Great information Brett! If I may add,it's also a good thing to balance charge as often as possible.Also,after a day's use,putting the batteries on a storage charge is extra insurance for safe storage.
You're absolutely right triskellian. I do the same after every pack is used, it goes on the Storage Charge and is usually done in 5-15 minutes, and offers peace of mind for months. Great tip, thanks. -Brett
Keep my batteries in a vented ammo can inside the house. Smoke can vent out under the latch, which should also keep potential flames from reaching the handle over the top lid. If it gets hot just find something to lift the handle up. Protek lipo charger keeps it simple
Amain!! These videos are great! Here’s an idea: get famous RC legends to present their tips tricks and a chance to plug one of their sponsors, which you could ask the sponsors for drivers to participate and some financial remuneration. Not much, but enough to make everybody happy. I’m buy a ton from amain, so just giving you some friendly advice.
intermediate tip: on a lipo, you can bring up the voltage back up to charging voltage (3v); to charge in LIPO mode. just charge it on 0.5C rate on Nimh. "not recommended" but how many of us dont do stuff like this? I saved 3 lipos like this. #DDMRACING
I got thunder power batteries that I haven't used for more than 5 yrs and recently took them out, the voltage were so low that my iCharger duo refused to charge them, but my old SkyRC charger charged them up with no problem.
great vid. I use venom, and have 2 - 3s 2200 packs that are both out of sorts. Each pack's 3rd cell is at a much higher voltage than 1 and 2. I will try your patience approach to balancing.
I just bought one of those and the 3rd cell was .5 lower. I used my smart checker to balance the cells before the first charge. Took about 40 min. It's weird because I have 2-2s 5000venom basher lipos and they are still super balanced w/ low impedance after a year or two
Agreed. It's all we use around here. We fried up a few 6S lipos in the Bat Box and the results were incredible. The Bat-Safe is a true must have. -Brett
Personally, I’ve found using the impedance setting on my charger to be the next step on a battery inspection, after a good visual check. Checking for cell resistance will tell you if you have a cell that is beginning to fail.
AMain Hobbies thank you for all you do, your videos are informative and entertaining and I’ve found ordering from Amain has always been an awesome experience, with customer service that’s second to none.
What about the resistance values of a battery? I have the Hi-Tec ×2 multi charger. The difference between low resistance levels like 2's & 3's vs higher levels like 8's, 10's? What about batteries stored at 50 or 60% that are charged at 1c to 100% when used won't preform when they get back to 50% (it's a Gen's Ace 2s 7200mah) Less than 8 months old? Would love to see more maintenance videos, thanks for your time. 😎🇺🇸☝️
Hey Robert. Sorry for the delay. The resistance of the pack is a good topic. Higher resistance packs will generally have less performance. For your Gens Ace packs, I don't quite understand what is happening. How does the battery not perform at 50%? -Brett
@@renobob7781 In a way, the battery is empty at 50%. You should not use the battery in a model at 50%. The battery must always have 50% even when being stored. Also, if your pack has high IR (internal resistance) then the capacity will be effected; this is common for old batteries in general; capacity decreases over time. Not sure if that helps or not. -Brett
I store my lipos with one lipo bag for each of them and all of that in one big lipo safe bag.. if you store in one lipo safe metal box if one catches fire... bye bye all your lipos could go up to 100$-500$ on baterries
Great vid! Wish I would have seen it 3 days ago lol. So is there any amount puff that is okay? I have a protek 7200 2s lipo " softcase" and it slightly puffed after about 3,4 charges. I know how to charge and take care of my batts. It's not bad and hasn't puffed any more! I was told soft case batts will puff a small amount?
Hey YP. It's best to follow whatever guidelines your batteries' manufacturer has created for their batteries so you don't void your warranty if there is one, but if your cells are out of balance, you can follow the instructions outlined in this video to balance them again; using a cell balancer, or by cycling your LiPo on a charger: Balance Charge, then Discharge and repeat. Hope this helps. -Brett
I disagree. A lipo with very different balance has most times a bad cell. Balancing it will work, but your battery often again draws more from one cell. Check your batterys "Internal Resistance" if your charges has that function. If the cells have very different IR dispose of it in a proper way.
