ProPeak Constellation What Balancer?

[rhysduk]

Hi,
I have a Pro Peak Constellation charger (the old man bought without me knowing so could check compatibility with lipo's for helis etc).
I wondering what the best balancer is for the Constellation that will charge a wide variety of lipo's including the hextronik 2200mah Li-Po that has arrived with my shiny 'new' 450
Im also looking at going for Eltric aircraft too with small lipo's (Precision Aerobatics Electric Shock to be precise which take 1000mah 18-30C 3cell lipos)
Have come across this: Tornado Lithium Polymer (Li-Poly - Lipo) Balancer for Li-Poly Battery Packs

Any help is appreciated..

Edit: Can anyone confirm compatibility of this: http://www2.ripmax.net/item.asp?item...Category=O0168

[rhysduk]

Well I've basically narrowed it down to the Tornado or the ProPeak balancer.
Anyone?

[Kozmyk]

One like this?
Fusion Li-Po Balancer 6C O-FS-B6S

As you've probably twigged already, most modern chargers have the balancers built in.
The cost of a separate balancer is getting on towards the price of a combined balancer/charger though not perhaps at the 120W power of your Constellation.

[rhysduk]

What do you mean "One like this?"
The Fusion balancer looks good enough, roughly the same price as the others I've been looking at too. Is it what you use? i wish I had known that my dad was buying a new charger, I would have made sure it had everything we/I needed then!!

Sorry Kozmyk, I seem to be having a completely blonde moment... Is the Constellation charger I have not good enough for lipos? Or is the Wattage too low? It's just not twigging sorry

[Kozmyk]

I'm sure the Constellation will do fine for your 450 lipos.

I added the Fusion as a possible alternative you may not have seen already or just in case you had trouble finding balancers "In Stock".

I've not used separate units as my chargers have integrated balancing.

[cjcj1949]

I have the same charger. I know about chargers so I don't have the excuse that I didn't realise what I was doing. I just missed the fact that it did not do balancing. To safely charge lipos it is a good idea to use balancing as it picks up cells going faulty, as they all do eventually, and it stops cells going over 4.2V, which is the standard for normal chargers. Some better chargers allow you to charge to 4.3V, but it apparently shortens the life of the lipo.

The add on balancers are expensive and don't always do a good job. On the other hand if your cells need balancing a lot, then they are probably on the way out.

On the contellation there is an option for lithium ion charge which only chargers to 4.1V per cell or 12.3V for a 3S pack. I suggest you use this for now. It will give you shorter flight times but you should have enough safety margin (0.2V). I use a cheap led voltmeter to check the individual cell voltages, you will need this anyway to make sure that you don't overdischarge a cell. I discharge to 3.8V off load which corresponds to 3.6V on load for my setup which is a 450 heli using 2300mah 25C lipos. This is more or less the 20% rule.

If you find a cheap balancer I'd like to know, but there are lots of cheap chargers now with balancing built in. It's a shame that people selling things don't warn you that they are probably unsuitable, but that's the way things are.

I've found this

http://www.overlander.co.uk/batterie...-balancer.html

I think it clamps to 4.3V which is higher than modern chargers, but better than nothing. It is also available from Phoenixmp. I have been thinking about getting one, or buying another charger. It is quite an old product, goes back to at least 2008.

Chris

[rhysduk]

Thanks for the replies guys. I still can't get my head around the v/ cell discharge/charge issue.
Who knew there was more to it than just charging the damn things

Anyway... would I be better off with a Balancer + Charge in 1 unit? I was looking at the Overlander RC-6S Balance Charger. It seems this can be had for £35, or £40 for the newer version from Overlander themselves.

If I were to go with just a Balancer.. then I may get the Fusion balancer mentioned above. it comes with 2 charging leads (I also have some Deans XT60 connectors coming). Although the Pro Peak has 2 charging BOARDS!! I dont know

I really still don't have a clue what to get, I was hoping to get something before the weekend so I could get the 450 out to play
Thanks for all the help so far.

[cjcj1949]

If you want to ask a question I can answer it. I can't explain the v/ cell disharge/charge issue. Any balance charger will do the job you want. I would trust one from Overlander more than from Hobby King, but Hobby King also sell the icharger which has a good reputation.

Chris