I have an older 5200 28c SMC pack that has well over 100 charges. It probably has close to 150 cycles by now. It has been a great pack. Just recently, it has been taking longer and longer to balance charge. Once cell is always at least a .1 behind. It is always the same cell.

My question is, is it safe? I don't mind waiting for the other cell to come to peak voltage. I always balance charge. I might even just balance charge it to 4.15 per cell. I don't need all the voltage. I have been using it as my tuning/practice pack with the little time I get between heats.

Or should I just put her to rest.?

Unless you're seeing signs that it is puffing, its safe to continue to use. From what I've experienced with my lipos and read, this is normal aging. The cells start losing voltage and capacity. It will continue until they have little useful capacity. If you have a way to charge the lazy cell by itself, it might wake up and it might not. That would let you know if it really is aging or it was something else.


I use my lipos til its no longer worth the time and trouble to charge them for what little I'm getting back out.

The capacity really is dropping on the pack. I just ran it, and I only get a few minutes of peak power. Then it falls off fast.

No puffing. I'm just going to charge it to 4.1v per cell to get more life out of it.

Thanks