charging a lipo
 

is it ok to charge you lipo batteries the day before you go to the track?

sure?
i'll only storage charge mine if they'll be put away for a few weeks or more

Perfectly normal, I always balance charge mine at 1c the night before then charge them at 2c when at the track

ok great thanks

The instructions that came with some of my batteries say:
Never leave Li-Po battery in fully charged state for more than 2 hours as this could cause cells to swell.

Why risk it? Storage charge them at home and full charge at track before running.

Because who has time to charge a bunch of llipos the day of the race clearly not a racer, I have never had a problem charging mine the night before and I can assure you I'm not the only racer who does it

I have always charged my the night before and have never seen any puffing from it.

That's an old trick of lesser quality manufacturers so that if something goes wrong with your batteries they can say "ah you must have left them fully charged for more than two hours". Absolute rubbish, if this was the case then you wouldn't be able to leave a laptop or mobile phone turned off for more than two hours either.

A balance charged battery of decent quality can be left charged for days without any noticeable problem, it's not great for their lifespan, it may shorten it a few dozen cycles but when you can buy a 65C 6600mAh battery for under $50 who cares.

Laptop mobiles and other lower power devices do not charge the batteries to 100% state of charge to avoid potential problems whilst in storage and increase the cycle life of the battery. Depending on the application they are typically charged to 90%.

Charging a lipo to 100% the night before is not recommended as it can cause problems.

Best battery performance on track is obtained by charging lipos just before they are to be used. I charge mine so they finish charging just before my next race.

Doing so will result in your lipo swelling over time.
http://promatchracing.com/IPlipoinstr.pdf

Charge them at the track. Never do so the day before. You get better punch as well if you charge just before your run. Time it right and you'll get a small advantage. Plus why would you charge 'a bunch of lipos'. You only really need 2 on the bench. One in the car ready to go and the 2nd hooked up (and in the lipo pouch!) ready to charge at the right time for the next run.

While we are at it. Never charge a lipo inside the house and never charge one that is not in a lipo sack!!

Agree, pure rubbish. I have mine fully charged for days and the batteries last a long time but of course I don't buy crap batteries.

So what batteries are you using?

What is the temperature the batteries are stored in?

I've tried it both ways. What I experienced was a higher internal resistance and quicker capacity loss with charging packs ahead of time compared to just in time. Same as most others who test have discovered.

Doesn't mean it can't be done, I just think it's worth knowing the tradeoffs. Batteries are disposable anyway and can be had fairly inexpensively, convenience is probably worth the reduction in performance for many, that's fine.

One item to be especially careful of is temperature changes while charged. Charge state changes with temperature, don't leave a charged pack in a parked car sitting in the sun for example.