battery discarging

[metallicajunkie]

is it neccessary to discharge the batteries? my brother said doig it will make them last longer


is that true?

[krashmaster81]

metallicajunkie,

Discharging was something we used to do with nicads, as they would develop a "memory" if not fully discharged before you recharged them. With Lipos however, you do not need to discharge them. In fact, you should avoid discharging the battery below 3.0 volts per cell. For example, an 11.1 volt pack has 3 cells, thus you should not discharge it below 9.0V (3.0V x 3cell = 9.0V). This is very important to keep a lipo happy. If you over discharge a lipo, it will blow up like a balloon when you try to charge! Not a good thing. Your speed controller should have a setting such that it will cut the motor power before reaching 3.0V per cell. I hope that helps.

-Matt

[tdarst]

That storing Lipo's long term (what does *that* mean?) fully charged isn't good, either. There is an optimal storage charge level... something on the order of 11.4 volts for a 3 cell. And unlike NiCads, Lipo's charge level (no load voltage) isn't supposed to decay over time, or if it does, it is *very* slow. I don't have first hand knowledge of either yet... being new to electrics and AirFoilZ... my batteries get worked over every day that the weather permits! :D

[metallicajunkie]

thankyou, you both answered my questions...... cheers