When charging these capacitors, it's important to make sure all the cells charge evenly. This is a problem
when charging them in series, because small differences in cell resistance can cause cells to charge at a
different rate, leading to one cell with more voltage than another. This may end up exceeding a cell's rating
resulting in cell degradation, damage, or failure. (possibly catastrophic)
There are two ways to deal with this. The first approach is to use a "balance board" to charge the cells.
For this, individual wires go out from the balance board so that it has a connection to the + and - of each
individual cell, and can then make sure that when a cell reaches its designated charge limit, current across
that pair of wires is cut off. When all cells are cut off, they should all be equally charged, with an equal
voltage across their terminals. This is sometimes referred to as "active balancing".
The other approach involves placing a board across one or two cells at a time, that includes passive components
that will start to conduct across a cell if it has exceeded its rated voltage. This discharges the cell and
reduces its voltage back to a safe level. This wastes power and generates heat, and has a limited ability to
discharge the cell, so the overall series charge current cannot exceed the maximum rating of the balance board.
This is usually referred to as "passive balancing", and serves more as a safety mechanism than a true balancing
solution, because it cannot guarantee all cells are equally charged unless the entire array is being trickle-
charged at or below the board's maximum current. (which will be generating noticeable heat from all boards)
balance board
CSDWELL PCM3V0CGHB009S 3.0v balance board
CSDWELL PCM2V7CGHB009S 2.7v balance board specs
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