Charger problem!

[totoyeahwhat123]

So I'm trying to charge this lipo 1000mah 15c 11.1v battery with my lipo (2-3s) charger. (Don't know if all the numbers are required for you to understand, but I wrote them anyway). When I plug it in, it flashes red 4 times. My instructions on the charger says: "The voltage of single cell is too high or too low". What do I do? Does that mean I can't charge? And really I have no idea, so don't come with stupid answers.

[Samurai]

That means that one ore more cells have been discharged below the minimum voltage. The charger won't allow you to charge it, and the battery has lost a portion of it's maximum capacity because of this over-discharge (put the proper English word here ).

If you had a voltage meter you could check. If you just used it in a RIF without checking the voltage then chances are that it's not just a single malfunctioning cell, but the whole pack is on too low. That is the better case.

 

What you can do is to "kick it". You would have to put the battery on a dumb charger that puts out at least 10V. If you have a 9,6V NiMh charger that would work. Leave it on for a few minutes. This raises the voltage in the lipo above the minimum value, and the quickly put it on the lipo charger.

[totoyeahwhat123]

That means that one ore more cells have been discharged below the minimum voltage. The charger won't allow you to charge it, and the battery has lost a portion of it's maximum capacity because of this over-discharge (put the proper English word here ).

If you had a voltage meter you could check. If you just used it in a RIF without checking the voltage then chances are that it's not just a single malfunctioning cell, but the whole pack is on too low. That is the better case.

 

What you can do is to "kick it". You would have to put the battery on a dumb charger that puts out at least 10V. If you have a 9,6V NiMh charger that would work. Leave it on for a few minutes. This raises the voltage in the lipo above the minimum value, and the quickly put it on the lipo charger.

 

Ah thanks. What can I do to avoid this in the future? Also you say at least 10v? The on I mentioned has 11? So I don't get why it won't work.

[Samurai]

It won't work because it's smart. It knows that the battery is below the minimum and it's "brain" won't let you charge it.

As a rule of thumb, don't shoot more than 1500 BBs with that battery. Or get a lipo guard and check the battery sometimes during the game if you have a minute.

[totoyeahwhat123]

It won't work because it's smart. It knows that the battery is below the minimum and it's "brain" won't let you charge it.

As a rule of thumb, don't shoot more than 1500 BBs with that battery. Or get a lipo guard and check the battery sometimes during the game if you have a minute.

 

So I will need a charger with 9,6 to 10 volt? FFS! I hate airsoft at times...

 

Also where do I actually see the volt on the charger?

[Samurai]

You can use up to a 12V charger. Or if you have an other 11.1 lipo you can use that too. It's just to bring your back above 9V.

[totoyeahwhat123]

You can use up to a 12V charger. Or if you have an other 11.1 lipo you can use that too. It's just to bring your back above 9V.

Yeah but where do I see the power of my charger?

[BrightCandle]

The problem is that once a lipo voltage drops below is minimum voltage its a dangerous to charge it, that is the reason your charger wont do it. By all means try and kickstart it with a dumb charger, but you will want to watch it for every second for bulging, splitting and explosions because its got a real chance of doing that and its never going to hold the same charge again. That is just part of the lipo trade off, you can leave them partially charged, charge from any remaining charge and they are smaller and lighter. What you can't do is take them below about 10% of their energy or the cells don't work.

 

If you want to avoid this in the future either count out your rounds (roughly) so you aren't exceeding about 1 round per 1mah giving a good safe margin or get a lipo monitor but be aware it will drain power constantly and they aren't all that great as some of them beep when you fire!

 

I do hope dumb charging it will get it working again and not set fire to your house.

[BrightCandle]

Yeah but where do I see the power of my charger?

You can't (my charger doesn't have one anyway beyond red for charging, blue + red for 90% full and red for done) you need a volt meter of some description.

[totoyeahwhat123]

Since I don't want to end up burning my house down, I want to show the pics I have:

 

FIrst the battery:

 

 

 

Then my charger:

 

 

Bigger pic:

 

A dummy charger my firend borrowed me

 

 

[BrightCandle]

Pictures obviously show a lipo and a balance charger, all as expected. No magic going on this is just how the technology of these batteries works.

[totoyeahwhat123]

Pictures obviously show a lipo and a balance charger, all as expected. No magic going on this is just how the technology of these batteries works.

 

Was hoping some of you knew if the dummy thing or whatever would work... I don't like that you say it can catch on fire and all...

 

And what do you mean by losing power? Like it won't last that long, or the gun won't work welll or what?

[Samurai]

If it goes below minimum voltage then it looses some from the maximum capacity (1100mAh in your case).

If the battery is way below minimum voltage then there is risk of fire, etc, but if it's only slightly below the minimum then it's not going to happen. Of course you should watch it for that few minutes of kickstarting.

I've successfully revived a handful of lipos with this method.

Both of those chargers are lipo chargers meaning that they are "smart". A dumb charger is something that just gives a somewhat stable output voltage and doesn't check anything. Those always have the output voltage and current written on them.

[totoyeahwhat123]

If it goes below minimum voltage then it looses some from the maximum capacity (1100mAh in your case).

If the battery is way below minimum voltage then there is risk of fire, etc, but if it's only slightly below the minimum then it's not going to happen. Of course you should watch it for that few minutes of kickstarting.

I've successfully revived a handful of lipos with this method.

Both of those chargers are lipo chargers meaning that they are "smart". A dumb charger is something that just gives a somewhat stable output voltage and doesn't check anything. Those always have the output voltage and current written on them.

 

 

Ah okay. So basically:

 

1. Get cheap charger

2. Charge battery for 5 min.

3. Put it into the smart one and hope it works?

 

If that is is, can you link some cheap dummy charger? Will probably only use it that one time then.

[Samurai]

In that case I would recommend buying a smart charger like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Imax-B6-B6AC-Lipo-NiMh-LCD-Digital-Balance-Battery-RC-Helicopter-Charger-1-6S-/350804974421?pt=Battery_Chargers&hash=item51ad9b1b55

 

You can use it's nimh mode to kickstart the lipo and then switch to lipo charging.

[totoyeahwhat123]

In that case I would recommend buying a smart charger like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Imax-B6-B6AC-Lipo-NiMh-LCD-Digital-Balance-Battery-RC-Helicopter-Charger-1-6S-/350804974421?pt=Battery_Chargers&hash=item51ad9b1b55

 

You can use it's nimh mode to kickstart the lipo and then switch to lipo charging.

 

Is this guaranteed to work?

[Samurai]

I've ordered about 10 chargers like these in the past years from china. One died after short time, the others were fine.