How To Repair A LiPo Balance Plug

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If your lipo balance plug got chopped by a prop, here's how to repair it. Most of the time, it's easier than you think to fix a damaged LiPo balance plug. As long as the wires aren't cut, you can just replace the housing.
Here's my video about when to dispose of a LiPo:
• Is Your LiPo Safe To C...
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Опубликовано:

3 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 310

@nxu5107 Год назад

Thanks a lot Joshua. In a world that is messed up people like you shine through.

@licensetodrive9930 5 лет назад

Connector repairs - good topic! Many don't know how easy it is to remove pins from lots of plugs/sockets without damaging anything, very useful to know when making your own custom cables from existing crimped cables. Tweesers are a godsend for this stuff.

@ErikBrabander 4 года назад

Thanks Joshua! Just fixed my 6s balance plug that had a broken edge. Your videos are worth gold to the rc community. Learned so much as a newbie! 🙌🏻

@propbender3301 5 лет назад

Well done. I like how you dont cut out all the difficulties. I know its hard to believe, but things dont always go exactly right! You have always kept it real.

@ThePaololekai 3 года назад

Once again you save the day. Broke a balance connector yesterday and thought the battery was done for. Thanks for everything you do to help build the FPV community 👊🏻

@jakesouthard9175 3 года назад

Just crashed this evening and my balance plug broke, ordered a kit from your link for my 6s and will be repairing when it comes!

@msaunders300 5 лет назад

I would really like to see a video on how to crimp/solder the little metal connector if it needs to be replaced.

@daveyknowlton8030 5 лет назад

I just made one

@gautamkrishna7421 5 лет назад

Pretty fly for a WiFi I presume you’ve sorted this out?

@Sandwich4321 4 года назад

Just look for how to crimp a jst xh connector

@divingfalconfpv4602 3 года назад

i had trouble finding small enough crimper lol

@HighVoltageMadness 2 года назад

Not that hard man. My batteries leads break all the danm time.

@dodelladrone114 5 лет назад

Very nice video. Love the "your gonna learn something new" intro on your videos. Just wanted to touch on a couple of safety tips. When working with batteries, lower the voltage as low as possible without damaging the cells. If you short out the battery (and one day you will) a fully charged battery has a far bigger punch. Either way your gonna jump but far less dangerous. Also, get a lipo fire retardent bag and keep the battery in the bag as best as you can while working on the leads. I've heard they burn at 1600 degrees. Never use water to put them out. Fly long, fly fun, fly safe PS congrats on the Liftoff Sim. They did an awesome job on your home.

@dougstockford7611 5 лет назад

Thank you . The balance connector voltage meter check did the job .(Happy Battery) And you are a great asset to the rc world . Doug . from Canada

@tomaszfpv 5 лет назад

I started 3d printing these plugs with tpu = indestructible :D

@wickedreelz5028 5 лет назад

I don't know why I never thought of that... That is a fantastic idea... do you have or know where to get a file? I will make a bunch tonight if I get a file to print them.

@raymondwilliams6878 5 лет назад

@@wickedreelz5028 No kidding right...Awesome idea Tomasz FPV!

@tomaszfpv 5 лет назад

@@wickedreelz5028 files are on thingiverse 4s and 5s. I printed mine using cr-10 equipped with direct extruder for flex filament, 0.4 nozzle and 0.1 layer height

@licensetodrive9930 5 лет назад

That's a great idea, I've wanted a 6S plug I can put on my 1S/2S/3S parallel charging board, to make it easier to plug into my iSDT Q6 Plus, then I won't have to faff around with getting the 3S plug aligned properly when plugging it in. I'll have to modify an existing design though, no 6S designs I can find. www.thingiverse.com/search?q=JST+XH+Connector

@Nilsaurelburkhardt 4 года назад

@@licensetodrive9930 hey, did you modify this design?

