e-station BC8 charging question

[jayrob]

Hi, I use an e-station BC8 to charge my TPExtreme 5000 batteries using 'Balance Charge' mode at 5amps. I fly for 6 minutes and put back between 4000 and 4250 mah back. It seems that the batteries read full (25.2) after about 45 min. to an hour but it takes an additional 30 to 45 minutes to sound the alarm saying full balance charge. Does this extra 45 minutes seem normal? The cells are always balanced equaly even after each flight Also, the charger can charge up to 7 amps, would that be ok for the TPExtremes? Decrease the amount of cycles I can expect?
Thanks,
Jay

[RC Accessory]

What you are experiencing is 100% normal. Lipo chargers (most of them) use a 2 stage charging program call Constant Current (CC) and Constant Voltage (CV).

The charge will charge at a given amperage until the pack reaches full voltage (CC) and the swicthes to CV. The voltage will stay and the charge rate will slowly decrease in 100 mah increments on the BC-x series chargers. The pack is still beng charged in this stage as well.