How To Repair A LiPo Balance Plug

[@nxu5107]

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

[@licensetodrive9930]

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.

[@MrWheels076]

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]

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.

[@jakesouthard9175]

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!

[@ThePaololekai]

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 👊🏻

[@gregm8941]

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..

[@KiloHertzFPV]

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!

[@dougstockford7611]

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

[@mason8997]

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.

[@dodelladrone114]

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.

[@jeniferdiamond7723]

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%.

[@bobt219]

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!

[@msaunders300]

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

[@daveyknowlton8030]

I just made one

[@gautamkrishna7421]

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

[@Sandwich4321]

Just look for how to crimp a jst xh connector

[@divingfalconfpv4602]

i had trouble finding small enough crimper lol

[@HighVoltageMadness]

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

[@TomicaCZ]

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 :)

[@joekalbrener7382]

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

[@FalconRadFPV]

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]

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

[@FlowTfpv]

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

[@zippycfpv3619]

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

[@Ryasis12345]

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

[@RcOffroad9513]

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

[@AlbertMikaelyan]

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

[@brisketbaron]

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

[@Dragon129Slayer]

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

[@HDgodfrey]

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

[@3v1Bunny]

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.

[@k1f02]

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

[@VikTortor]

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

[@strikerfpv521]

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]

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

[@markwestbrook3313]

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]

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

[@weberentertainment2962]

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]

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.

[@DangerDavefpv]

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]

I was going to say the same. GMTA

[@licensetodrive9930]

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]

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.

[@ClumsyGamerGuy]

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

[@warpster7656]

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

[@maxkielbasa6079]

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

[@robwaters3080]

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

[@tomaszfpv]

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

[@wickedreelz5028]

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]

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

[@tomaszfpv]

@@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]

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]

@@licensetodrive9930 hey, did you modify this design?

[@Flight72]

Hi always learning... 👍 Can I use a servo extension to replace the wire and the connector?

[@jrb8081]

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

[@jessewilliams9627]

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]

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.

[@BisMaxx]

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!

[@Jan-dw4jd]

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!

[@christianprogrammer9131]

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 !

[@geoffheith]

Thanks for the parts link exactly what I needed.

[@headshothappy5280]

Another great video. Unfortunately I didn't wrap my cable correctly and now have all bare wires (now taped individually). At least I can now repair it. Would you recommend a charging board?

[@thehonornightwolf]

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

[@loosenutsfpv206]

I'm glad you switched to bluetak!! Thought you were going to slip!! and stab that 95c lipo!! you were using as a pressure plate..:):) intense vid JB....

[@3Carbon6]

You blew my mind with the rubber band trick.

[@TheAngryAstronomer]

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]

Me to...itd good to save them.

[@fpvmaxim]

You got a video for everything!

[@raymondwilliams6878]

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....

[@patrickmcfarland6976]

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

[@nickmcbride1208]

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

[@dkhallal]

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]

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

[@Pile_of_carbon]

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.

[@M0rdH0rst]

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]

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.

[@badjrfpv5090]

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!

[@SeanRobbins.]

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

[@vincents3334]

Nice job as usual JB. As a new comer I’d like to know more about battery size. For example I use a 1s 450 on my quad. Can I use a 1s 650? What’s the difference and what will it do for me?

[@HomeGrownCanadianFPV]

awesome topic, a must know for any pilot

[@vojtechvejsicky1819]

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

[@gregm8941]

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]

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.

[@the_knightrider]

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

[@trfpvVT]

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

[@deadstickfpv]

Thank you.. Another good learning moment

[@lukerondeau8442]

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

[@davidlondon3111]

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]

Here's info about that: kzbin.info/www/bejne/omWWfKtmhN2jgas

[@etab83]

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

[@overfly_pt]

Great vídeo JB 👌

[@smitburgfpv6466]

Thanks for the info. I had to learn how to replace a connector and pins on the cable from my 4 in 1 to my FC (1mm size), just a couple days ago. This video would have been helpful then. Can you do a video on how to replace the pins so I know I did it right?

[@JohnDoe-rl9pp]

Lol. Did this on my second flight, prop ate the connector. Grumbled, then went into work and dug up an entire kit of JST connectors. Advantages of working on electronics for a living...