Hey coco. Charging below 1C is perfectly fine and safe to do. Very low charge rates are best for longtime battery life, but offer reduced performance, or in R/C terms, lower "punch" and it takes longer to charge a battery. Higher charge rates provide higher "punch" but reduces overall long term battery life. Hope this helps. -Brett
@@AMain_Hobbies This is the answer i wonder for years. now i know its safe to charge below 1C and i have time for that, i prefer more lifetime than punch. Thanks a lot Brett, its really helps.
@@bretrishelrc9789 Define puffed. SMC says their betterys will puff and its ok and common for the cells to expand. Thats what they told me after i took pics and emailed them.
@@stuart3712 i have 2, 8400 mah traxxas 3 cells and they are puffed to where they wobble around on the table easily and they have been like that for 2? years now
What does Cycle charge mean? Also you mention 5000mAh = 5apm = 1C, so if my batteries are 6800mAh = 7apm = 1.125 C? (My batteries are: 11.1V 6800mAh 3S 120C Smart G2 Basher Lipo)
You're 6800mAh batteries would have a 1C charge rate of 6.8amps. To find 1C, divide the battery capacity by 1000. So a 7200mAh battery would have a 1C of 7.2amps; a 2200mAh pack would be 2.2amps. For a cycle charge, it's the philosophy of "breaking in the battery" before pushing it to the limits. Some chargers have a cycle charge mode, where the unit will first charge the battery up and then discharge the battery back down, effectively putting a "cycle" on the battery. Some people do this a few times with a brand new battery, some people do not, but that's the idea of cycle charging a LiPo battery. -Brett
@@AMain_Hobbies Wow now I learn something new! Thank you! I believe I really Don't Need to be that extra careful and do a cycle charge since I have Smart G2 Sprektum 3S and 4S 6800mAh 120c batteries with the Sprektum S2200 charger?
Christ!...having to keep a battery in a safe in a safe because it is unstable?. I recently built a cross rc mammoth which came with a LIPO. I had only used NIMH in the past but having researched the care and issues surrounding the use of LIPO has really put me off using it. For the added performance they give, I feel unless you are an RC Devotee, they are not worth the extra worry. I personally just use crawlers on a very casual basis, and they often stay stored for ages.
How do you safely remove a bad cell? I have made a 4s into a 3s after one cell puffed up, but twice I shorted it out and it took a chuck off the end of my pliers.
Lawrence - You should NEVER attempt to dismantle, disassemble or remove a bad cell from a Lithium Battery. This is not recommended and very dangerous. Please safely dispose your battery, as per the instructions of the original battery manufacturer. -Brett
@@AMain_Hobbies I will. As a retailer I guess it is not a good idea to recommend this. I will have to ask someone who is less responsible and less sue able 👍
I like to tape the terminals on the cells I'm not soldering on so nothing gets shorted out during the process. Take your time and make sure you cover whatever your not working on in that moment cause it's very easy to short it out with the soldering iron
They can last for years. Usually the case, wires or connector fall apart before the battery lives its last cycle. If it starts to puff or not hold a charge, then it's time. 5+ years of use is common though. -Brett
Only problem with how protek states to drain is it could get a "recharge" when not being actively drained. this is why it's BEST to drain SHORT CIRCUIT (cut off connectors and twist stripped wire ends together) THEN dispose of in trash. the "salt water" doesn't actually do anything except corrode the wires off making the battery even MORE dangerous.
Thank you for taking the time to read the manual Vyper. I will forward your notes to our team and see if the manual deserves a revision. Appreciate it and thanks for watching. -Brett
Short circuit will immediately melt the wires off or cause the battery to explode!! Never ever do that! Might work for really small capacity lipos, but honestly a really really bad idea!!!
