[NSRCA-discussion] A123

[John Konneker]

I didn't want to highjack Lance's charge/balance thread but it caused me to ask for folk's experiences with A123 packs.
Last week I was in Wal-Mart and bought a Black & Decker VPX battery pack.  These contain two A123 cells and capacity is
roughly 1,000mAh.  I have two chargers that I can use for Lithium cells.  One has balance capability for both charge and discharge but 
lower wattage capability than the other one that doesn't balance.  I was fascinated with the stories of being able to charge/discharge these cells at high rates so I cycled it a couple times to the recommended low voltage cutoff using a charge/discharge rate of 4.0 Amps but no balancing.  When I decided to balance the pack it was more than .20volts out of balance (.01v is typical for my small 2s and 3s foamie LiPo packs).  After letting the A123 pack rest overnight I was able to bring it back to charge balance.  However, whenever I discharge the pack without balancing it gets out of balance again.  For discharge I am using a load of 1.0 Amps.  Anyone else have experience with the balancing characteristics of these cells?
Thanks!
JLK
 
 
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