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Balance plug....

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  • Balance plug....

    Can somebody explain what is a "balance plug", and what is it used for ?

  • #2
    On a typical LiPo battery, you see two sets of wires. The first set is the black and red, heavy gauge wires that have a variety of plugs on the end. This is the end that gets plugged into your plane's ESC leads and also to your charger. It is generally this lead that the juice comes in to charge up the battery.
    The other set of wires ends up in that little white plug. There should be one wire for each cell plus one more for the positive (red). A 2 cell (or 2s) battery will have 3 wires, a 3s will have 4 wires and so on. This is the balance plug, which gets plugged into the balance port of your charger. It is through this port that each cell in a mult-cell LiPo is "balanced" or matched to all the other cells. IE, a cell that has higher voltage than the others will get some juice taken away from it and a cell that has lower voltage will get a bit pushed into it. The idea is that when the charging is finished, all cells in a LiPo battery should have more or less 4.2v/cell.
    Some of the earlier generations of models that came with a battery and a charger will charge through the balance port. Eflite was one of those brands that sold little helicopters and little planes like this. It was a slow and tedious charging process.

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    • #3
      xviper XV.........Funny you bring up the subject of Eflite's balance port chargers from the earlier days.
      When I first got back into RC, it was definitely off the wrong foot with a 500 Blade FB heli on 6S and the LiPo charger that came with it (and I still have) was the EFLC3120 which was a balance plug charger specifically for 6S LiPo's.
      The only reason I wanted to make a mention about it is because of your comment about being a slow and tedious process on little heli and planes.
      We'll my friend, the 6S unit was a time waiting nightmare from hell. A 3200 40C 6S was a good 12-15 hour process......…...UUUUUGGGHHHHHHH
      Warbird Charlie
      HSD Skyraider FlightLine OV-10 FMS 1400: P-40B, P-51, F4U, F6F, T-28, P-40E, Pitts, 1700 F4U & F7F, FOX glider Freewing A-6, T-33, P-51 Dynam ME-262, Waco TF Giant P-47; ESM F7F-3 LX PBJ-1 EFL CZ T-28, C-150, 1500 P-51 & FW-190

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by xviper View Post
        On a typical LiPo battery, you see two sets of wires. The first set is the black and red, heavy gauge wires that have a variety of plugs on the end. This is the end that gets plugged into your plane's ESC leads and also to your charger. It is generally this lead that the juice comes in to charge up the battery.
        The other set of wires ends up in that little white plug. There should be one wire for each cell plus one more for the positive (red). A 2 cell (or 2s) battery will have 3 wires, a 3s will have 4 wires and so on. This is the balance plug, which gets plugged into the balance port of your charger. It is through this port that each cell in a mult-cell LiPo is "balanced" or matched to all the other cells. IE, a cell that has higher voltage than the others will get some juice taken away from it and a cell that has lower voltage will get a bit pushed into it. The idea is that when the charging is finished, all cells in a LiPo battery should have more or less 4.2v/cell.
        Some of the earlier generations of models that came with a battery and a charger will charge through the balance port. Eflite was one of those brands that sold little helicopters and little planes like this. It was a slow and tedious charging process.
        Thanks for the info. So I gather that the term Balance Plugs only applies to LiPo batteries and chargers. Carry on.......

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by OV10 View Post
          We'll my friend, the 6S unit was a time waiting nightmare from hell. A 3200 40C 6S was a good 12-15 hour process......…...UUUUUGGGHHHHHHH
          Holy crapola!!!!! I had no idea they ever did that with a 6s battery. My experience with those chargers were limited to 2s and 3s. 6s would have been unbearable.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Cascabel View Post

            Thanks for the info. So I gather that the term Balance Plugs only applies to LiPo batteries and chargers. Carry on.......
            Not necessarily. I believe anytime you have a mult-celled battery that's sealed as one unit, you can find a balance plug. There should be a way to equalize the charge among the cells.

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            • #7
              Cascabel Balance plugs apply to any Lithium storage whether they be LiFe or LiPo and so on
              Warbird Charlie
              HSD Skyraider FlightLine OV-10 FMS 1400: P-40B, P-51, F4U, F6F, T-28, P-40E, Pitts, 1700 F4U & F7F, FOX glider Freewing A-6, T-33, P-51 Dynam ME-262, Waco TF Giant P-47; ESM F7F-3 LX PBJ-1 EFL CZ T-28, C-150, 1500 P-51 & FW-190

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