2S that is charging incorrectly. Couldn't balance because gave a error on low voltage on a cell. Charged in regular mode and one cell charged too much. Now it gives the error on too much voltage on the good cell

I'll hate to dispose this battery, it is not very old

 

[Ots]

Yeah, but I think it's time to change it.

 

[hnoroian]

You could remove the cell lead from the balance plug and put it into an appropriate position. Charge in 1s.

What is the voltage difference?

 

[JatoTheRipper]

I thought most smart chargers could read individual cells, but not necessarily charge them individually. Balance modes can help with this though. Or you can buy a separate balancer.

This is a risk though. Put it outside or somewhere that you don't mind it starting a fire...

 

[diezel666]

So here's what I have done. If you decide to do this, proceed with caution and do this shit outside on concrete with nothing flammable nearby.


I made a harness out of an old charger balance port cable. So that I can switch between the cells and charge them individually. Sadly, the chargers I have are just smart enough that it won't charge a li-po pack or anything other than Ni-Cd/Ni-Mh without the pack plugged into the balance port.

So I'll toss the charger into ni-mh mode, and charge at .1 amp, till I see the cell at the voltage I want it to be near. Then unplug everything. Plug the pack in like a normal li-po and see if it will charge at that point. I've rescued 2 Li-Po and one LiFe-po packs with this method. And then watched those packs like a hawk for any further issues. If they have a second issue, they get a water bath overnight and disposed of.

 

[svt923]

What is the voltage difference?

This is the key question.

A lot of chargers will throw errors due to balance port voltage differences, especially the cheaper ones. Some of the fancier chargers can handle a wider cell voltage spread because they have more power available for cell balancing.

 

[Ots]

The question is just how far are you willing to go to try and salvage a battery pack? And you may think it's OK after doing one thing or another, but do you really want to trust it? I go to great lengths to take really good care of my packs to insure they are in balance before and after a charge and I charge at a relatively low amperage. But any sign of any sort of defect or unusual behavior and it's out of here. 16+ years of lipos and no fires or burned vehicles (like two of my dipsh*t friends).

 

[JimrC]

when it comes to dodgy batteries and not just for rc needs ... i just get rid as soon as ... just not worth the risk I say. Sucks when it's a relative new battery though.

 

[cooper_xl]

The question is just how far are you willing to go to try and salvage a battery pack? And you may think it's OK after doing one thing or another, but do you really want to trust it? I go to great lengths to take really good care of my packs to insure they are in balance before and after a charge and I charge at a relatively low amperage. But any sign of any sort of defect or unusual behavior and it's out of here. 16+ years of lipos and no fires or burned vehicles (like two of my dipsh*t friends).

I always was a bit paranoid with lipo safety and this Gens Ace was well treated and also I didn't use it as much. Always balanced and kept stored with a storage mode charge.
I have a Imax B6 since 2009 and always served me well, as far as I know. I could get a charger and solve my problem or not, and have to buy a lipo after the charger... Double expense

You could remove the cell lead from the balance plug and put it into an appropriate position. Charge in 1s.

What is the voltage difference?

I think right now is 3.8v and 4.5v..

 

[hnoroian]

I think right now is 3.8v and 4.5v..

Time to properly dispose of it.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

I always was a bit paranoid with lipo safety and this Gens Ace was well treated and also I didn't use it as much. Always balanced and kept stored with a storage mode charge.
I have a Imax B6 since 2009 and always served me well, as far as I know. I could get a charger and solve my problem or not, and have to buy a lipo after the charger... Double expense

I think right now is 3.8v and 4.5v..

I've had hit and miss luck with Gens Ace, but haven't bought them in ages.

I don't know if there's a certain voltage floor or specific voltage discrepancy between cells to call a battery bad. Would be interested to know if this exists, but I doubt it. I'm guessing the charger not charging is a sign the battery has reached this limit.

 

[hnoroian]

I don't know if there's a certain voltage floor or specific voltage discrepancy between cells to call a battery bad.

If I remember right it’s .5 volt difference. Having 4.5v on one cell concerns me also. I have had trouble bringing some packs back to life after “storage” voltages trying to balance.

How are you checking your voltages?

 

[HumboldtEF]

I've gotten incorrect voltage readings from having a broken wire on the balance lead. Once it was the battery balance lead and another time it was on the charger side. You can wiggle the wires on each end to see if the reading changes. The time it was the balance lead on the charger side the heat shrink on the solder joint held it tight enough to work most of the time, I had to tug on it to really figure out it wasn't connected.

I've had bad luck when hitting LVC using really small batteries 450-950 mah. It seems like when they do hit or go a bit past LVC they tend to draw from just 1 cell at that point making them pretty imbalanced.

But I agree that disposal is likely in order if its showing 3.8v and 4.5v

 

[cooper_xl]

How are you checking your voltages?

It is shows in the charger screen