Problems charging first Lipo

[mustbnitro]

I have a True R/C 8000MAH 4s pack, MRC 989 charger, and an astro blinky balancer. I set the MRC 989 to 8000MAH, 8Amp charge and 4 cell Lipo settings. After 20 minutes, the voltage is soaring to 16 volts. Now the Astro blinky balancer has been on it for about 4 hours and it is not balanced yet! To worry me, I have not seen the second cell light come on on the balancer. What could be wrong or am I doing wrong???

[bdebde]

Originally Posted by mustbnitro

I have a True R/C 8000MAH 4s pack, MRC 989 charger, and an astro blinky balancer. I set the MRC 989 to 8000MAH, 8Amp charge and 4 cell Lipo settings. After 20 minutes, the voltage is soaring to 16 volts. Now the Astro blinky balancer has been on it for about 4 hours and it is not balanced yet! To worry me, I have not seen the second cell light come on on the balancer. What could be wrong or am I doing wrong???

16.8v would be the max voltage for a 4s pack at full charge (4.2v a cell), so 16v is ok.

[ssspconcepts]

Originally Posted by mustbnitro

I have a True R/C 8000MAH 4s pack, MRC 989 charger, and an astro blinky balancer. I set the MRC 989 to 8000MAH, 8Amp charge and 4 cell Lipo settings. After 20 minutes, the voltage is soaring to 16 volts. Now the Astro blinky balancer has been on it for about 4 hours and it is not balanced yet! To worry me, I have not seen the second cell light come on on the balancer. What could be wrong or am I doing wrong???

I am not familiar with the blinky....but I use the MRC989 with a flightpower balancer and it works like a charm. I've only had one hickup and it was due to a bad deans plug. It sounds like the blinky is a balancer that you use after the battery is charged? The flightpower balancer does its job during charging...seems a lot more reliable and better for the battery to me...

I have also heard good things about the hyperion balancer...it operates almost exactly the same way. Sorry this doesn't answer your question, but if you decide to go out and buy a balancer, atleast you have a recommendation. I'd even post pics on how to hook it up if you want.

[jnev]

I also use the 989 and that same battery (TrueRC 8000mAH 4s pack). However, I use the Hyperion LBA10 balancer, and I always balance while charging. 16 volts is fine.... at the end of the charge, the battery should be 16.8V. Here is how mine is hooked up if it helps at all:

[DrKnow65]

No lipo sack???? Serran wrap???? I'm amazed you havn't blown up your house like that!!!

hahahahahaha lol ;) just kidding

[jnev]

It is working great for me. I charge it right where it is in the picture, which was on the work bench. So far, nothing has gone wrong (knock on wood).

[mustbnitro]

Now with a little time it charges to exactly 16.8V and stops, perfect. But the Astro Blinky balancer keeps on balancing? I have probably had it on for about 6 hours total. I do the Low Voltage check and it reads fine, I try discharging the Lipo and recharging and it still keeps blinking which to my knowledge it should stop when done. What taps come stock on the True R/C batteries? Could I have the wrong taps on?

[BrianG]

If the taps are on wrong, the blinky wouldn't function right at all. IIRC, the blinky is like my Commonsenserc balancer. If so, when you first hook it up, the balancer lights indicate cell count. If they flash correctly, the taps are fine.

It could be that the blinky is just really sensitive to ANY imbalance. Meaning, it could be trying to balance out a voltage difference of something like 0.005v. I would use a voltmeter and check each cell manually as a sanity check.