What can I do with this lipo

[brettboz]

I have a 1800mAh 11.1V 3s lipo which currently has 4.2, 4.2 and 3.76 readings on the cells. I cant get the last cell to balance up to the same voltage as the others. I cant use the battery because as it is. I have read somewhere that they can be slow charged at say 200mAh for several hours to bring them up but I think thats if they are all over-discharged (ie lower than say 3.2).

Any ideas?

[bigblackken]

I'm not an expert, but i had a similar situation. it took a couple hours because there was such a huige difference, but it still worked.
I had recently bought, from my LHS:
http://www.commonsenserc.com/product_info.php?cPath=45&products_id=549

it basically does the same thing as the astroflite blinky, but has the added voltmeter

it balances out your packs, even if you don't have a balance charger, which I don't.

also, as i understand it, the eflite chargers are not true balance chargers and i wonder if your current charger has the same issue. the eflite charger simply stops charging when one of the cells reaches peak voltage.

hope i answered your question

[brettboz]

I'm not an expert, but i had a similar situation. it took a couple hours because there was such a huige difference, but it still worked.
I had recently bought, from my LHS:
http://www.commonsenserc.com/product_info.php?cPath=45&products_id=549

it basically does the same thing as the astroflite blinky, but has the added voltmeter

it balances out your packs, even if you don't have a balance charger, which I don't.

also, as i understand it, the eflite chargers are not true balance chargers and i wonder if your current charger has the same issue. the eflite charger simply stops charging when one of the cells reaches peak voltage.

hope i answered your question

Since posting this morning I have used my new charger to discharge up to the safest point. The affected cell suddenly drops at 3.4V to 2.5V and so the charger goes nuts. I then put it on charge and as quickly as it dropped it zoomed back up. It has now been going around 4 hours and the dodgy cell is up to almost 4V, so it looks like it my come back to life.