@@AMain_Hobbies actually no because you drain it to 0 first so there's no charge/power to melt. It's then also impossible for the battery to get a resting charge. Making it truly inert
.02v? Not a lot of wiggle room. I found online anywhere up to .1 difference between cells issue ok. It all depends on how good of a charger you have. What does everyone else say the minimum difference between cells should be?
You're right, it really depends on the charger. If your charger can shrink the balance gap quickly, more power to you (see what I did there ;). If not, it can be a little work to get that spread balanced. Our 0.02V figure is just to keep beginners mindful of LiPo batteries, balancing cells, and creating the habit of being conscious of it. If you are an experienced R/C'er, take the voltage number with a grain of salt; the point is that you know how to remedy the situation when it occurs. Thanks for the feedback. -Brett
AMain Hobbies thank you but stating ten times the deviation amount (.02 vs .2) hardly benefits beginners. When I start from stowage. I check for less than .2v deviation. Balance cells to equal .01v. Charge at 1c. Slow discharge in respective application. Return to service. To beginners, new batteries should always punch harder and maintain less than .02v cell to cell deviation in standard use discharge. Thanks again.
That wire is the balance lead for certain 4S racing lipos. It looks like this: www.amainhobbies.com/protek-rc-4s-lipo-charge-balance-adapter-xh-female-to-xh-female-ptk-5331/p340403 -Brett
Great question jungyul. For storage, a cell voltage of 3.7V - 3.8V is good; or 7.4V-7.6V. The end voltage is adjustable in most chargers, so not everyone uses the same voltage, but 3.8V is our recommendation and a safe place. LiPo chargers have a "Storage Charge" mode, and that mode will either discharge or charge the battery until the battery is 3.8V a cell. Please use this mode to store your batteries. Let me know if we can help answer any more questions. Thanks. -Brett
Nothing automatic that I can think of unless you want to use Spektrum Smart batteries that can auto discharge themselves at a pre-programmed rate. Something like the SkyRC 30AMP Discharger is a great way to quickly discharge packs but overkill for single cells. Like Mike replied, using the storage mode on your Lithium Balance Charger may be the best way to go. -Brett
In the video he said throw away any batteries the have puffed or bulged. Most of my batteries have slightly puffed but still balance and charge and hold a charge. So throwing them away is a waste of money because they still work. Now I did have a battery that puffed and I felt it was getting worse, so I threw that out. But generally all lipos puff slightly.
Use this Traxxas Adapter for help checking balance voltage and levels: www.amainhobbies.com/traxxas-id-lipo-battery-voltage-checker-balancer-w-tra2938x-lead-adapter-tra2968x/p793344 -Brett
Most mid to high end chargers have a discharge feature, but a fully charged battery may take hours to discharge using the discharge function. Driving or flying your battery would be way faster. If you’re trying to discharge the battery it so it can be thrown away, discharge to 3.3 volts per cell, then soak it in salt water for 24 hours.
@@Mark-Dibble the salt water method has been reported to cause terminals to corrode quickly and break off before voltage is 0, connect it to a light or some source of draw in a safe location.
I don't want backwoods tips. You're telling me one thing ( A-main) reputation on the line as professionals meanwhile comments and other major professional companies tweaked another way who do I believe. I spent 499 on a slash ultimate 4x4. Another 99 + on a 2s lipo/ charger Id I got 4 runs followed by the storage setting now I can't do a thing. I raced from the release of the sledgehammer to through stampede Lipo is new as am I fresh back in the game. Not a tinker toy boy. I need help. Should I contact traxxas? I did get a dusty face opening the batt charger combo box. Thought nothing of it at the time. My total was near 700 4 runs does not cut it.
Sorry to hear that Tom. How long did the LiPo's sit without use? Eventually, batteries discharge from sitting around, albeit slowly. But with enough time, they can discharge below the same zone, and the charger will no longer recognize them. -Brett
Just because you balance the cells "voltage", does not mean the pack is OK, balance capacity (is the capacity per cell close enough) is another issue and IR per cell is one more. I never will trust Spektrum electronics, especially their radios.
I don't know. That's an older and now discontinued charger and I cannot find information on it. I recommend finding and reading the manual for more information. -Brett
