Great tips! When waiting a couple of days for a chance to fly, I take my batteries to a standby charge of 4.05 volts per cell. That way the wait will harm them a lot less, and they can be topped up quickly when I need them. And when I do, I stop at 4.18 instead of 4.20, which tends to extend their life significantly. I love modern chargers for making that possible!
Lee, I've seen a video where the guy made a discharger for lipos using those big metallic resistors (10w, I believe) and one of those heatsinks with a small fan attached. I think about making something like that, because some chargers won't fully discharge a lipo... Perhaps you could even show a building tutorial of it as well! Anyway, thanks for all the info! 😊 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
JoshuaBardwell is the channel, and he spent a LOT of money on his discharger, and has quite well documented results about real versus claimed capacities, life, and cost.
Another strategy may be helpful. New battery good condition I use say on a quad that sucks the amps. As it deteriorates I move it on to a semi demanding plane, which sucks less amps. Then a less demanding plane. Then goggles. Then retire.
Excellent video for anyone that uses these kinds of batteries. I had a 1S 300 mAh decide to puff up while in storage under storage charge. To safely deplete the charge for disposal I just left it plugged into a voltage tester until the display could no longer function. In the past I've used the salt and water submerging method, but that's a bit of a hassle and messy. I now prefer the slow discharge method.
I have a good question. How long do you trust your electronics in a quad for? I fly a 7 inch for chase footage (I like the stability of a larger quad) and its going on its 3rd year of use. In 1 day of doing video, it easily sees 100 packs. After 3 years, its probably had over 1000 packs thru it. How long do you trust a ESC to keep working correctly? The fetts cant last forever. At this point, I feel the quad has more then earned its keep, and am now just using it as a backup, or for fun.
I'm still using stuff I've had for 10 years. If looked after and not abused, kept dry and checked before you fly then they'll last for years and years.... Happy flying
I see how this works for flight batteries, but what about the lipo in the transmitter. This tends to be kept at full, or near full, charge the whole time. How can you tell when it’s coming to the end of life and how should you look after it?
Those batteries only have to supply a low current to power the radio, so the loss of performance is less of an issue. But, they do t last forever. You'll see the voltage dropping faster when they need to be replaced.... Happy flying
Lots of comments here saying that LiPo batteries can and do last a very long time and remember we are essentially using these batteries in a very uncontrolled way they have no protection circuits and if discharged at high rates do get very warm/hot. So why do I keep hearing "I'll never own an EV the batteries only last 3 years".
I have left mine at storage charge for over a year (circumstances have meant i just haven't been able to fly) would they still be ok to fly after a dormant period that long?
I have mostly HV batteries but charge them like a regular lipo. The IR on some of them is getting up there but performance is still good. What’s the risk of high IR and what should be the limit?
I have Lipo's that are well over 12+ years of use and they still fully charge and they still perform with no power or flight time loss. So it depends on the battery itself, not certain time lines or age related use. I have not lost very many batteries over the years. There have been some that do not perform as well, and some who simply lost charge and will not recover, BUT they are/were very few. In those years of use I can say I lost maybe 6 or 7 batteries due to simple over use issues. A couple were burnt up in crashes, etc...but that's been about it so far . Let me add I use many 1S batts that I leave fully charged weeks and months at a time and with NO issues. Out of the several dozens I have, I may have lost 3 or 4 of them over the years . Now I do not leave them fully charged through the non flying months ( winter etc ) . But they are really not a store charge either. I fully charge them and let them run down a tad ( not topped off as it were ) and they do very well and are charged again in fly season and they still perform very well, no loss of power or flight times . Before I re-entered the hobby many years ago ( was a balsa builld, fuel and glow user ) when I first researched the Lipo's the articles and claims made it a scary consideration to do so. But in further research of the Lipo itself and not the so called guru's who wrote the articles and or left the battery charged up for hours and left as their hoses, garages and workshops burnt down. I learned common sense and correct handling these batts can perform and lasts for years. The dreaded Lipo stories of that time is much like the dreaded drone stories we heard for the past few years, it is mostly ignorance that caused the fear and concern ,concerning both. it is really common sense and self education on the subject
I've removed that rude, disrespectful comment. That isn't acceptable on my RU-vid channel... thanks for not flaming that foolish person... Happy flying
