ISDT BattGo BG-8S Meter - Are your LiPo battery cells really balanced?

I've been using a generic balance checker for quite a long time but recently, the readings made me question whether or not it was accurate. Guess what???

[@mikeh3787]

Excellent review on the 2 chargers. I was looking at both of them.

[@RCVideoReviews]

Glad I could help

[@MrZeek101]

I just bought the Spektrum RC XBC100 SMART Battery Checker & Servo Driver It's amazing how far out some batteries are out great review Sir

[@RCVideoReviews]

That was one of the other checkers I considered. Let me know how you like it ok? Glad you liked the video. I have a lot more material coming.

[@RMINCFilmProductions]

One thing to keep in mind is the stated accuracy of the BG-8S is ± 0.005V @4.2V. You may get a better accuracy with fully charged pack (or a more representative experiment). Food for thought, the resolution of the battery checker may not be comparable to the volt meter, or the other 'known' measurement. Regardless, that was a great experiment and very educational when revealing the accuracy of the devices for a LiPo at storage voltages. Maybe give it a try when the packs are charged. I'm, willing to bet that the total overall error will be lower. (lower total standard deviation)

[@RCVideoReviews]

All valid points. In the end, none of this is lab gear. I'm a little persistent, so from time to time I take measurements and try to halve the errors I see. You got the main point and that's to take a look and not take things at face value.

[@chrisscotty4518]

Do you know if the alarm for low voltage for example 3,85 for storage works with only the balancer cable? I want to external discharge with the hota f6 and resistors and set an alarm fore storage...

[@RCVideoReviews]

Yes, only the balance leads as far as I know.

[@luigibellantoni6828]

The beauty of the isdt checker is you can calibration to it inside the menu. Plus it tells you the average if how far out of balance the pack is. Great device 👍

[@RCVideoReviews]

I agree. I keep mine handy all the time.

[@loganreuter6072]

man I should probably check if the 3 batteries I own are balanced :(. Great video anyway!

[@RCVideoReviews]

Yes---you should. 4.2 peak, 3.75 floor, 3.8-3.85 storage.

[@loganreuter6072]

@@RCVideoReviews yeah I've never check them before and some of them are almost 2 years old

[@RCVideoReviews]

@@loganreuter6072 Oooph....Do you have a cell checker? Voltmeter? Does your charger show you per cell voltages? It's a good idea to babysit balance on LiPo cells.

[@loganreuter6072]

@@RCVideoReviews no I don't have a cell. I have a multimeter. My batteries are pretty much at the end of their life, I would say at least 250-300 cycles on each. I just got some money so I'm probably going to get some new batteries anyway and probably a cell checker.

[@RCVideoReviews]

@@loganreuter6072 I used the generic balance checker for years. Amazon has them for under $10. Do you have a voltmeter?

[@koalatails6391]

I’m surprised how accurate the generic cell checker is, even your worst example here was less than a 0.5% discrepancy. Is an imbalance of 0.02volts really a concern? I have a decent battery charger & would expect it to balance those cells without a problem. I have watched my charger rebalance a battery that was far worse. The only reason I charged that battery was to make it more stable & less likely to spontaneously combust, so I storage charged it.

[@RCVideoReviews]

I was surprised at the generic too, but the problem is the combined delta from negative to positive. In this case, one cell measured high, the other low and the gap is the problem. That's what got me turned on to this question in the first place. 3.80, 3.80, 3.84 4/100ths is not "alarming", but that's just one example. I've seen readings a full .15 off cell to cell.

[@RCVideoReviews]

Oh, and a balance charger will have no problem with that .04 for a single pack. For parallel charging: .04 down on one, .05 up on another and suddenly you’re connecting packs in parallel with cell discrepancies > .1v and I do not like that.

[@koalatails6391]

I agree, that it would be a concern when parallel charging, I don’t parallel charge, it feels like additional risk of not properly charging each battery. I haven’t been in the hobby a long time, so I’m cautious when dealing with lipos.

[@scottintexas]

How does the ISDT compare with the toolkitRC MC8?

[@RCVideoReviews]

Dupe. Replied elsewhere.

[@fastgunfife6690]

Very good information

[@RCVideoReviews]

Thanks Phillip. Appreciate your feedback and glad you found the information helpful.

