Hyperion LBA 6 Balance Adapter

The device is really quite small, fitting into the palm of the hand or a pocket very easily. The dimensions of the device are approximately the following : 7cm x 4cm x 1cm
AirCraft World's website contains a very nice data sheet which summarises all the functionality of the device so rather than retype all the information, here is a link to their data sheet.

For the purposes of this review the LBA6 has been used to either balance charge or balance discharge a pack. The pack has then been measured for voltage across each cell to check for balance. Without going into boring electronic detail the LBA6 does exactly what it says and I couldn't find fault with it's ability to balance a pack on voltage either by charge or discharge, which I will explain further.

Also included in the box are the balance adapters (harnesses) that allow the connection of packs to the balance adapter depending on their cell count. There are four harnesses in total ranging from two cells up to five cells connectivity.

Balance Discharge

Discharge mode is also referred to as disconnection mode in the balance adapters documentation. This mode works by discharging the higher voltage cells in the pack until they reach the same voltage as the lowest voltage cell in the pack. The balance adapter will power down in this mode if any cell is below 2.75 V. When the balance adapter is first connected it will flash its LEDs to indicate the balance status of the connected pack. A single flash indicates that the pack is only slightly out of balance, two flashes indicates a moderately out of balance pack and three flashes is a badly balanced pack. Having indicated the balance status of the pack the balance adapter will now discharge the higher voltage cells to bring the pack within 5 millivolts per cell. Once the pack is in balance the balance adapter will power down.

The balance adapter can also work connected to a charger in discharge mode. This facilitates a faster balance discharge as a charger should be capable of placing a larger load on the higher voltage cells within the pack. The balance adapter monitors and controls the whole process making sure that the charger is unable to take the pack or any cell within it below voltage (2.75 V).

Balance Charge

The balance adapter can also function directly connected to a charger. In this mode the balance adapter controls the charge voltage from the charger and directs it to each cell in the pack in order to bring the cells into balance. In order to get into this mode the balance adapter is connected to the charger and the pack is connected to the balance adapter. The button on the balance adapter is then pressed to enter connection mode. This allows the charger to see the pack and the charging can begin. The balance adapter controls the entire charge process right up until the charger completes its charge. The balance adapter first works to bring the pack into balance and then it charges all of the cells individually whilst keeping them in balance. This ensures that no cell goes over voltage during the entire charge process. The documentation with the balance adapter recommends that any pack which is badly out of balance (three flashes of the balance adapters LED's) should be discharge balanced before attempting to charge balance it.

Connectivity

The balance adapter comes with four connection harnesses which are designed to match up to the balance adapter normally found on a Polyquest pack. The balance adapter does not come with additional harnesses that would work with other manufacturers packs unless they happen to use the same balance connector as that used by Polyquest. In today's market this means that the balance adapter will work with many packs but specifically will not work with FlightPower packs or ThunderPower packs. It may also work with other packs that use Enerland cells.

Conclusion

This is one of the most useful devices I have come across for managing lithium packs. It offers both charge and discharge protection whilst working with your packs. It also provides an indication of the balance status of your packs both before and after a flight. It will work in standalone mode and balance packs on it's own. It will work in combination with a charger to either charge or discharge a pack in order to bring it into balance. It does this competently and is extremely easy to use.

My only criticism would be that it does not come with harnesses suitable for connecting to the various other balance connectors that can be found on different manufacturers packs. It is not difficult to make up these connectors if you are electronically minded and have a good understanding of the balance connectors on other packs. However, I would not recommend that anybody attempt this unless they know exactly what they are doing. I would like to see some commercially available adapters to make this device much more versatile in terms of the packs it is capable of interfacing with to perform balancing.

In terms of its capability to bring a pack into balance it does exactly what it says it will do and it does so to an accuracy of 0.01 V. No complaints here.

This is another device which has found its way into my FlightBox and is used almost daily to manage my packs. Having used it over the last couple of months I would not want to be without it. Therefore the LBA6 comes as highly recommended, particularly if you are the owner of packs that have the same balance connector as that used on Polyquest cells, otherwise you may be a little disappointed.

If you have this device please rated using the T-Rex tuning rating system: