TRCC DIY - Lipo balance boards, totally unnecessary! (JST PLUGS ONLY)

TRCC.tv
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In this video we have another DIY, get rid of those unnecessary JST Balance Boards!!!
You know the Drill, Sub, Like, Share, Enjoy!
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I, Terry Shilson, created this video in its entirety with my own equipment, I used several low end cameras but my primary is a canon HF R20 consumer grade camcorder and my GoPro Hero3+ Black and edit with Adobe Premier pro. I own all rights to all aspects of the video displayed above.

[@StephenFinkNRP]

To be really honest the balance board is to save the pins in your charger. It's much cheaper to replace the board than to replace the entire charger. Just my opinion...

[@TRCCtv]

i've gone through thousands of changes and never had an issue with the balance pins.

[@jorgeeduardotascongutierre7514]

Stephen Fink e

[@rtoebak76]

@@TRCCtv youre pushing in a 3s in a 6s slot of your charger. It's going to go wrong one day.

[@diegobarajas4393]

TRCC just use the balance board alright

[@SumTinga]

honestly this saved me so much time, no stores where i live to buy a new board (lost old one) and the only way to order i have found is 40$ in shipping which is stupid cuz the board is 7$

[@struwwelpeder8426]

Balancer boards are very unseful since they give you spance between your charger and the Lipo. The pins one they board are really in a row? Really?! You measured resistance? Wow! This is phenomenal!

[@lmdetect]

Regardless of the wear and tear issue, it's good to know that I can do this in the event that I've left my board behind. That's what I take from this vid. Thank you.

[@EvolVillainRC]

I wouldn't say it's useless. Plugging and unplugging thousands of times puts wear and tear on the plug. I'd rather put that wear on a balance board vs the plug thats soldered to the board on my charger. If by some accident I bend or break a pin on a balance board no big deal....if it happens on the charger you wont be a happy camper. I won't argue and says it's necessary, but I wouldn't go as far as to say it's useless. My 2 cents. Merry Christmas - ev0l :P

[@TRCCtv]

makes sense, but then you could use a 10 cent extension cord instead of a balance board

[@Bobby11]

or the one that they included instead :P

[@mfreiher]

I think its a great idea. You just have to be more careful.

[@guiterman6263]

Agree

[@dustinrossi9384]

I snapped a pin on my charger.. I'd rather plug in and just replace board then whole charger for an 8 dollar cable..😊

[@jbestell]

Yeah I mean, I understand your point man, but really... once you have one good Lipo fire, you may come to realize (like I did) that putting a decent amount of space between your charger and your battery is wise. To that end, I built a set of JST-XHP extensions so I can charge my lipos inside a cinderblock, under a bag of sand. Everyone lies about how attentive they are when charging their batteries, don't they?

[@TRCCtv]

true but as you mentioned, that could be accomplished by a $0.10 extension as opposed to a $10+ balance board.

[@pyroslavx7922]

It is allso an extension so you can get the pack enough distance from charger so it won't overheat it if(when) pack goes up in flames...

[@TRCCtv]

again... makes sense, but then you could use a 10 cent extension cord instead of a balance board

[@kblair49]

Ask your self, would you rather bend or break a pin on the balance board or the balance port on the expensive charger? That is one reason why I use them, wear and tear on equipment.

[@TRCCtv]

Ken Zink or you can use a 10 cent extension wire.

[@rtoebak76]

@@TRCCtv The easy way will brake the bank one day. Keep saying and doing what you do.

[@DjZorlag]

Keep the balance board if you need to charge multiple batteries at a time. Even that board is capable of charging 4 x 3s lipos at the same time. Just get a parallel harness for the main wires.

[@darcycase9542]

when dealing with the hard plastic i find a hot knife helps great vid man!!

[@atomicskull6405]

Those JST XH sockets wear out because they were never designed for thousands of cycles that's why you need a balance board. Otherwise the socket in your charger will wear out instead.

[@TRCCtv]

as mentioned many times in previous comments, you can get an extension cable for 10 cents if you're concerned about that, but my charger has thousands of cycles on it and the plug is just fine.

