Li-Po Battery Care

[withnail]

Hi All,

I'm after some advice on the care of Li-po batteries. I know you shouldn't leave them unattended when they're charging, so the other day when I had to go out in a hurry while a battery pack was on charge, I unplugged the battery and finished off charging when I got home.

I was wondering if that can damage the battery? I know you must be careful not to totally discharge a li-po in use, but what about re-charging in 2 sessions? Is it better to wait until I know I have the time to do it?

Any thoughts most welcome

Cheers

Mark

[Smoothound]

That is fine, no problem at all

[Sesame]

probably better to do that than leave them discharged for too long

[withnail]

Thanks both.

Mark

[Pipistrelli]

Mark,

Lipo's don't suffer from memory effect like Nicads and NIMH batteries do. You can charge them from any discharged state and it will not affect performance or life. You can stop and start charging again without any problems.

If you have long periods between flying it is better to 'store' charge them which is at 50% capacity or at 3.7volts per cell. Long term storage fully charge can degrade performance and battery life.

Hope this helps?

[gazza]

Also it's better if you do want to leave them fully charged ie charging them the night before flying to store them somewhere fairly warm. Room temperature is fine.
Fully charged lipos stored in cold temperatures can suffer rises in voltage thus the pack ends up in an overcharged state & can be damaged.

Storing partially charged lipos in cold temperatures is fine though
I usually charge mine to 80% after a days flying then just top them up as required.

[withnail]

Thanks for that - It was the memory of the old Nicads that made me a little concerned.

Cheers

Mark