How-to Fix an Out-of-Balance LiPo Cell When a Balance Charger Won't 

I have been watching videos one after another…I was extremely intimidated about sticking loose wires into the balance port. Your method using the servo cable put my mind at ease quite a bit. Obviously, care still had to be taken, but I did finally manage. Thank you.

December 2022 and you've just saved my 3s thats been in storage for about a year 🙏 earned a sub from me

Very clear and informative "How-to". Thank you for sharing.

Thank you so much for making this video. I had a 4s Lipo and the balance was just completely messed up. Cell 1 was reading 4.20, cell 2 was reading 4.23, cell 3 was reading 4.20, and cell 4 was 4.05. Got it all back to normal again and I’ll t works great

Thanks for posting this. I'm new to the multirotor hobby, and you helped me save my first battery.

@RC Video Reviews Thank you kind sir, I will be doing this from now on ! you saved one of my lipos ! I wish I knew this a month ago.

Subscribed: Excellent Tech level, low fluff, Truly Sharing Intellect - a YT best case scenario !

THANK YOU SO SO SO SO MUCH!!! You saved me 2 Lipos worth 70$.... You are a LEGEND!

I might try this great way of explaining and not making it overly complicated 👍

Thanks for the video and very good tips. I did the mod to the ESC extension cable and confirm it can even work as a balance charge cable for proprietary batteries I've managed to balance charge a 1500mah 2s on 1500ma current with no issues. Since it's an ESC cable it should handle at least 3A

Excellent that's how I do it , charge the individual cells as a single cell

Perfect. life saver, thanks. I built a 4x li-ion pack for my quad, but didn't check the cell levels first. One was at 4.1 and the rest at 3.7. The Turnigy balance charge would not fix the balance,, just pushed this one cell up to 5 volts! I put it on my ISDT disharge and the 3 cells went to 3./7 and the one back to 4.1 lol. So I just happened to have a charg lead with futaba plug on it so didn't even need to gerry rig to do this NiMH discharge trick. Seems to be working! so easy (but I still put the pack in a lipo safe for the discharge)

Thank you, I couldn't discharge that cell on Li-Po settings, now I know how :-)

Your trick worked for me. Thanks for posting!

@RC Video Reviews thanks again you saved one of my 5500 mah lipos from certain death, this video is epic it needs more likes !

Interesting video. I'm thinking you could you set each cell for the storage charge of a single cell, that way the you would "self calibrate" each cell to 3.8 volts without having to having to take the effect of current draw into account. It won't matter as its the same device is doing the same discharge to a known/set datum point so the cells should be perfectly balanced at storage voltage. Just a thought.

Awesome. Thanks, just what I needed for both my 6s packs!

Great video congrats !! Did the battery in the video from now on balances property every time?

Great video, quick question, instead of discharging, is it possible to charge the 2 lower ones to 3.8v ?? Thank you !!

Thank you so much, you just saved me 20€, might not be a whole lot but still! Worked just fine for me

Thanks for the detail. How long did it take you in total to balance the cell? Do you still use this method?

This is a great idea! Ive been discharging my packs with a custom connector attached to the main leads and a 12v light bulb. Now I can discharge an individual cell with your custom connector attached to the balance plug and a 12v light bulb.

Good info thanks dude.

Agoust 2022 and your info just save 2 lipo packs.... Thanks a lot. 👍

Thank you so much , you saved my battery

On my BD6 charger I can discharge a single cell under the Lipo Discharge (or storage) settings. In that case do you know if it is better to do that or to use the NiMh method instead ?

Thank you you saved my battery!