@TomicaCZ 5 лет назад

It's not really hard to change the balance plug, but people often don't consider all the safety things. So thanks JB to mention those :)

@gregm8941 5 лет назад

Thanks Josh for the prompt responce to my question. I kind of knew it was not a smart thing to try. But I just didn't understand the physics of it all. Thanks again..

@k1f02 5 лет назад

I never thought that watching him changing a balance plug is so relaxing xD

@mason8997 3 года назад

Thanks JB! This morning for the first time I "booger-ed" up a new $50 battery 6S balance connector. Just ordered the GeeBat 460pcs replacement connector pack. I'm sure this will not be the only time I will need them.

@joekalbrener7382 5 лет назад

You are the man. For some reason I didn’t know plug voltage orientation order. I just yesterday put a new plug on but since they were mangled I couldn’t figure out their order, I think it’s correct it checks out on a battery checker, I’m gonna check it on a multimeter now! You may have saved my house. THANKS

@DangerDavefpv 5 лет назад

i always use a small hobby knife to push metal tabs from holder and do it one wire at a time, pull metal tab back up when placing into new balance plug

@EnuffsEnuff318 5 лет назад

I was going to say the same. GMTA

@licensetodrive9930 5 лет назад

Tweesers are my primary 'weapon' when dealing with the pins of connectors, but as it has two prongs you have to take extra care not to short pins when dealing with live batteries, even the 1S whoop class cells can spark & overheat cables in a split second.

@sidewinderam9m 5 лет назад

I second the hobby knife. You can slide it over the tab and under the plastic so that like a shoe horn it will slide out first try.

@geoffheith 2 года назад

Thanks for the parts link exactly what I needed.

@zippycfpv3619 5 лет назад

It’s like you read my mind!!! Just broke my first balance lead yesterday!! Thanks again JB!!! 👍🏼😎

@Dragon129Slayer 3 года назад

had to review this yesterday, fixed three batteries! Thanks again Josh!

@VikTortor 5 лет назад

The rubberband trick is awesome, thanks for sharing the idea!

@3v1Bunny 5 лет назад

I do not want to be a know it all.. But heck I would be lying if I said that. 3 things I noticed / what I would have done different: 1st. You say later on never to have 2 wires flapping in the breeze (as Dave would say). Though when you dislodge the 1st(black) wire .. Yellow is still lose. I would suggest putting that one in to the new plug at its correct position first. 2nd. I would recommend after depressing the tabs to always see if they aren't depressed to much and bend them into shape before inserting them into the new plug. 3rd. You do not mention that you covered the exposed/damaged wires of the balance connector with heat shrink if needed. I was itching at the start but was happy to see that it was in place in the end of the video. If people do not inspect those things a fire might as well happen even if you try to replace a broken connector. Just my 2 cents. Love your work , just the things I noticed that could make it easier/safer.

@AlbertMikaelyan 5 лет назад

OMG... I've just had it happen to me and here you are making a video on how to fix it. Thanks a lot!!

@Ryasis12345 5 лет назад

Just busted mine a few seconds ago on my RDQ 1500mah 4s pack. Thank you JB!!

@fpvmaxim Год назад

You got a video for everything!

@FalconRadFPV 5 лет назад

Sorry i know it was just mentioned about the red wire being damaged but I noticed looking closely that the bllue wire right next to the red is also damaged. Both have the damage close together about a 1/2 inch from where it comes out of the battery. Just don't want you to burn a quad up brother. You have helped me countless times figuring stuff out, THANK YOU! maybe i can help save your battery....lol.

@JoshuaBardwell 5 лет назад

Yep I fixed it with heat shrink although I didn't show it in the video.

@FlowTfpv 5 лет назад

@@JoshuaBardwell the heat shrink repairs do show. Is anyone paying attention? :D

@TheAngryAstronomer 5 лет назад

I always snip off all connectors from old batteries and save them. Replaced damaged balance connectors with just the plastic part a couple of times this way now.

@TmArms89 5 лет назад

Me to...itd good to save them.

