Charging li-pos w/out using a balancer...can it be done?

[SpEEdyBL]

You can balance before the charge and the charge w/o the balancer to 4.1 volts/cell. Unless the cells are really out of sync with each other, this is the surest way you will not damage your cells, though not the safest.

If you charge with a balancer, you can get the maximum performace out of you pack, because each cell will take the exact amount of charge that it needs. However if the cells in that pack have various capacities, you could risk damaging your pack as the cell with the lowest capacity will dump first, possibly before the entire pack voltage reaches the cut off.

Bottom line: Charge with a balancer and be conservative on the lvc voltage if your cells are matched. OR balance your cells and then charge to 4.1 volts/cell w/o a balancer if your cells aren't so matched anymore.

[VintageMA]

I used to do the charge then balance method (or rather - charge for about 1/2 way, then balance and then complete the charge).

I don't think it smart to do a full charge and then balance - if you do this and one cell is way out of whack it can cause one or more of the other cells to get way over 4.2v when the charger is looking at the total package voltage before switching from CC to CV charge. If this happens you end up doing more harm than good.

This past spring I got a TP 1010 charger with a TP210 balancer. The balancer is opto-coupled to the charger and there is a full communication with the charger through the whole charging process. You can monitor all the cells in the pack throughout the charging process and if one cell gets too far out of whack it will drop the charing current to 0.3A until the balancer can get everything in sync.

I now balance with every charge and all has been good.

I think if you are using cheap packs or you run your lipos to a 3.0V LVC frequently you will need to balance more often than if you run a higher lvc - I run 3.3v now as my lvc and have had no problems.

[lincpimp]

Do not agree with you on this:

You can balance before the charge and the charge w/o the balancer to 4.1 volts/cell. Unless the cells are really out of sync with each other, this is the surest way you will not damage your cells, though not the safest.

Without the balancer monitoring the cells there is no gaurantee that the cells will take an equal charger, even if they are balanced before the charge. You could still have a cell that gets out of balance with the low charge rate. Plus not every charger will allow for a 4.1v cutoff.

If you charge with a balancer, you can get the maximum performace out of you pack, because each cell will take the exact amount of charge that it needs. However if the cells in that pack have various capacities, you could risk damaging your pack as the cell with the lowest capacity will dump first, possibly before the entire pack voltage reaches the cut off.

The balancer does not regulate the amount of charge that each cell receives, it just bleeds off the higher voltage cells to match the lower ones. Big benefit of using a charge thru balancer is that I can interrrupt the charge if there is an issue with the cells going over or under voltage...

Bottom line: Charge with a balancer and be conservative on the lvc voltage if your cells are matched. OR balance your cells and then charge to 4.1 volts/cell w/o a balancer if your cells aren't so matched anymore.

I really do not see what your 4.1v method will do. You might as well just charge the lipo normally, risk is the same.