trout74

iTrader: (4)

I always charge my lipo's with the balancer connected. I use a checkpoint1030 and the balancer. But lots of times I quit driving before the battery is dead, or cut off. then I wait a while and re-charge. should you drain the battery to the cut-off point before you recharge?
Just trying to prolong the life of my lipo's

Thanks
trout

LIVipers

iTrader: (56)

You do not have to drain your li-po down to the cut-off before you charge it. Just pull it from the car and put it on the charger.

b4wires

iTrader: (19)

This is the best thing about lipo's. You don't have to discharge them or run them to the cut off.

Run the your R/C vehicle and charge the lipo's back up.

Duster_360

iTrader: (21)

Only thing I've read about lipo life and use is to avoid routinely draining them more than 80% of capacity - that seems to shorten life span.

You don't need to wait either unless you're seeing temps up toward 140F which I suspect you're not.

racer1812

iTrader: (31)

Duster I assume you are racer like I am so this is not a problem for guys like us but bashers are going to want to run their packs down all the time. The thing we should let bashers know, as not to scare them away from lipos, is that even if you run your lipos down to the cut-off all the time you should still get a life span in the hundreds of cycles. Say 300 cycles vs. 500 (just an example) You'll never get that from a nimh no matter how good you take care of it....correct

Duster_360

iTrader: (21)

Used to be, but no longer, just no time thanks to work. I guess thats why I don't worry about running mine down, its not a habit I ever had. I just disconnect the lipo and go home. Again, that's another bene of lipos, next to zero maintenance. I let a pr of 2S 5000mah sit for almost 11months - checked voltage once a month or so and they went from 8.0 to 7.8v. I'm now running them again and they're just as good as they ever were.

You might be right on the cycle diff - I don't know. I just keep seeing people I believe know what they're talking about saying not to run to the lvc everytime you run it. If its a few hundred cycles, its kinda moot, but if its more severe, then disappointing life span. I deliberately buy bigger (within reason..) if I have the room - that way they don't get worked so hard. Most of mine are barely warm after running.