@BisMaxx 5 лет назад

This was a great tutorial, I wish we would have gotten your example on how to replace the actual contact when the tiny little locking leaf gets absolutely mangled and ruins the crimped connector piece. Other than that thank you so much for another insightful video!

@bobt219 5 лет назад

At 6:20, did anyone notice the orange and blue balance wires damaged close to the battery? They look like the coating was melted. Possibly from a short when the balance plug was damaged. Josh, I really like your vids by they way. Thank you!

@maxkielbasa6079 3 года назад

Thanks that helped so much. I was building a lithium 6 cell and my balance wires were totally off. An exacto knife and reading glasses helped me

@jeniferdiamond7723 4 года назад

I seen a rubber band on your table, and thought that was one of your ways to hold the wire harness down, as that is what I do, and the rubber band helps in keeping the lipos from sliding on the quads. I even 3d printed a battery holder for my planes that squeezes up against the sides of the lipos with rubber bands on them. If the lipo is to small and I made it to be larger then most lipos I use, I just add card board, or foam board with a little shot of hot glues on the sides and wrap rubber bands around that. It works really well as I can slide different size and weight lipos in my planes to adjust CG. So I'm not limited to much by lipo use on my planes. The holder allows for grasping of lipos on their sides acting like disk brakes on a car in a crash. And the rubber bands act like the brake pads between the holder and lipo preventing damage to the lipo Nothing worse then a smashed in lipo after crash and we know in the rc world crashes happen more then we admit! And we lose motors and props all the time, but when a lipo gets trashed you can loose everything if it catches fire. In the front of the holder I also put in some foam or bubble wrap to helping to cushion in case of a crash. That has cut my lipo replacement per year by 75%.

@warpster7656 4 года назад

I learned something today. Thank you, you helped me fix a manufacturing fault with my Rhino Lipo.

@jrb8081 5 лет назад

I have learned something today THANKS for all your help and videos.

@brisketbaron 5 лет назад

I still have a drawer full of balance plugs I got off bg when I broke a few. Learned my lesson.

@3Carbon6 5 лет назад

You blew my mind with the rubber band trick.

@KiloHertzFPV 7 месяцев назад

Good to know you can do this, I have a bad battery with a good balance connector, and a good battery with a bad balance connector.. haha. Now i will have another fully working battery!

@patrickmcfarland6976 4 года назад

Awesome job you saved me a lot of money thank you!!!

@robwaters3080 5 лет назад

Thanks for the link to the replacement balance plug housings... good thing to have on the bench!

@deadstickfpv 3 года назад

Thank you.. Another good learning moment

@markwestbrook3313 5 лет назад

Good vidio Josh, had this problem myself the other day and man its a pain to get those wires out Lol, I now go with the elastic band method so glad you showed it, :)

@JoshuaBardwell 5 лет назад

Use a pin! That's what I learned from this video.

@vojtechvejsicky1819 5 лет назад

Wow yesterday that happened to me and boom bardwell is here to teach how to fix it

@HDgodfrey 5 лет назад

Love the rubber band idea! Gonna start carrying hair ties and rubber bands in fpv bag. Thanks as always JB!

@jessewilliams9627 5 лет назад

Why has your budget build quad been out of stock at the RR store for so long it's almost my birthday and I'm wanting my wife to get it for me but it's been out of stock for weeks now...and just want to personally say thank you for all the information you have shared with everyone not all of us have time for trial and error and you take a lot of the hassle away from starting out on this hobby..happy flying =)

@JoshuaBardwell 5 лет назад

It has come back into stock several times but the people who signed up for notifications buy it out immediately. It is difficult to keep it in stock when it's so high demand. The best thing to do is to sign up for notification. We have a large shipment about to come in, in the next week.

@RcOffroad9513 3 года назад

I think I may have fixed my lipo from this video! Thanks!

@christianprogrammer9131 5 лет назад

After destroying a couple of leads I ALWAYS TAPE my leads to the battery out of Prop rotation range same with main lead ever sliced one of those or the pigtail Love me some lectrical tape $12 for a dozen rolls Love it !

