Stupid charger!

[nitro_newbie]

I have a thunder power tp610c, or so i think, its the smaller red one. anyway, i can't get it to balance my battery!!!! Its a MaxAmps 4s true 150c 6500 race edition lipo. I Plug that white connector into that green board.(sorry I'm not that good with chargers), and start charging it. while charging, i can check the voltage in each cell, which means its connected, but each cell is WAY off, well the first 2 arent, but the other two are almost a whole volt apart!. The charger always says" overcharged cell in pack" after a little while of charging.:\, Help.!Thanks.

 

[CptAwesome]

I've seen this before. Either the charger is stupid (which I doubt), or more likely it is telling the truth and the cells really are out of whack. So much so that it can't balance them. Try discharging the pack completely and then balancing it completely. I find that usually does the trick. Sometimes you have to do it twice for the cells to be completely balanced after the charge, but no more than twice. I have an external discharger I use, but the charger's built in program should also do the trick.

 

[truggy83]

I just came hear because I thought it was another super charger thread. Carry on !

 

[sweetdiesel]

I just read thru your TP charger manual and it does not have a cell balancing discharge cycle. Which means if you try to discharge the pack the cell voltage imbalance will worsen.

What exactly are your individual cell voltages at? Use a voltmeter and pin probes to check them at the balancing plug. If the low cells are not too severe you can use a standalone cell balancer such as the Hyperion lba10 which has a cell balancing discharge mode.

Check your voltages first and report back.

 

[CptAwesome]

Even though the charger doesn't have a balancing discharge (which is pretty crappy of TP, but whatever), you might still be able to use discharge.

I'm assuming that the reason it is giving a "overcharged cell in pack" error, that means that one of the cells is over recommended voltage by some significant amount. You should be able to use discharge (while monitoring ALL the cells to make sure none dip too low) to bring the voltage of those overcharged cells back down, then you could re-balance charge them back to the levels they are supposed to be.

Is it recommended by the manufacturer? Not exactly. But, does it work? Almost always. Does it save you from having to spend a new charger or discharger? Yep.

Your mileage may vary, but I've done this numerous times and it's always worked out fine for me. Just make sure none of the cells drop too low, and you should be fine.



However, if you don't like this route, or you want more help, posting the exact voltages of each cell on the battery would be a good start.