I doubt you'd see anything at the node connector. I'm not an integrated circuits wiz, but smoke can come from capacitors, diodes, resistors, or chips. If something is wrong with the charger/balancer you might not know it till you charge and balance another battery.

are hardcase lipos alot better when/if they explode? Do they contain the flame better?

Not really. The case only protects the cells from external damage.

3s lipo balance tabs should have 4 leads right? So why does the adapter that came with my charger have 5? even the 2s adapter plug has 5!
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...e/SSL10695.jpg
Is there a certain type of adapter that I need for non-hyperion lipos lol because this is ridiculous..

that balancer will only work with Hyperion taps- nothing else, even if the pin spacingnis the same. I think one wire has to be on the fifth plug and the other ones start on the first pin.

could you reccomend a good all around adapter for me? and is there any way aside from "testing" with another battery to see if the balancer is alright?

Hyperion adapters don't work with Zippy batteries. You need the JST XH taps for the Zippy batteries. That's probably the reason why you saw smoke.

Check the black strip on your adapter for any broken wires. I seem to ee something between the 3S and 4S taps (2nd black strip from top).

I have an astro blinky balancer and I use that to test the balance of my charger. There are also a couple thngs on hobbycity that will monitor cell voltages.

will this do?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lipo-balancer-le...lenotsupported

and is this the Blinky:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Astro-Flight-Bli...lenotsupported

the price on Zippy is so great!!! But the downfall must be the balance tap compatability:whip:

Zippys use a standard balance tap. The Hyperion tap is pretty much maxamps unique. Jst/xh is standard. That's what fits the blinky and other things.

So what do I need to make the zippy work with the hyperion? What adapter should I buy, does one even exist? I sure hope that my balancer is ok.

Google jst to hyperion adapter or something like that. It sure exists all right...

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=8821
this one I wanna be sure!

is zippy also known as flight power?