[@chrisscotty4518]

Can the isdt messure internal resistance of the cells?

[@RCVideoReviews]

No.

[@offgridwanabe]

The margi of error or accuracy at that voltage is not where the tool is designed to work. The accuracy changes when you approach the top voltage and that is where most balancing occurs as it should. Just my opinion.

[@RCVideoReviews]

Where do you get this information? Once calibrated it should read voltage correctly, so I'm curious to know why you're saying it is not designed to accurately measure voltages well within expected voltage ranges for the application.

[@offgridwanabe]

@@RCVideoReviews I'm only going by knowledge observed from countless machines that I have had which measure voltage and charge batteries. ie solar charge controllers, balancers, and BMS they all seem to have a range for their margin of error and I usually pick the full charge voltage to adjust as that is the one that is most critical to me. Also if you did not know apparently the Bg8 has a voltage configuration in the system information so you can adjust it to your expensive volt meter.

[@RCVideoReviews]

That little black device is solid state, no adjustments that I'm aware of. I would expect a purpose built solid state device to operate accurately between 3.0 and 4.25v. I have seen a large number of those little LiPo alarms be way way out though, which is why I trust but verify. I have seen the ISDT calibration on their chargers, I haven't spotted it on the battery meter. I'll go back and look for that. Thanks for the tip.

[@offgridwanabe]

@@RCVideoReviews I haven't tried this yet but think there is new firmware for it. Here is a link showing how he configured it kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZLCqWmEmM57m5Y

[@RCVideoReviews]

OffGrid Wanabe yup that’s the same method for their chargers. I’ll have to go back and look to see if it’s far off enough to worry about it. Either way I’m tempted to make a video showing that technique without the overwhelming music. Thanks for sharing.

[@RREKO]

Hi my Friend good vídeo, I started with that same Balancer... and now I bought M8 from ToolKitRC and it let's us calibrate, the individual voltage on every series... I think the ISDT also allows you to do that, but when I began the Cellmeter 7 and 8 where very good for me to check my Batteries. ⚡🔋⚡

[@RCVideoReviews]

I love the M8. I did a video on that one just a short while back: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpPLgoVoq9mDsM0 Thanks for the comment.

[@RREKO]

@@RCVideoReviews me too my friend, ir as been very useful to charge my E-Scooter 36V Battery, I had to do to 5S6P to balance charge, because for it is a 10S... before I only had the ImaxB6 that only works until 6S...

[@radvalve205]

Lol, think i would rather use the time to just fly!

[@RCVideoReviews]

Me too.

[@w.j.bendellr.c.flying.1037]

That unit will also balance out your batteries for you.🤔😉

[@RCVideoReviews]

It does. Very slow though.

[@MrJames6891]

I thought the battgo could charge devices via the usb...

[@RCVideoReviews]

It does. It'll charge an iPhone 11 at 1a. Nothing to write home about and I'd probably reach for a dozen other devices before this one to charge my phone.

[@MrJames6891]

@@RCVideoReviews thanks! Figured mine out. I can charge through usb outlet, however, power has to be supplied from large plug not balance leads

[@RCVideoReviews]

@@MrJames6891 Ahhh, good deal.

[@Ziplock9000]

You don't even get to the BG-8S until 2/3 of the way through the video and then don't even review it!??

[@RCVideoReviews]

There was no intention of being misleading John. The underlying intention of the video and as titled in the thumbnail is to question whether or not a "balanced" pack is actually balanced. Hence the measurements starting on the iCharger, the multimeter, the generic checker, and finally the ISDT. My objective was more to examine "balanced" packs and to show it takes verification with reliable tools before trusting off the shelf measurement devices. In this case, that warning is warranted. To help videos get discovered by people searching for information, it helps to use keywords a searcher might use. To address your concern, I've removed the "review" term from the title.

[@Ziplock9000]

@@RCVideoReviews I'm sure nothing deliberately misleading was intended, but as you've identified if the word "review" is in the title, then a review is expected. Thanks.

[@RCVideoReviews]

Given the cell by cell comparison of the ISDT against a multimeter, charger, and generic checker I felt I had provided a review of the function used for 99% of my use cases for such a device. In other words the overwhelming usage of this device for me is to check per cell voltage. The video shows the accuracy of the device in that capacity.