[@user-fn7zd8pl7w]

Awesome video

[@mhmdsaleh3502]

I was thinking about the same thing ! Thanks

[@motucker29]

How does that work? The red wire will be connected to diffrent pin on the charger when you plug it direct... thats mad, or maybe i missed out on something. Can you clerify? Thanks

[@RikRussell]

I have LRP 3200mah lipo with a XHR-3P connector bought for my Sanwa MT44. The LRP lipo does not have a separate balance lead how do I connect this to a charger that has an XT60 charge port and a balance lead port for 1-6s Lipo's. I'm stuck on how I charge the LRP lipo with the included XHR-3P connector.

[@robertferrara427]

Good to know as one charger board wiring broke at the end, and i bought a new one and thought the old charger was going to be used for nimh only

[@knutneumann5520]

I ordered a new board and lead on line because my one was faulty , didn't recognise cells above 3. I saw this video after I got my new board. Unfortunately it didn't match on the charger side. Because it was meant for 7s and my new lead was only for six. So I did what you suggested, but instead the mod to the battery , I did it to the new charging lead. Thanks for the tip.

[@covile41]

I want to thank you for that awsome tip. I purchased a brand new lipo charger and i thought it was not working. After trouble shooting and seeing your tip. I narrowed it down to the balance board. Bingo faulty board plugged it directly into charger thanks

[@micnolmadtube]

Smokey, you have a bright mind! Now I can get rid of that balance board. Less stuff in my rc box. Thanks :)

[@hifinsword]

I do a lot of parallel charging and use parallel extensions. They give me the distance from the charger to the battery and I don't have to fiddle with the connection as much as you do when it's right there at the charger. The extra cabling makes it easier to connect. That's very helpful when charging at the field under the car hood. There are limited spaces to rest a battery so a longer cable allows you to pick a spot. In the house I use a large flat pizza stone for the batteries to charge on. My chargers have multiple cable connections for each cell number so I use all 2 thru 6S extensions. They're cheap compared to the boards.

[@diegobarajas4393]

I guess it’s a good idea if your balance board breaks

[@tittentei7331]

I bought a skyrc charger that i did`t use for a couple of month becouse i tought i miss the balance card! But my charger have the same as you:)) built in balance. haha I felt stupid then!! Sry my english. Can i charge a 5000 mah lipo on 15A or is too much?

[@TheCameraGuy0]

Very useful infornation. Always nice to have an option, thank you for sharing this!

[@rantoine_uy]

Can I use the balance board to plug 2 batteries at the same time using the methos you describe? And the batteries charging in parallel also?

[@TRCCtv]

technically yes, but the batteries need to be at a relatively similar rate of discharge or they will charge each other fast and potentially cause problems, and really it doe snot give you any benefit other than not having to change the batteries half way through, it will take twice as much time to charge, so there's no benefit for the risk.

[@mfreiher]

Hi, do you know if it will work with the Imax B6? Just using the 7 pin socket. I was just wondering why the Imax B6 had all the different sockets in the charger. Just a waste of money.

[@stickboyfpv4742]

Parallel charge* But nice that is good if big balance chrgr all you have. Also, would you have to choose 3s or 6s in the settings?

[@zeeek1]

Nice! I'll just use extension leads I bought instead. I hate those boards.

[@ColoradoAdventureClub]

i have a thunder t6 and u don't even need to trim the tabs off the balance plugs learned that longago when the damn board burnt up and I though it was my charger nope was just the crappy balance board love yo tips keepem comin!

[@TRCCtv]

yeah, i dont actually trim the tabs either, i just stuff it in there, but it's easier to explain this way

[@lw216316]

I have a 3s lipo 2700mah battery - when I put it on the charger it appears to get a full and balanced charge. when I test it on a battery checker using the balance plug - nothing shows up - completely blank if I test it using a esc / motor tester using the ec3 plug all appears well. I've tried several different battery checkers that all work on other batteries - so that's not the problem. It seems to be a fault with the balance plug somehow - why it works when charging and not with a battery checker I don't know. I think the battery would be safe to fly with on my rc plane since the balance lead is not in use when flying but I don't have full confidence in the battery since I can't check the charge with a regular battery checker. What can the problem be ?

