Do you need a bms for lipos?

Stef1 · July 9, 2018, 9:51pm

So I’m thinking about building my first esk8 and I was wondering if you need a bms if you are willing to charge with a balance charger. If it is needed what would you recommend for a 6s lipo battery

b264 · July 9, 2018, 9:52pm

BMS is better.

abenny · July 9, 2018, 9:56pm

i personally use lipos, and initially went no bms. charging was a pain in the ass to remove the enclosure, remove batteries, hook to balance charger, wait 2-3 hrs, then put back in enclosure just to repeat. i got a bms and a 6amp charger and i dont regret it one bit.i think its a worthwhile investment

davewood1982 · July 9, 2018, 10:02pm

Noob question - why wait 2-3 hrs after you’ve charged them?

kuphjr · July 9, 2018, 10:03pm

For starting out, I didn’t get a BMS and I just had balance leads sandwiched between my enclosure, a weatherstripping seal and the board. It worked great! not quite as nice as a BMS since I had to connect the balance leads every time I needed to charge, but if you are looking for something easy, you can always start without a BMS using a hobby charger and eventually buy a BMS.

Stef1 · July 9, 2018, 10:16pm

I think I will start without a bms then

abenny · July 9, 2018, 10:48pm

2-3 FOR charging…slow balance charging vs a 6a charger on a 60a bms

mynamesmatt · July 9, 2018, 10:58pm

have a look at @Namasaki s build and do some reading through this forum my friend

Stef1 · July 10, 2018, 1:38pm

If I use 5 of these battery’s in series would it become a 10s2p battery?

mmaner · July 10, 2018, 1:42pm

10s1p… if you used 10, 5 in series it would be 10s2p.

RedEagle · July 10, 2018, 1:43pm

I initially started using a bms. Then the bms failed and I couldn’t be bothered replacing it. I’m now running without a bms for half a year. Works like a charm.

Stef1 · July 10, 2018, 1:45pm

But there are 4 cells in that battery so if I use then I would have 40 cells, so it wouldn’t be 10s2p but 10s4p right?

wafflejock · July 10, 2018, 1:51pm

Never used a BMS I could see the convenience factor but I just made it easy to get my batteries in and out. Before I did the removable battery enclosure I just made it so I could access the balance leads through a small hole at the top of the battery case and put xt-90 plugs into the side of the enclosure so could just charge with them on the board. I put the antispark as a connection between two 5S batteries to make 10S so to charge I’d just remove the loop key and charge each 5S separately.

With my 500W charger (keenstone ar1) I can charge the two 5S 5Ah in parallel at 1C or 10A

rey8801 · July 10, 2018, 2:12pm

What you said is correct 5 x 2s2p in series makes 10s2p