Li-Po Charging

[Talisa]

Hi,

I only found yesterday that these batteries can only be charged so many times before they lose their abilities.

I am obviously keen to maximize the life of my batteries. Is this what is known as balanced charging? I have two Chargers, Prodigy II and e-station BC6-10.

Please can someone tell me what I need to do to maximize their life. My batteries alone for my 600E are £150+ each.

Regards,

[Smoothound]

Best way is don't charge too quick, 1C or less.

Don't over discharge, 80% discharge max, ie with a c.5000mAh pack for your 600 the most you should put back after flying is 4000mAh ie 5000x80%=4000


Never let fully charged packs get too cold by storing in the garage, loft or outside. Room temp is best. If you have to store in a colder environment then store them at 80% capacity or so

[robgt]

The best method of charging lipos is to balance charge them.
This has two options, both work well, one is apparently slightly better than the other, and certainly faster.

1. A charger that will charge and balance the packs without discharging to do the balancing of the cells. This is the faster of the two methods.

2. A charger that will charge the packs while discharging small amounts to keep the cells in balance through the charge cycle. this is slower because small amounts are discharged, so need topping up more to fully charge the pack.

I wouldn't recommend using the Prodigy to charge your LiPos - Lipo charging makes use of intricate charging formulas that the Prodigy doesn't have. While it can charge these packs, it won't do it as well as a decidated LiPo charger.

I believe the eStation charger you have is a good quality charger for LiPos, so I would suggest you stick to using that to maximise lifetime of your packs.

I don't know enough about your charger to say for sure, but you may need to purchase a balancing module for it? Unless it is built in?

1C charging is best for the packs. If your pack is 4800 mAh, charge it at 4.8 amps (or less).

Let your packs cool down to around room temperature before charging them. If you pick it up and feels warm, let it cool some more.

Cheers,
Rob

[Mophasa]

I had a look on youtube and found a vid that you might like to have a peek at. type "How to Balance your Lithium Batteries" in the search box! hope this helps! also check out the other vids that guy makes he explains it really wel i think!

[Talisa]

My thanks to you all. I have watched the video as suggested and yes it was very informative. Now need to go see if either of my chargers are balanced chargers, if not, guess will be back to SMC for one

http://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk...d.asp?id=25614

Thanks to all

[fatmantom]

the e-station BC6 is a balnce charger...

and it does have a built in balancing module so all you have to do is plug in your battery with both the balance lead, and the charge lead.

then go through the process' of selecting the correct voltage and what amp rate you want to charge at..

cheers,

[MrB]

One thing to also bear in mind is that Lipo's lose capacity over time/cycles , what was a 5000mha pack wont be after 50/100 cycles so it's a good idea to keep an eye on the cell voltage; you don't really want to be dropping below 3.6 volts. If you carry on taking out 80% you'll start to go too low on the voltage and that'll damage the cells, lipos are a great energy source but they are very unforgiving, over discharge or overcharge +4.26 and the cells suffer, look after them properly though and they'll return good service. I've four revo 4800 packs here with over 300 cycles on them, well worth looking after the packs- there not cheep.



Mark.

[cambs flyer]

Can I please hijack this thread for a personal Q.

I'm using very simple Prolux Balance chargers which are giving me superb Li Po performance.

I want to upgrade to better chargers so to look after my batts, I like to keep it simple and I'm looking at the CellPro 4, or the BC 6 which one of these would be the best, the cellpro is fully automatic and does everything for you almost to perfection, but the BC 6 has controls to I guess custom care the settings for your battery's

Which one should I go for if these were my only two options, as TBH I don't really want to spend anymore on chargers.

Again, then I can cycle them through the Prolux chargers buy another PSU and have the ability to charge many Li po's in one sitting.

Any suggestions please.

[Talisa]

Hijack away, no problem

[Sesame]

I have both the Cellpro4 and the BC6. both I think are good chargers both give you the individual cell voltage and both give you what you are returning to the battery so you can keep an eye on the usage.

as to which is the better if you are only intending to charge up to a 4 cell lipo then the cellpro is great it will charge all of the revo cells plus with adapter boards it will charge other types of cells like align and thunder power etc.

The Bc6 you have to take a little more care over in charging making sure the settings are correct but again its a fairly simple job just taking care that the charge rates and the cell count are sellected correctly, I always use the balance option which means making sure I have the balance adapter I need again there are various ones of these available, I use this charger for my 5s maxpoly batteries.

the version I have is the BC6 dual power added advantage is that it can run off of a 12V supply or mains power, downside of this particular unit top charge rate is 2.4 amps so with 5s 4000mah batteries thats just over .5c which is good for the cells but takes a little longer to charge the packs.

[robgt]

Cellpro is a "point and shoot" charger - plug in, press button, charge. Simple.

Dunno about the BC6.
Cheers,
Rob

[LaurenceGough]

Never had a prob with my two Cellpro 4S's great chargers!

You can change charge rate in C ratings or amps still.

Balances packs spot on and compensates for the wires etc.

I have lots of adapter boards, two extension leads and a USB lead which is helpful.

They never get warm which is another good thing.

Only problem I have is with the screen, I need to put a lamp over it to see it in a dark room easy. Although I think this has been fixed with the newer ones.

[Talisa]

Technex, if I am right in thinking by what you mean when it comes to the sound of blade flap then you are quite right, it is a geat sound.

Officially what causes that noise, is it the blade cutting through the air and if so, why is it more apparent in one direction of flight than the other?

[LaurenceGough]

Technex, if I am right in thinking by what you mean when it comes to the sound of blade flap then you are quite right, it is a geat sound.

Officially what causes that noise, is it the blade cutting through the air and if so, why is it more apparent in one direction of flight than the other?

Lol, it's your thread so what the hell .

Blade noise is one of the main things I fly for, something a sim can never, never give you.

I've been studying it during videos and my flights in real life and still can't pin point it, it must depend on wind direction/power or I am just not smart enough, lol!

My favourite sound is in large dives with the tail pointing downwards and then pulling out. The vortex of the tail blades hit the main downwash of the blades and make that lovely noise we all love .

The other one I found out the other day is in large side tic-tocs, wow, that braaaaaaa noise (sorry!)! It only happens in one direction and only if you apply cyclic and a lot of pitch.

[Talisa]

Thanks Tech, personally I can't wait to hear blade noise on my 600's. IT soudns good on the HBK and 450's so I can only imagine what it sounds like on big blades