BQ76952: ell inputs 1, 2, and 16 should always be connected to actual cells

Dear Kailun,

While it is not absolutely required, you lose out on a lot of performance. For cell 16, the cell balancing circuit is special to it. If you short cell 16, and have the highest cell at another (say 15), then you won't be able to balance the top cell. For 1 and 2, it has to do with how well the the pins can digitize certain voltages relative to GND. The pins for cells 1-3 can handle to VSS (and slightly below), but if you instead short cells 1-2 and go to the something like the pins for Cell 4 or 5 as the first cell, you will see large inaccuracies due that pin not being meant to read voltages close to VSS (CELL5 has trouble when the voltage is within 2V of VSS). Due to these reasons, it is highly recommended to use cells 1, 2, and 16 for the optimal performance.

Best,
Asher Nederveld