[@fpvfunchips3050]

It gets really scary at 7:16 as you have two leads out of the housing and it slips out of your fingers. Also you look really convincing at 10:23 saying "I'm never having more than one of these wires out of the housing" :). I did sort of similar repair in the past, and a really good advise I can think of is to just put a piece of heat shrink on the leads (without shrinking) if they must to go out of the housing more then one at a time (or use electrical tape). This extra step may be very useful. Those short wires rrrreally want to get together :). Joshua would you consider to test shorting the balance leads for the educational purposes in some future video. Maybe you can use extension cord with balance lead connector and high current switch on the other side, use retired Lipo for that. I bet those balance leads will melt instantly. I would really like to see that experiment (do that outside :)

[@Fragtastik]

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.

[@bltefft]

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

[@witblitsfpv1265]

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

[@nxu5107]

Hi Joshua many thanks for all your videos. I am a newbie to FPV. I recently bought a HTRC c240 duo and one of the balance charge boards doesn’t work. Instead of shipping me a replacement the seller told me it’s not necessary and I could connect the battery directly to the parallel port. With different batteries having different sizes of parallel charging cables I can’t believe that. What’s your advice here please? Thanks again.

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Most chargers have a balance port that can take any size plug. You just plug it in with the ground pin all the way to one side (whichever side is the minus pin on the charger) and it's fine. It's completely normal to do it this way.

[@nxu5107]

@@JoshuaBardwell Joshua, Thanks you so much. I learnt even more today!🙏 I simply am floored that you responded. How do you find the time? So generous. warm greetings and blessings.

[@spencersharpefpv8084]

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

[@SilverTopFlyer]

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

[@Faith_Family_Firearms_Freedom]

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.

[@walkman1269]

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.

[@user-zw7zd3qv1w]

So, which of these batteries would you say i should get and which one is best in these head to head Funfly vs Full send vs CNHL in 4s 1500? And should i just skip those and pay extra for GNB 4s 1500? I dont know, those are all the options that can ship to me? Please give me your thoughts.

[@cjones4433]

This is a nice video. I do have a question about the plugs. I purchased 3 Hobbyking Zippy batteries and the balance plug was thicker than my balance board or my charger. From my research I think these plugs are 2.54 instead of 2.0mm. Do the plugs you have in the kit fit in the charging board or the battery charger? Thanks

[@JoshuaBardwell]

I would be really surprised to learn that a battery was being sold with non-standard balance plugs.

[@cjones4433]

Joshua Bardwell well get ready to be surprised. As soon as I make it to my garage, I’ll take pictures of it. Do you have messenger so I can send pictures?

[@JuanOrtiz-hj6ei]

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

[@BreatheRC]

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

[@brettwilson3142]

Great video my friend. Vary informative

[@aenochfpv9863]

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.

[@LetsFlyRC]

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

[@spthompson6501]

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

[@emotodude]

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

[@BentRim]

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

[@jimbubbatube]

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]

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

[@CRTRSTC]

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

[@farmerboyfpv3637]

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. :)

[@roddraym]

Thanks Joshua!

[@xxmisterxx6957]

When i landed my quad there was exacly this problem but 2 wires that were out touched and there were some tiny sparkles but nothing serious. I checked the the whole voltage trough thr xt60 and it seemed like all the cells were working (24 V) 6s battery after 1 min of flight.... can i still use it?

[@GoatZilla]

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

[@blindfpv5763]

Thanks Joshua your videos help a lot

[@AdamConstantine]

I really need a response if possible. Driving RC tonight balance connector got broken while driving the truck. It was dark out so I noticed some sparks/little flickers of light from under the truck. I immidiately opened it and separated all the wires to keep from touching. Brought to garage and taped all individually. Is it safe to repair this with a new connector end or solder in a new pigtail? Or is my battery not reliable and should be disposed of?

[@JoshuaBardwell]

It's probably fine to repair.

[@lazyboy1871]

Ever fancy doing a vid on changing out cells?

[@Pellipel777]

My thunder power batteries seem to be a bit smaller than the white housing your showing will they fit into this housing also? For they are black and closer together

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Balance connectors are basically always the same.