Hi man, I'm learning a lot from you, thanks for everything, I have a question you might find stupid but Its a real question for me , I would appreciate your help, I want to know in which way I'm spending more electricity when charging lipo batteries please? for example let say I want to charge (12) 4S 1500 mah batteries and I have a 200w 12A charger with 2 spot for charging ( like isdt D2 charger ) I can charge all 12 batteries at once by using parallel charging in just one hour,, also I can charge them one by one and each take one hour in parallel charging the fans of charger blow all the time , but if I charge them one by one the fan just work few minute once in a while, I like to know in which way I'm using more electricity ? thanks a lot

If u did a discharge on 1 of the other cells 1st just to c what the battery sag is then u could set the charger up to discharge the highest cell with that voltage and cut out all the head work

You had me at "it's just my theory, I don't have any science behind it... maybe somebody will comment below"

Hi, this will seems weird question but you say at first you have to always put the black ground of the servo wire into the black on the lipo connector. Then you move it up so the black is not connected to the black anymore. Even when you charge the black is in the yellow and the red with the red. Doesn't that give voltage on both of you servo wire from coming from both of cell wires ..i'm confused ;-)

Is that room hot? I like your stuff bro ,i am trying to buy some lipo now for my mavic secondary ,whichich is better?

Get a FrSky FLVVS plugs into the balance port of your battery and it shows the voltage of each cell as well as voltage of your pack. Plug it into the sPort on a FrSky rx and your Open TX radio can display the overvall voltage as well as the voltage on the lowest cell. Once you discover the sensor.

Great content here...That little black Battery Capacity Checker is also a balancer: Hold the Type button down, wait for 2 beeps.

You are really a genius🌟👏❤️

thank you for the video , in my case i have one of the cells is less than the other two (3s lipo) what would you suggest , do i have to discharge the two other cells or try to charge the cell that have less voltage , thankyou

Loved the video! Very informative. Also, you have so many lipos! Would you send a few my way if possible?

Im having the same issue with my 6s Turnigy battery and I'm charging/discharging each individual cell to get it back to normal. Its a good little trick if your careful!!

Question for you, since you seem to know quite a bit about batteries. I have a 3S battery (one of two) that I used to power my 6S RC car. The car is designed to run on either two 3S batteries or one 6s battery. Anyway on one of my 3S batteries the yellow wire for my balancer has become disconnected (it broke) and I can no longer use the balancing station or charge my battery using balance charge. My question is does that mean that this battery pack is garbage now? Or can I just charge it without balancing it. I won’t be able to monitor the individual cells, however I know to turn the power off when it gets to 12.6 V For the three cells. Are the balance charging gadgets required or just recommended?

Thanks for the vid. I have a 3s zop lipo that has a high third cell. Currently 3.84. 3.85.... And 4.02😢 it's like it pulls more from the other two cells

I've always done pretty much the same except hooking it up via the xt60 connector and leaving the balance plug disconnected. I also don't discharge, using NIMH function only run it until the pack voltage gets up enough to get picked up on lipo balance setting on charger. Admittedly your way is probably safer but if you monitor everything you have no problems like I've had for several years using this method

hi sir, how about lipo that its balance getting reduce? any method to fix or restore it? for example from 2.2 mah 3s lipo reduce to 1.X mah. thanks in advance.:)

2200s seem to be problematic. I have went through 3 eflites. My 1300 years old work great and large 6s ar 3 years old stay in balance. Thanks for the vide

Good tip will try in have a 5200 mAH out of balance 2s 4.20 and 4.16

I have a near brand new 6s look that’s off balance does it matter the size of batery

Omg look at all those packs!!! Do you store them like that or put them in a fire safe storage bin? Also how come the balance charge wouldn't balance it out when charging? Just curious. Thanks

Great video! I charge my LiPos every time balanced. But every time when discharged the cells are 0.2V out of whack. Can't be fixed, right?

Well voltage in a parallel circuit is the same. The current is different. In a series configuration the voltage is different but the current is the same.

I`m also doing this but then I found a way to `force` my charger to balance properly (when I have the time tho) I charge until the lowest cell is over/at 3.85 ( storage ) then use storage mode, it is discharging at 0.1A whatever the setting is when discharging close to 3.85V but it works, it keeps the cells from falling under 3.85V and bring the others down.

Did the same thing, then balance charge at a very slow setting. They all look good at 4.20v, but when I run the battery one cell discharges quicker than the other cells. ???

