Battery gurus: ***HELP!!!*** (unbalanced cell problem)

[Soulo747]

Charging both a 1300mah 20c 3s pack and a 4000mah 20c 3s pack..... I cannot get the third cell to balance up with the other two! If I run balance charge on my charger (a Racers Edge Surecharge 2010), it gives me an error that says "unbalanced volt over ___mV".... It seems to start bringing the third cell up and then when it gets to "unbalanced volt over (approx) 170mV" it slows to an absolute CRAWL...... I went to bed and it was at 170mV... Woke up 9 hrs later and it's at 154mV.... WTF HELP!!!!

Now when I run the packs, they only last like 3 minutes. I tried a regular charge (no balance, probably a bad idea) and my charger will beep full and then the battery has no life....

Here's some screen shots.....

Unbalanced message...


He you can see the difference between the 1st and 3rd cell......


Here is all three cells....



Please tell me there's a way to fix this......... Wtf do I do..... :(

[monkeyracing]

You can't balance the third cell on one or both batteries? If its both, your charger would likely be the issue. If its only on one battery, then you've probably found a bad cell or something in the pack connections has gone south

[Soulo747]

Originally Posted by monkeyracing

You can't balance the third cell on one or both batteries? If its both, your charger would likely be the issue. If its only on one battery, then you've probably found a bad cell or something in the pack connections has gone south

It's both batteries so probably the charger...? Shitballs.

[sidehiller]

I would be asking a buddy to borrow his charger to try your batts On. That would tell you weather you need a new charger or new batts.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

[Olle P]

I had the same issue the other day, as i was to set a battery to storage voltage.
My (working!) solution was to first discharge the battery (balanced discharge through the charger) at 0.5A.
Then it was good to go!

[Soulo747]

Originally Posted by Olle P

I had the same issue the other day, as i was to set a battery to storage voltage.
My (working!) solution was to first discharge the battery (balanced discharge through the charger) at 0.5A.
Then it was good to go!

What did you set the discharge cut off to?

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by Soulo747

What did you set the discharge cut off to?

You should go no lower than 3.2VPC, some stay safer and use 3.4VPC or 3.6VPC.

VPC = Volts Per Cell

[Soulo747]

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

You should go no lower than 3.2VPC, some stay safer and use 3.4VPC or 3.6VPC.

VPC = Volts Per Cell

Great..... Sonovabitch.... My 3rd cell is registering at like 2.25 volts..... Is it toasted?

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by Soulo747

Great..... Sonovabitch.... My 3rd cell is registering at like 2.25 volts..... Is it toasted?

It's not good.....can it be salvaged?? Maybe.

There are ways to charge a single cell, but can be a hassle.

Can you try a different charger??

[Soulo747]

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

It's not good.....can it be salvaged?? Maybe.

There are ways to charge a single cell, but can be a hassle.

Can you try a different charger??

Trying one now.... Looks promising..... Cells are starting to balance out, albeit very slowly.

[SilmarilS]

This is why a love my old Li-po charger. Not the fastest on earth, but since it charges on the balance plug each cell individually, it will bring each cells to the optimal voltage every time.

I had to charge some packs from my friends because their chargers have some trouble balancing older packs with a weak cell!

[Trubble]

Originally Posted by Soulo747

......... My 3rd cell is registering at like 2.25 volts..... Is it toasted?

When I got my 3S LiPos, I had one pack that was giving me fits like yours is. I finally got to the point of just making a connector with two pins on it and just charging each individual cell (as a 1S) through the balancer. Once all three were up and runnin', I haven't had any problems, and that pack has now become my main go-to pack. I don't think my voltage was anywhere near as low as yours is, though. Hope you're able to get it to come around.

[Soulo747]

I brought it back with a rtr charger from the twin hammers. It charges exclusively through the balance plug