No, this is one of the differences between these and NiCads - like LiPos, they need to be balanced.

If building packs, then balancing wires need to be built in.

If a cell in a pack is repeatedly over-charged then it will be damaged. There may be some small self-balancing effect (the over-charged cells will get rid of the excess energy as heat). This should not be relied upon.

Another difference from NiCads is that M1 Lithiums do not like getting hot. Damage will start to occur if the cells get over 60 deg C. Fortunately them seem to stay cooler than NiCads under discharge.

The standard DeWalt drill packs have connections to the end of each cell built in and the DeWalt charger balances the cells at the end of each charge (if it deems that they are out of balance).

(Message edited by terrorhurtz on July 14, 2007)

(Message edited by terrorhurtz on July 14, 2007)