@RC Video Reviews Hi and good afternoon, I got a question, I am trying to discharge two cells on a 3s lipo, I did make the cable to do it, here is the lipo cells: 1s 48% - 3.850v, 2s 73% - 3.980v, 3s 69% - 3.958v, I set on my charger Nimh and discharge, also I set discharge to 0.3a, I click discharge, but straight away I get the following problem straight away: DICHARGE COMPLETE: CUT-OFF voltage 3.85v, please help.

Awesome this saved my ass!

Thanks

Could you just connect a small bulb to it and check the voltage regularly

So On my 2s lipo you have 3 sensor wires. The black is ground and the other 2 represent each of the 2 cells. Would I not always need to use the black ground and a wire from the cell that I want to effect? It looks like in the video that you are ignoring ground. What am I missing here?

Does this work if you need to charge a single cell to bring it back up to be even with the other cells

Hello I am new to the world of lipos and my 4s battery shows readings of 4.10, 4.05, 4.17 and 4.03. (I checked with a lipo battery cutoff buzzer) I currently do not have a balance charger but you mentioned that this method should not be used often. Can you enlighten me on why and please suggest other methods for balancing my cells.

It works both ways sir john? Cause i have a lipo batt reading of 3.72 3.72 3.68 and want to increase the 3.68 to 3.72

I purchased three new turnigy 1500mah batteries in 2015 and NEVER charged them. Forgot about them..just found them. Should I just charged them and see what happens? Will they just be no good now?

This is awesome it really work this is genius!!! Now I hope it doesn't affect the battery to much now tho. I'm thinking it might died faster....we will see!! Great vid tho

thx it brings my bat to life

Hi, I have 2 new ones the same I haven’t uses them for a while and now I have just tried them and the voltage metre won’t read them and my plane is only Reading 2 cells but still giving power just not as much, just wondering are they broken now Thanks

If you have high resistance in the cables, you will read lower voltage at the charger then at the battery cell, because there will be some voltage over the resistance in the cable. Pulling more ampere from the battery, will give you more voltage on the cable, and even more error in the reading. At least that is what I would guess is the reason. You might want to check the resistance in the battery cell too. You could also use the battery charger and charge each cell individually as 1S. Then they will be balanced, but it will take longer time to charge.

Hey, why does my balance charger storage charge above 3.7 V (it says 3,7) and doesn't fix the difference in volts. One cell is 3,74 and the highest one is 3,78 V. I have the imax b6 ac charger.

I knew I kept those servo connecters for a reason

I have an issue i dont why all my lipo 5 packs 4s charge not reach to 4.20v. only cell no2 reach 4.18v. others 4.05v. i need discharge it to 4.18 to 4.05 and start back charge balance?

I have an unbalanced drone battery. If I buy a balance charger, will it fix the problem.

Hello. can you help me please with some advice? how do I keep my batteries in order not to lose their capacity? even if I put them on the shelf to 50% (lipo storage) some of them lose their capacity when they load them ... for example from 2500mah I still have 1200. I tried to discharge them and charge them again many times believing that this cycle will resurrect them but without success. some of them or puffed and used 2-3 times. I'm new to rc, and even if I really like it's expensive to buy batteries. please help me.

Why didn't you start by balance charging? I have 2 parallel charge setups and one thing that helps is to use balance lead extensions.

i bought a new 3s lipo and the cells have 1866, 5037, 3785 mV. what can i do?

If your charger is one cell lipo Capable you can do this on the lipo setting

Doesn't the charger automatically detects is a single lipo cell

mine 3s 4500 pretty hot after uses, it is fine? Tks

my 4s battery has this one cell thst is easily get discharge... everytime i charge it it will reach 4.20 just like the other 3 but when i use it on my boat, the first cell will hit 3.40v while my other 3 is still in 3.70v mark, what should i do?

Its a great solution to get around the out of balance issue thanks , but what i don't get is why they go out of balance with a balance charger? Defeats the objective of having balance chargers

Mine has 3.7, 3.7, 4.2. Not sure what to do.