[@TRCCtv]

sounds the the balance leads are faulty, maybe your charger isnt actually balancing them, can you see individual cell voltages on the charger?

[@DontWatchProductions]

Well I bought an ISDT charger, and it comes with a single balance port. It's just notched for all the cells.

[@TRCCtv]

Yeah that just confirms my point, but this video is from 7 years ago so a lot has changed

[@Gdesign959]

Reading the headline I was thinking this guy is nuts. After watching the video I was saying why didn’t I think of that.

[@lucybarron6634]

whats the point. balance boards are like 5 bucks and don't take up space at all. I understand for the person that doesn't have the 5 bucks and their balance board malfunctioned. So not completely useless. but for someone that has one (chargers come with them) it just doesn't make much sense in my opinion

[@T3rry1S]

+Lucy Barron this vid is over 2 years old, back then the boards were $20+ each, when you have a couple 4 port chargers like me, it adds up quick, and also trying to find the things when they are needed, or keeping track of them if you take your charger mobile, as i often do, its just easier to have less crap to deal with

[@artist1128]

Very helpful，thanks~~

[@godsloveministry4195]

Does it make sense to have black as the common(grounds)?

[@izzzzzz6]

A dremmel would do a nice job at that. Somehow i have managed to get by without the one i bought about 10 years ago knowing that it is somewhere in a cardboard box in a garage. I wish it would turn up one of these days.

[@rustykilt]

I have a balance board, but it wont connect with my GT POWER MINI CHARGER anyway. would need an adapter, so waste of money

[@jiggly_emup1122]

Hi I hav lectron pro and when I power on with battery hooked up it says check battery-balance V

[@jiggly_emup1122]

Can I get some help

[@IMPORTECHML]

hello TRCC, i have a question, i have a drone syma 5 that works with a lipo battery 1cell 3.7 volts, 500 mAh, and also have a drone JJrc h8 that works with a 2 cell 7.4 500 mAh and those batteries has a balancer conector, can i repalce de 7.4 volt battery for 2 batteries 3.7 volts making a conector in serie? is the same than the stock 7.4 volt? does not affect if theres not have balancer conector? i will apreciate your answer, for me is more conveninete for price and time to chage use the 1 cell 3.7 volts batteries, thanks.

[@TRCCtv]

yes you could do this no problem, as long a you charge them individually as 1s then there's no balancing necessary

[@DDM-sh3rl]

When you're not using a POS charger you want to make it last as long as possible. So yeah, they are useful. Especially when you're charging 10s packs.

[@CASTRO45ACP]

Shit, what are you using 10s packs on? I agree, my charger is a decent Venom charger and I realized I could fit the balance leads in if I cut a tab off but then realized what if I fuck up a pin on the main board of the charger, then I'm fucked.

[@legitgaming4275]

Thanks soooo much 🙏

[@s.h.1095]

Buddy my 6s will fit straight into the charger though won't it?

[@TRCCtv]

depends on the charger, if it's a 6s max charger, than yes, some go higher.

[@s.h.1095]

@TRCC thank you buddy yes 6s max 👍

[@evanvandevelde9891]

i usualy take the JST port on the charger out

[@zeeek1]

There is also wear and tear plugging a balance board onto a charger port. Just leave an extension lead in there all the time.

[@Sully365]

i had to do something similar when i only had a 3s jst spare plug and a 4s battery...good vid but i would not want to redo the port inside the charger if it broke/wore out

[@TRCCtv]

you could just use a 10 cent extension cable then, point is the balance boards are a joke, just a way to milk you for a few more bucks, and back when i made this video they wer elike $15 each

[@Sully365]

very true.. i just have a small 2-4s charger and had to do something like this to get my 4s to charge... all good stuff :)

[@Pillowcase]

I had to watch this all the way through to realize its not a terrible idea

[@GoFlyYourselves]

You just ticked off the JST board manufacturers.. LOL Luckily I don't have any of those but it's a good idea.

[@damedcamera]

Always thinking Terry, good work again!!

