Lipo charging question

[JMYBFFT]

I have a 7.4V 4000mah 25c lipo battery and currently charge at 4 amps. Will it damage the battery if I charge at 5 amps? The specs say max charge rate is 2C. Thanks.

[burnineyes]

2C would be 8 amps. It will not damage the battery right away, but I would bet that the higher you go the shorter the life will be.

I think that all batteries are rated by what the company considers to be an acceptable amount of lost life. I think that all batteries lose some life when charged fast.

Here is an example, not to scale, but just for an idea.

Battery A
0.5C charge rate=1000 cycles
1C charge rate=900 cycles
2C charge rate =750 cycles

Battery B
0.5C charge rate=1000 cycles
1C charge rate=975 cycles
2C charge rate=850 cycles

Like I said this is not accurate, but just shown to give an idea.
Any battery would benifit from a slower charge, but some can go higher without losing a significant amount of cycles. In the case of Batt. A, 750 cycles is not acceptable, so it would be sold as a 1C battery. Batt. B can get 850 cycles from a 2C rate, and this is acceptable, so it could be sold as a 2C.