astro blinky balancer?

[ZackMicF]

i just picked it up at my LHS for about 30 bucks
i have the duratrax ONYX 230 adn it didnt have a balancer in it so i bought this, because it's all my LHS had in stock

is it any good? any tips on using it? i'm kinda new to the lipo world

[skinner]

I have one for years and always use it! Great lil device! Just plug into lipo and let it do its job. Read instructions to understand flashing part.

[ZackMicF]

i did. but i dont know why the the LED's 2 & 3 are blinking every 3 seconds
it's got a full charge. its on a 3s 35c 5800 mah lipo right now and it's ^^^
im running mostly 3s 35c lipos

[EeePee]

If the lights are blinking, it's doing its job. It uses those LEDs to burn off excessive voltage until both cells, or all three or four cells, etc., are at the same voltage within I think 0.1 volts. I can't quite remember the exact voltage matching...

[Manning]

I have 2. They work well. When I've checked individual cell voltages after charging, they are dead on.

[squatch71]

Originally Posted by EeePee

If the lights are blinking, it's doing its job. It uses those LEDs to burn off excessive voltage until both cells, or all three or four cells, etc., are at the same voltage within I think 0.1 volts. I can't quite remember the exact voltage matching...

I always thought it found cells that are down and "opened" the cells that are higher in voltage and tried "charge" or to bring the lower cells up to where the highers are..kind of inclusive chargine or balance them, it would take forever for the little led to burn off the voltage, led's take like no voltage to run.

[EeePee]

Never heard that one before, but if you have a link or reference I'll gladly read that.

As far as I'm aware, it uses those LEDs to drain voltage, and it's because they pull so little voltage that the Blinky can match cells as close as it does. I could be wrong, it's been a while since I've read about it.

I have one, and however it works, it works great.

[sweli]

Originally Posted by skinner

I have one for years and always use it! Great lil device! Just plug into lipo and let it do its job. Read instructions to understand flashing part.

x2
Have two and use them a lot!

[squatch71]

I'll look for that link...I could be thinking of something else though

[Trubble]

Originally Posted by squatch71

I'll look for that link...I could be thinking of something else though

Probably thinking of the Team Checkpoint charge-through balancer like I use. (Very similar to this one, I think Hyperion also produced one similar.) The directions do indicate when charging through, it'll do just that, hold charge on stronger cells and continue to charge weaker ones. But if you're using it as a stand alone, or with a discharger, then it works the way EeePee said.



Heard a lot of good reviews on the Astro Blinky, seems to be a solid, little unit.

[Jus]

I use the Blinky with my Onyx 230. Works great.. With my Thunder Power lipos they are usually balanced within a few minutes after the charger peaks. Think it speaks highly of the TP cells and or how well the Blinky works.

[squatch71]

Originally Posted by Trubble

Probably thinking of the Team Checkpoint charge-through balancer like I use. (Very similar to this one, I think Hyperion also produced one similar.) The directions do indicate when charging through, it'll do just that, hold charge on stronger cells and continue to charge weaker ones. But if you're using it as a stand alone, or with a discharger, then it works the way EeePee said.

I stand corrected. Thank you