stewy28

iTrader: (46)

Hey Guys, I'm getting back in hobby after a long lay off so the girlfriends kid can race. So the lipo thing is new for me, is doing a discharge the same as using the storage mode on the charger? If not, is one way better than the other? Thanks.

Davidka

iTrader: (86)

There is no good reason to discharge a lipo unless it's holding a lot of charge and you want to store it. As long as you're using if somewhat frequently and leave it about 1/2 charged, you're good.

nanoverse

This contradicts your last post. Well it's just stupid not to store lipos in the right voltage.

Scrubb

Lower amp rates charging and discharging will give your batteries a longer lifespan. Discharge them as slow as you have the patience for.

???E-Racer

iTrader: (3)

My charger stops at 7.60volts.
You really have to have a storage charge mode for Lipos. My Hitec X4 AC Plus
has it built in. I put them on the charger in storage charge mode once a week to keep them there.

theblitzkidd

iTrader: (11)

How does that contradict my last post.?...I said that I store them at full charge, cause the other bats I had got puffy...and I was storing them at half full....so now thatbi store these at full, they havnt puffed yet

PureEvil95

Storage Charge with a Hitec. Seems to work well. I have let some sit at 100% with no ill effects.

theblitzkidd

iTrader: (11)

YEAH i let them sit all the time...i mean if its at 60% why not let it be at 100'''

Dave H

Because it typically causes the Internal Resistance to go up, reducing performance (effectively lowers C). And frequently, but not always, leads to puffing.

Generally more of a problem with higher performance lipos.

Curious, how low do you typically run/discharge them?

Dave H

Storage mode is to get the lipo somewhere around 50% in capacity. Which may take either some discharging or charging depending on where it was to start with.

Agree with Davidka that discharging is rarely needed. Perhaps occasionally as a capacity check as one measure of condition. But be careful, lipos don't like heavy discharges. Most chargers discharge slowly and thus need a higher cutoff voltage than when running in a RC. Reason is the higher load of the RC causes more voltage drop than a slow charger discharge. 3.6V/cell on a typical 5 to 10W discharge power charger is pretty low relative to lipo capacity. Perhaps a little lower than 3.6V if you have a higher discharge capable device, in the 10 amps or higher range.

Davidka

iTrader: (86)

Check to see if your charger has the option to change the lvc/volts per cell on discharge. If it does then you can just discharge to whatever v/cell you'd like to store at after you're done running.