[@rcfreehold]

Most of the balance features on chargers are crap anyways, better off to use a astro blinky balancing card, plugged into the balance lead when charging or just sitting there. The balancing on most don't work very well and take forever to finish that way. Isn't a jst plug, the red pos little plugs? usually used for 2cell stuff?

[@lucybarron6634]

+Ronin Pictures I think thats one type of jst. there are more than one (i think but def not for sure)

[@rcfreehold]

+Lucy Barron think you're right. those seem like just balancing leads ports for the average battery. Usually chargers come with another that says TP, and that's for thunderpower batteries balance leads, but whatever. Use a blinky balancing card, so much better

[@TRCCtv]

+Ronin Pictures There's only one type of JST plug, that's why its called JST, that's its name, TP is TP, they're all balance plugs, but different types, and therefore different names, that's why it says JST PLUGS ONLY in the title.

[@daleyoung87]

Ronin Pictures Blinky balancers are NOT the best way to balance a lipo. It was a way to do it back in the day. It is much better to do it through a charger like the one in the video.

[@RCGemblung]

Good info.. but your problem is, you forgot what if you need to charge more than one battery at single time, then you will find it necessary.

[@TRCCtv]

nobody "needs" to charge more than one at a time, charging 2 at a time, just doubles the time required to charge, and you shouldnt leave your batteries on the charger unattended anyway so you'll be there to change them when the first one is finished..., so your point is irrelevant. (additionally, charging multiple at a time in parallel, can cause imbalances because it's going to balance all of the cells together instead of each pack individually)

[@zedorda1337]

It is not a balance board. If you would read it says ADAPTER right on it. It is just there to make it easier and less likely to damage the socket on the charger from repeated insertions. Which is the main cause of the soldered on socket to fail. If you study up on what ADAPTERs are you will find they all are just abunch of parallel leads just aligned to each interface's needs.

[@TRCCtv]

thanks for your insight 4 years later, balance board was the common name for them, and how they were referenced by both users and manufacturers... its not like i invented the term..... and at the time this video was made, charger manufacturer's were pushing theses "adapters" as necessary and they were like 1/4 the cost of the charger, and in many cases not included, it was just a moneygrab for the charger makers.

[@zedorda1337]

Oh I see now the vid makes more sense.

[@Fromatic]

That's not a balance board, it's an adapter to use 2-6 cell batteries with your charger which only accepts a 6 cell balance lead

[@TRCCtv]

This video was posted 8 years ago... Back then.. it was called a balance board by all manufacturers.

[@KThach.]

You don't even need to trim the little balance lead tab for this charger I've found. Just plug it in.

[@T3rry1S]

+KThachPSN true, but just to reduce the stress on the pins it was a 2 second job so i figured it was worth doing.

[@TroyCollier]

YOU ARE THE MAN. Thanks

[@swishrking]

Wow, great tip, thumbs up.

[@ignasanchezl]

Lol, I buy blance boards to extend the connection so I dont damage the wires of my batteries. Ofcource you don't need a balance board if your charger doesn't come with one. The chargers that don't come with balance boards have either multiple connectors or an universal plug for your blance lead.

[@TRCCtv]

keep in mind, this video was made 4 years ago, a lot has changed.

[@puffmonster689]

at first I was thinking you would say balancing is useless. lol. but I totally understand where your coming from. but I don't mind have my port.

[@HL-OOI]

Just that the balance cable from the battery is so short and you can put the lipo inside a lipo safe bag..

[@T3rry1S]

HL then it's much easier and cheaper to just use a balance lead extension cable.

[@4444mongo]

I rather charge 2s lipo with 2 chargers 1 sell each so it can charge faster and don't have to wait for 1 sell to get to voltage while already charged sell doesn't get drained and topped up waiting on the other sell

[@corneliudoc]

Why are you throwing the bance board so cruel? It's not useless at all, be more informative for the people an say them that the board you are so cruel with can be used for parallel charging of up to 5 batteries at the same time, very usefull feature!

[@riccardobelafonte]

thank you so much! you saved my holydays ! cause i destroyed my balance Adapter Platine accidently with a piece oft metal ... i m sailing and there was no way to get a New BAP anywhere :( now i can fly again with my f 450 ;) thanx

[@WERONEfishing]

Thankyou

[@stickboyfpv4742]

The point of a charge board...... Is to charge 6 batteries at once... How you gna jam 4 more 3s batteries in next to that 1 3s in there.

