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Lipo top up!
- Thread starter Adammd209
- Start date
You should NEVER discharge a Lipo, as that will kill the cells. Always use a Lipo specific charger and charge via the balance lead (small white connector). Most Lipo chargers will only charge until it's full then cut off. And Lipos do not discharge themselves if not connected, unlike Nihm or Nicads. I've left one in my AEP for 6 months and it only lost about 0.5Vs in that time. And make sure you use either a mosfet or Lipo Alarm in circuit when you use it, as discharging a Lipo below 6V (3V per cell) will likely damage the cells.
Ian_Gere
Retired Moderator
- Apr 1, 2012
- 6,417
- 2,050
A decent LiPo charger, one with a balance function, will usually also have a safe discharge function which takes them down to just above 3V for storage. Better ones, such as iMax B6 and Turnigy Accucell 6 (the same machine in different boxes), have both a Discharge & Storage charge/discharge function, which first discharges the battery and then recharges it.
As far as I know, that function is only intended for use with LiPos when they are to be stored unused for 6 months or so. If they are believed to be damaged you can do a Storage then Charge cycle several times and doing so can 'invigorate' the chemical reaction which makes them work. Bear in mind however that all rechargeable batteries have a finite limit to how many times they can be charged/discharged.
As far as I know it is not necessary to discharge LiPos before charging them when in normal use, but a healthy LiPo should hold around 4.2V fully charged so, if this should start to drop while the battery is still relatively new/virginal, say less than 6 months regular use, 12 months light use, then it may be that it is suffering from one of several problems which used to plague 1st Gen LiPos which, we are told, have been ironed out by design improvements since. In this case I'd also run the charge/discharge cycle a few times and see if it improves matters.
As far as I know, that function is only intended for use with LiPos when they are to be stored unused for 6 months or so. If they are believed to be damaged you can do a Storage then Charge cycle several times and doing so can 'invigorate' the chemical reaction which makes them work. Bear in mind however that all rechargeable batteries have a finite limit to how many times they can be charged/discharged.
As far as I know it is not necessary to discharge LiPos before charging them when in normal use, but a healthy LiPo should hold around 4.2V fully charged so, if this should start to drop while the battery is still relatively new/virginal, say less than 6 months regular use, 12 months light use, then it may be that it is suffering from one of several problems which used to plague 1st Gen LiPos which, we are told, have been ironed out by design improvements since. In this case I'd also run the charge/discharge cycle a few times and see if it improves matters.
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