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MetalMan · 03:52 PM

There are several choices out there. There are 2 Thunder Power balancers, one for 2-5 cells, the other for 2-10 cells:
http://www.thunderpower-batteries.co.../chargers.html
Astroflight will be coming out with their own Lipo balancer, discussed here:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=396343
Another choice (that is much cheaper) is to monitor the cells during the charge. If one cell is higher than the other(s), then stop the charge, and charge each individual cell. This is what I do since I don't yet have a balancer. But, I will make one sometime using this schematic:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=409659
It stops the charge if it takes more than 600mah to balance the pack, but this capacity can be changed R10 to a larger value. This device acts like a Polyquest Charge Guard that will not only stop the charge if there is a large imbalance, but will also balance the cells.

EDIT:
Serum, I looked at that website, and here is where you can tell that the Polyquest PCM Guard is not a balancer:
"If and when any cell exceeds 4.35 volts, the LED will start blinking and the charge circuit will be disconnected automatically. The LED will go off which would indicate cell metering/balancing needs to be performed. PCM does not guarantee that cells will be charged evenly but will prevent cells from being overcharged causing rupture or fire."

	(#21)
MetalMan RC-Monster Mod Offline Posts: 5,297 Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: SoCal	09.04.2005, 03:47 PM There are several choices out there. There are 2 Thunder Power balancers, one for 2-5 cells, the other for 2-10 cells: http://www.thunderpower-batteries.co.../chargers.html Astroflight will be coming out with their own Lipo balancer, discussed here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=396343 Another choice (that is much cheaper) is to monitor the cells during the charge. If one cell is higher than the other(s), then stop the charge, and charge each individual cell. This is what I do since I don't yet have a balancer. But, I will make one sometime using this schematic: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=409659 It stops the charge if it takes more than 600mah to balance the pack, but this capacity can be changed R10 to a larger value. This device acts like a Polyquest Charge Guard that will not only stop the charge if there is a large imbalance, but will also balance the cells. EDIT: Serum, I looked at that website, and here is where you can tell that the Polyquest PCM Guard is not a balancer: "If and when any cell exceeds 4.35 volts, the LED will start blinking and the charge circuit will be disconnected automatically. The LED will go off which would indicate cell metering/balancing needs to be performed. PCM does not guarantee that cells will be charged evenly but will prevent cells from being overcharged causing rupture or fire." SH Z-Car, Custom Crawler, 8s Savage, 12s XTM XLB 1/7 buggy, 4wd 4-link rear/IFS Pro4 truck, Custom Hyper 10 Short Course, Belt-Drive Mammoth ST 1/8 truggy, 4s 17.5 MM Pro HPI Blitz Last edited by MetalMan; 09.04.2005 at 03:52 PM.