@Jan-dw4jd Год назад

Great vid! Thank you. I have a strange plug from kongpower that does not fit in my regular chargers. I´m gonna try this one!

@witblitsfpv1265 5 лет назад

Use rubber/elastic bands to join the balance lead with the main lead, cheap and easy.

@Fragtastik Год назад

I was about to order new batteries, but not only is there a fix for what I did, you mentioned excatly how it happend. Prop shattered the housing.

@LetsFlyRC 5 лет назад

Use a rasorblade rather than a flathead, and use it to pull the retention clip back up before re-inserting.

@overfly_pt Год назад

Great vídeo JB 👌

@roddraym 4 года назад

Thanks Joshua!

@spthompson6501 4 года назад

I use a #10 Exacto blade (tip) to depress the locking tabs.

@thehonornightwolf 5 лет назад

Hey Joshua they sell picks for removing wiring connectors pins. Makes the job way easy. Great video, i like the jst assortment box.

@nickmcbride1208 5 лет назад

Joshua i just found a battery i really love and they have the extra balance lead like you showed they are called the black label batteries you order them from indestructible quads and the batteries are really nice best batteries ive used yet you should check them out and also they are some of the best deals ive seen too

@trfpvVT 5 лет назад

I have just been supergluing them back together. Replacing the plug head is nice, but just gluing is also quite simple.

@badjrfpv5090 5 лет назад

9:30 was like watching my kids do something hard. I just want to rush in there and help them but I know they need to do it on their own!

@the_knightrider 5 лет назад

Yesss! This happened to me just last week. Had to buy a new one and solder it to the leads.

@dkhallal 5 лет назад

Funny, I just spent a good bit of time tonight hunting for JUST the plug themselves. Digikey, and several others (other than from China!) don’t have them. Couldn’t see buying a whole kit when I may only use 20% of it. Ended up getting 10 balance lead connectors that I can de-pin to get the plugs from. And I’ll have some extra leads to get to the charger with because I’m going to tape the balance leads down to the battery as suggested by another comment.tried the 3D printed “bands” but they get lost as well.

@shelbyarndts8223 5 лет назад

Thank you for posting this. Ironically, I literally just had a crash and broke my balance lead yesterday. What are the odds.

@raymondwilliams6878 5 лет назад

So...I've had this happen more times than I can count. Could never get the tabs out. Always had to cut and splice onto a new connector. You struggled too, lol, but had success! I will try again next time....

@HomeGrownCanadianFPV 5 лет назад

awesome topic, a must know for any pilot

@bltefft 5 лет назад

Could you have used a small vise to hold the housing while you pushed in the retention tab?

@CliveFpv 5 лет назад

I Electrical tape the balance lead to the battery.. not lost a balance plug since doing it

@dronesandstuff 5 лет назад

same here .. rubberband would be a upgrade ;)

@MCsCreations 5 лет назад

Not a bad idea, dude.

@Pile_of_carbon 5 лет назад

This is great! I have a couple of packs I'm not flying because the balance connectors are too busted to charge safely. Lets just hope the last time I flew them, they landed (crashed) somewhere around storage charge.

@etab83 5 лет назад

Excellent and helpful video. A vice to hold the housing would have freed up your hands .

@SeanRobbins. 2 года назад

I’m still pretty new to FPV but I feel fortunate that I haven’t come across the error code “AGHHHH” quite yet 😁

@GoatZilla 5 лет назад

I essentially glue a socket to the battery and plug the lead into it so it’s protected and not flopping around.

@RCinginSC 5 лет назад

Suggestion as requested...taking a lipo with a dead cell and removing the dead cell and making one cell or two cell lipos out of the remaining good cells. I've converted a few 4S lipos into 3S lipos and have made dozens of 1S lipos out of damaged 4s and 3s lipos. This can be a little challenging , but might make a good vid for those who hate throwing away a lipo because of one bad cell when three cells are still good.

