Charging rates and times

[helimadness]

Really good info thanks all.

Cheers

[helimadness]

Ok so after flying in the weekend my lowest pack is about 3.75v, most around 3.8 and my flight back about 3.9. My PL6 is saying about 29% was the lowest. I normally put them back in storage charge which is 60% on the PL6 around 3.85v / cell.

So you think that is doing more damage than just leaving them like that until next time I fly?

Got the new PSU. Can charge at 30 Amps now :-)

Cheers

[helijohn]

Just get one of those cheap little LiPo voltage checkers that plugs into the balance plug of the LiPo.

I find those things to be wildly inaccurate.

To the OP, for what it is worth, my plan these days, unless I discover differently soon, is to charge the night before, late. I get flying by 9am and have enough batteries to end up with around 40% left in each which I leave as storage. If I go a lot lot lower I storage charge to 50% and do a balance charge as above. Charging to 50% and then charging to full counts as one cycle from what I have read.
I never charge at more than 1C (maybe 1.2C lol) and always do a balance charge.
If in doubt I know I can use the batteries as long as they show 4.1v minimum per cell.
I travel light to the field, after years of humping nitro, loads of kit and starter batteries around I do not want to take generators or owt like that, plug in and fly. Two birds and 5 batteries at 5 amp each.

[helimadness]

I find those things to be wildly inaccurate.

To the OP, for what it is worth, my plan these days, unless I discover differently soon, is to charge the night before, late. I get flying by 9am and have enough batteries to end up with around 40% left in each which I leave as storage. If I go a lot lot lower I storage charge to 50% and do a balance charge as above. Charging to 50% and then charging to full counts as one cycle from what I have read.
I never charge at more than 1C (maybe 1.2C lol) and always do a balance charge.
If in doubt I know I can use the batteries as long as they show 4.1v minimum per cell.
I travel light to the field, after years of humping nitro, loads of kit and starter batteries around I do not want to take generators or owt like that, plug in and fly. Two birds and 5 batteries at 5 amp each.

The comments before were about internal heat getting generated when charging that causes the damage. Hence the reason why partial charging and topping up was counted as 2 cycles. That was the way I read it anyway. So if between 24-90% I think it was better to leave as is until the next charge then charge in one go.
Might have to reread that but, wouldn't be the first time I was wrong or misunderstood.

Cheers

[Ice-Man]

so with all this with the batterys about charging and discharging heat and all that stuff why not just go nitro problem solved you can fly aslong as you like till you need to change servo battery so if you had say 4 batterys for the servos you could fly all day and no charging at field thats just my 2cents worth

[Varelco]

I find those things to be wildly inaccurate.

Which one are you using? I have a Fusion Smart Guard which when compared against my calibrated fluke multimeter, turns out to be very accurate, the results were practically identical.

[SaneAdam]

I find those things to be wildly inaccurate.

That surprises me…! I find them very accurate. What are you comparing it against?

[trillian]

Which one are you using? I have a Fusion Smart Guard which when compared against my calibrated fluke multimeter, turns out to be very accurate, the results were practically identical.

I have one I got from Robotbirds that I think it essentially the same as the Fusion and it's pretty accurate. I also have a super cheap little thing I got from China that I use just to indicate if a pack is charged or not. I will say though, I find that when I check a pack right after landing sometimes it reads lower than it does after a few minutes or after I get home. I guess that is due to the temperature change.

[SaneAdam]

I have one I got from Robotbirds that I think it essentially the same as the Fusion and it's pretty accurate. I also have a super cheap little thing I got from China that I use just to indicate if a pack is charged or not. I will say though, I find that when I check a pack right after landing sometimes it reads lower than it does after a few minutes or after I get home. I guess that is due to the temperature change.

+1

They can raise by about 3 to 4 per cent once they have cooled

[helijohn]

That surprises me…! I find them very accurate. What are you comparing it against?

Icharger.

[Grumpy]

I find those things to be wildly inaccurate.

define 'wildly'... I just checked two against a digital multimeter. Biggest error was 0.01v (one hundredth of a volt)

For the purposes of a quick remaining capacity check in the field i'd humbly suggest that that's more than good enough, even if some others have double the error it's still good enough.

FWIW.. the worst thing about these things in my opinion is that whenever you put them down they scurry off and hide. I've got four of them at least, it might be more but I'm not sure because I can never find more than a couple at any one time. I would have checked the accuracy of more of the things but even after an extensive search two is all that would show themselves.

[helijohn]

the worst thing about these things in my opinion is that whenever you put them down they scurry off and hide.

Velcro it to the lid of you whatever box you take with you. Simples.



As you know from mAh, I don't do precise.Seniormoment.jpgargh.jpg

[helimadness]

so with all this with the batterys about charging and discharging heat and all that stuff why not just go nitro problem solved you can fly aslong as you like till you need to change servo battery so if you had say 4 batterys for the servos you could fly all day and no charging at field thats just my 2cents worth

My main reason for going electric was I live in a apartment with no external storage. I have a fireproof tin box my lipos live in so no smell and a lot less fire risk and safety to my kids than bottles of nitro sitting around. Also I love the simplicity and cleanliness of electric. No motors to tune no smoke less noise. Etc etc etc but then that's another whole debate that will go on for a long time yet, well until the greenies ban burning fuel anyway :-)

Each to their own and everyone has different reasons and requirements for going one or the other. For me its electric for now.

[helimadness]

The little cheap plug in balance port ones are great for a spot check if the lipo is full or not. How accurate they are im not sure but serve a quick test of full or not well.
I also have a couple with the buzzers on them. I find them really handy for new models or if you make changes that will effect flight times. Can just plug one in and fly until it goes off. They are also a cheap way to tell if voltage is dropping under load on a battery. I have some older batteries and can get the alarm to go off a lot quicker on them but when you land and check the unloaded volts they seem ok. So just shows how much voltage drawdown you get on old lipos compared to new ones.

They are all less than 2 quid each anyway so cant hurt having them. Been a god send when I have left my good one behind and found one in the boot of the car.

I have several. Never thought about velcro thanks for tip. Might stop me losing them.

[SaneAdam]

Icharger.

You must be just experiencing a rise in percentage as the packs cool. They will be pretty close reading wise. Sometimes you do have to connect then reconnect the batt checker to get best results. If something is not making contact as it should it can give different results. The thing to do is check em a few times. They are not wildly inaccurate though…. i think it may be user error lol