Looks like you were trying to balance somewhere in the middle of the discharge curve... wouldn't it be easier to balance at the top of the curve?

with all of those batteries and charging going on I would get those concrete sheet rock type boards and line the wall behind it and the floor just for extra precaution.

I've got a brand new battery that's crazy out of balance. The first cell is 5.8v the second is 4.6v and the third is 2.3v. My balance charger wouldn't charge it and i can't return it to the seller. Anyone got any idea?

In this case, can the balancer charger fix this problem? The smart balancer charger i think try to balance your battery

How can the full capacity of an older, otherwise good lipo/life battery be reached? ex from max charge of 65 % to 95%

Sir my 3s lipo pack is showin 4.7 overall volts but when I am checkin single cell volts its showin 3.7, 3.7, 4.4 . Sir can you help me with this problem??

But isn't the negative plugged into the positive of cell 2? I'm confused

What if the cells are .05 off? Is that bad. Yes .05 off not .5

okay..i have a 3s 2200..with one cell at 3.95 3.97 and 3.96...but my balance charger doesnt have a discharge function...how can i bring the 2 cells down?

The charger was on load so the battery voltage jumps to 3.7 v from 3.6 v after stopping the charger. I've been facing some opposite situation here. After my battery reaches to 4.2 v/ cell it gets to 4.1 v/cell. Basically from 25.2 v to 24.7 v. Can someone help me with reason!!😅😅

If there is a clear voltage difference under load from one end of your leads to the other, that indicates you have a lead(s) with excessive resistance (bad connection(s), bad wire). This is likely why your cell was so far off. If your charging lead(s) to one cell has excessive resistance it will throw off the balance charging by overcharging that cell because the charger is reading incorrect voltage lower than reality.

Why not just use a small 3v or 4v bulb to discharge a cell? Then repeat this till all cells match?

Can i buy some of your battery

Why not charge the one that is low instead of discharging the one is high?

I think you'll find that's the male end of the servo extension

Well, you dont need to do all that complicated stuff. I had the same exact problem with one of my lipo yesterday. I charged it at 0,5 amp and the charger did the job by bringing the two cell at the same voltage.

You have invented a hot water ?😃

Storage voltage is 3.8 volts

I am new to this subject but I thought the charger shown has a balancing feature which discharges the higher charged cells allowing when charging resumes the lower charged cell to catch up. Couldn't you just put it in the charger go through the actions of charging and let the balancing feature take care of it like it should have from the beginning. Ken

I’m new to this but I thought that’s what balance charging does?

fluke multi meters look so dam good

sir, I thought balance charge will fix that.

That's barely any imbalance at all. I had a brand new 3s battery charge to 4.15v 3.71v and 3.8v and it would never finish charging.

It doesnt surprise me your having issues with out of balance batteries because of how your charging with that parallel charge port. IMO that is a dangerous setup. The whole point of a balance charger is to charge each cell separate of the others in a multi cell setup. When your charging 4 packs in parallel its only reading an average of all the cells on 4 packs your under and over charging cells doing this. Sure it saves time but imo lipos are risky and charging at the rate your charging at (i think you said 8 amps) ide say your lucky you havnt had a major issue so far. If i were to charge like that ide have temp probes on each pack. This is just my opinion ive been around rechargable batteries since the red sanyo nicad batteries in the 80s till now but imo the only safe way to charge in parallel is if all the cells in the packs were matched using a machine that charges/discharges and measures the internal resistance during the process. The cells will drift apart over time from use the batteries in the center suffer the most because they are in the center of the heat the better they stay cool the more cycles you can get out of them. Its your equipment you can do what you want but it just seems risky to me is all. When i first read about how lipos uses a balance port thi is so they dont have to "match" batteries any more they can just throw packs together some cells slightly weaker and some stronger the charger does all the work. Another issue i can see is if any of the 4 packs in the parallel charge is not at the same discharge state pack 1 80% pack 2 at 70% pack 3 at 75 the pack 1 will over charge before pack 2 is even close to being done.