Well, it's finally done. All cells 3.65v except the two that had the lowest charge. 43.6v total. I expect that to drop and settle overnight.

I used the trick of connecting the ones with the highest charge to the lowest cell in parallel (and waited) and then used the 36v charger, placing the two weakest cells where the two overcharged ones had been. The weakest still took over 3 hours to top up after the second go, and it's finally holding at 3.65 (I hope)...

I took the aluminum, riveted it and placed it against the cells (strapped) and then wrapped high density foam (the kind in the Pelikan cases) around those packs. The results are below:



One thing about the cells and the charger I used - don't do it unless you are willing to babysit the cells. One they charge, the voltage on the charger increases (and I'm not sure it has a cutoff). I'm trying to find the chip maker that it's based on, but I can't read it (surprise). Either way, I measured the voltage without a battery load to charge and it hit about 6.34v, enough to cause a loud explosion and epic fire as they are all going to go at once. I have decided to name my bike "Pinto" because if I ever get rear-ended, the fireball will be spectacular.

Anyways, there definitely is a curve, and it's long up until the cells hit about 3.5v and then it's every 5 minutes, after 3.6, I monitored them every 30 seconds or so and at 3.70 max, I shut it down. You get used to mentally measuring how long till the next check. The voltage always drops and if I anticipate how much it will drop, balancing the cells becomes an hour of intense measure-move sequences.

It took me about 43 total hours to complete. I wish I had that balancing charger...