@strikerfpv521 5 лет назад

I've thought this before, but i now know that this is true. Joshua Bardwell as an alien. He has mind reading abilities and looks over the FPV community. Whenever somebody needs to know how to do something, he telepathically knows, and creates a video. This time he has read my mind, because just yesterday, I cut a balance lead. Thank heavens for Joshua , if that is his real name.

@ryswe Год назад

Orrrr he is just in the same hobby and runs into the same problems you and I, and everyone does 😂😂😂

@M0rdH0rst 5 лет назад

I just had to do it too. Getting the pins out of the housing is a pain. I'm now using a needle like a shoehorn between housing and the pin. That made the process a lot faster. Of course you have to be careful not to slip, it hurts 🙃

@WeMakeLaw 5 лет назад

Yeah, it hurts. I slipped... The security pin I used somehow shorted the cables, got glowing hot and burned three fingers down to the flesh. I will be using a small flat head the next time.

@brettwilson3142 3 года назад

Great video my friend. Vary informative

@ClumsyGamerGuy 3 года назад

Once again thanks for the video I was literally about to salt bath my lips today because I didn’t know how to fix it. 🙏🙏🙏🙏 Where can I get those metal tabs at? My drone chopped all my wires off and if one wire touched another should I check something to make sure it’s still save to use? I caught it when it happened so it was fast then I taped all the wires up

@nicothechico508 4 года назад

THANKS

@weberentertainment2962 5 лет назад

You should have pointed at your shirt every time you said "burn your house down" 👇🏻😂 and waw you used a quarter of an hour to talk about this, I found about 10 sec of useful info, but I did learn something today though 😁 but nice that you make it for people that don't know👍🏻

@JoshuaBardwell 5 лет назад

The thing is, lots of beginners need all this info because they are starting from zero. It's too common a mistake to talk only to the experienced people and then beginners are lost.

@jimbubbatube 5 лет назад

Joshua, I would love to hear some cold weather battery storage tips. If it’s 12 degrees outside, can I just leave my batteries in the car until it’s time to fly, then just strap one to the quad and punch the throttle?

@JoshuaBardwell 5 лет назад

You will definitely get better performance if the pack is warmed up before flight. But cold won't damage the packs.

@Sprinthurdles 2 года назад

Thank you again!

@evhexrc1765 5 лет назад

Ok, so this is a replacement, not a fix. I was hoping you had found a way to re-use the cracked balance plug. I have, and it’s truly just VERY carefully applying CA glue, but if you mess up, you need to snip the wires and solder on a whole new plug. (It looks like that green wire lead didn’t like you manhandling it too much lol.) One more thing- Can you test out an SMC fpv quad lipo? I’ve got a buddy(rocketsquid on RU-vid) who refuses to take my suggestion on buying an SMC lipo for one of his quads. I use SMC lipos for when I race RC 1/10 4WD short course trucks, 1/8 4WD ebuggy, and 1/10 2wd buggy and for when I bash a Traxxas or something else around the neighborhood. SMC is the BEST!!! They are also super low priced. If you test out an SMC pack and put up a vid on RU-vid and it turns out well, my buddy will surely watch it as he is subscribed to your channel as well! Then I can say “I told you so!) and he won’t puff up crappy packs that cost more than an SMC lipo all the time... Thanks in advance! -Ev

@asurasfpv9458 5 лет назад

An easy and very convenient way is how infinity v2 is doing it. Just a small plastic loop at the battery where you put the balance lead in. Took me some time until I realized why this plastic loop is there.

@JoshuaBardwell 5 лет назад

Thunderpower does the same. It's pretty nice.

@gregm8941 5 лет назад

Thanks for the info. Josh, what exactly happens when a battery puffs. Is there gas in it. What would happen if you poked it with a pin to release the pressure? Thanks, Greg.