[@micnolmadtube]

Dude, BALANCE board.

[@daleyoung87]

Bad advice. The balance boards take abuse of hundreds of connect/reconnect use. That is precisely what they do. If you damage the one on the side,...and you eventually will, which would you rather replace?...A $4.00 board , or buy a new charger?

[@TRCCtv]

SkyVector Aerial as mentioned about 50 times already, at the time of this video, balance boards were about $15 each and not included with most chargers, and if you want to avoid abusing your charger you can use a 10 cent extension, although I have charged batteries hundreds if not thousands of times without this damaging my charger.

[@daleyoung87]

Sorry to mention the 51st time. I dont bother reading a mile of useless comments. You stated that balance boards were "useless'. They are in fact,..not useless. They have a purpose and serve that purpose well.

[@MyPuppers]

great info bud! makes sense . i will use this info for sure! B>)

[@ericsplan1]

nice thanks for the info

[@tittentei7331]

Hehe. I did`t see it was a old film:) haha

[@WalterBJJohnson]

*FUCKING BRILLIANT!*

[@danielmadden1688]

lol great video make sure u watch the whole video

[@TRCCtv]

did you actually watch the video?

[@danielmadden1688]

Yea. I'm sorry.

[@danielmadden1688]

I jumped the gun

[@mike97431]

...... Thank You !!!!

[@joshnutbrown2607]

the point of the board is to charge more than one battery at a time. that's it.

[@lucybarron6634]

+Josh Nutbrown doubtfully...my tenergy charger can only charge one battery at a time and clearly has a balance board for charging the one battery

[@MrNuthed]

Josh Nutbrown No, the point of that balance board is NOT to charge multiple batteries. It is an adapter that accepts 2S through 6S lipo balance connections. You are thinking of a parallel charging board, this is a balance board/ adapter. While on that subject, why would anyone want to go cheap and dangerous by using a parallel charge board? If you want to charge multiple lipos, get a dual or quad charger.

[@Rich-yj4ub]

So if you only have two ports but have 4 batteries then what? ; ) I get it though, good hack for just two.

[@TRCCtv]

Smokey Bandit then you charge 2 at a time? I dont know what you're trying to get at with this comment...

[@averagejoe6031]

That's not a jst. That's just a standard balence connector. JST is a small red connector. This video didn't make much sense.

[@micnolmadtube]

jst is a japanes standard terminal and has many types of connectors. Do you homework before you blap.

[@einsteingravity]

You're B R I L L I A N T ! ! How'd you think o' dat ? ? ?

[@marybrothers7718]

you are sup post to balance and charge a lipo, or fire, learn and listen.

[@TRCCtv]

you are also supposed to watch a video before commenting.

[@alex_micro_cars8429]

Such a great advice im gonna stop balancing my battery so they last maybe a year without going bad

[@TRCCtv]

you should probably start by actually watching the video...................

[@MrNuthed]

He is still balancing the lipos, he is just not using the adapter (aka balance board) anymore. It's a good idea as long as you leave an jst extension cable in there all the time to save wear and tear. It beats having a board hanging and getting caught in shit if)when you pack it up.

[@wilkimhernandez]

Correction you still need to balance your batery

[@TRCCtv]

Correction, you should actually watch the video before commenting

[@rcsworldofrcs]

cool little hint I'll have to remember that...

[@lectro88]

Really Bad advise.... This is ok if you know this stuff forwards and backwards, but shaving off tabs and dial points is never good. He's so smart he forgets about wear and tear. AND safety... This guy isn't going to pay for your house in a fire or replace something you blew up because you bypassed safety measures and polarity points. Not A Fan.

[@TRCCtv]

lol, it only shaves off one of the tabs, so it still cant go in wrong, and even if you do put it in wrong, it's only the balance tabs, the charger wont even start if it's wrong, it's not gonna burn your house down, and if you're really worried about burning your house down with electricity, you shouldn't be playing with these types of battery packs in the first place.....also this video is almost 10 years old.