@JoshuaBardwell 5 лет назад

Whatever you do, do not puncture the cells. OMG don't do that. What causes a battery to puff is that the chemical in the cell is damaged and gives off gas. Because the cell is not totally airtight, sometimes the gas will leak out and the battery will "un-puff" but the damage is done. Whether the battery is physically puffed or not, once it puffs, it has been damaged. So trying to squeeze it back into shape or whatever doesn't matter.

@davidlondon3111 5 лет назад

Thanks Joshua. Yes I have a question - if you run a battery too low, what does that do to it and how can you tell after the fact that it has most likely been run too low?

@JoshuaBardwell 5 лет назад

Here's info about that: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-l43Kx0OxpKI.html

@blindfpv5763 5 лет назад

Thanks Joshua your videos help a lot

@emotodude 5 лет назад

True drone ninja skills come when you stop soldering and start crimping.

@aenochfpv9863 5 лет назад

I always coat the area where the wires go into the plastic plug with a nice blob of hot glue. Most if the trouble I’ve had with balance plugs involves too much stress being placed on the wires as I pull the plug out of my para charger..the hot glue gives an extra bit of solidity and grip.

@MindRiderFPV 5 лет назад

You read my mind.

@spencersharpefpv8084 5 лет назад

i have velcro squares on my quad and batteries instead of a ummagawd grip never had but 2 ejections and the balance twist works great

@sanashams322 3 года назад

My lipo 3 cell had a shot circuit coz m cousin had pulged the balance port in the receiver hence starting a fire in the receiver that lasted for 2 sec

@lukerondeau8442 5 лет назад

Ha! I've already done this without watching your video... I feel so accomplished

@lazyboy1871 5 лет назад

Ever fancy doing a vid on changing out cells?

@walkman1269 5 лет назад

Yep just like when I do this. Those tabs are a PAIN!! I'm laughing as you're doing this!! Try using small vice grips to hold it gently and a very pointy screwdriver. Sometimes I just re-solder the difficult tabs they can get damaged removing.

@JuanOrtiz-hj6ei 5 лет назад

Informative video. You do a fantastic job! Thank you very much!

@BreatheRC 5 лет назад

That would have been up the wall on the third pin :) and that's what I use a pin you can slide the point under when you push it back then the wire just slides out easily :) great video many thanks

@marcogarcia9307 5 лет назад

I like using a needle to get the pin squished in a bit to remove the cable, easier than a flat head

@MariomasterNSMBHD 5 лет назад

You can also just cut the balance leads before disposing your dead lipos. Then just solder them onto ones with broken ones. Not as clean but at least I don't have to keep one of those large boxes around ;)

@CRTRSTC Год назад

My balance connector broke and then sparked and smoked a bit so would it still be fine to fix after that?

@farmerboyfpv3637 5 лет назад

Jb i feel your struggle and i was you just a few months ago. there is a much much much easier way to get those little connectors out of the housing for a sub 1$ tool. If i can get my hands on a decent camera i will make a video. :)

@SilverTopFlyer 5 лет назад

Hi jb I have found a saftey pin works really good for the pin that sticks up just thought I would say

@BentRim 3 месяца назад

I came hoping bardwell had a better technique than mine.... I've now officially confirmed these are a bugger to change..

@muh1h1 5 лет назад

I had the idea to just glue a male balance lead (maybe with the pins removed if possible) to my batteries, so i can plug the connector in there. Have not had time to test if that works yet though

@JoshuaBardwell 5 лет назад

that's a clever idea but definitely be careful about removing the pins so you don't have live pins sticking out.

@swampcat4901 Год назад

Don´t push down the retention tab, flip up the retention plastic tab!!!! with something pointy/sharp. And use a marker and draw stripes on the wires corresponding to the number, just in case.

@michaeltruskolaski4630 4 года назад

thanks for this

@kosh142 5 лет назад

balance plugs and their pins are a right pain the ass, even new ones and the charging extensions, i always hotglue them to the plug, but not to go beyond the the top of the plug, and it holds them steady enough withoput popping out. plus it helps on wear on tear close to the pin ends.