LiPo battery charging ??'s

[fleetz]

Hi Guys,

I have swapped out the bullet connectors on the Turnigy 5000 3S 11.1V batteries and have the balancing extension cable for the charger.

What I would like to know is what charge current should I set the charger to? The iMax charger allows from .1A to 5.0A in .1A increments. Given the battery we have is there an optimum or is it a simple as the more charge the quicker it charges?

Is there a relationship between the charge currents and how many times battery can be charged? Is it more dangerous to charge the LiPo's at a higher current? Wanting to find out the best and safest balance with batteries we have.

I noticed also that the iMax charger has a "storage" mode which set the amount the battery charges to for storing the battery when not in use, can I ask what would be the best voltage and current setting for the batteries? I suppose the extension to this question is there any need to discharge the battery and if to what levels?

Do the LiPo batteries develop a memory overtime if they are not stored in a specific state of charge??? There is no info with the batteries with any recommendations or indeed the iMax charger.

Appreciate any help understanding the do's and don't.

Thanks and regards,

Fleetz

 

[robmob]

Read the info on the following link and post up any further questions you may have.

http://www.maxamps.com/lipo-care.php

 

[bgbdwlf2500]

Basically you store the batteries at 3.85v per cell. never discharge below 3v per cell.

As far as charging, you can charge up to 1c which is 5 amps for those batteries. 1/5c= 1 amp etc etc.... or charge 1 amp per 1000 mah...

mine are also 5000mah and i charge mine at 1 amp. it takes a long time but the runtime is about 30 mins. Some batteries can handle charges of higher than 1c but make sure it says so on the battery. Your charger would be the limitation there as it will only charge at 5 amps max.

if you have a 1500 mah battery 1c would be 1.5 amps and so on....

These batteries do not develop a memory, just make sure to store them at higher than 3.7 volts and never leave them hooked to the truck as they will slowly discharge. max charge on a 3s is 12.6 v total

 

[abadk9420]

charge them at 5amps.......

 

[fleetz]

So if I have this right I would recharge a battery so the cell volts are 3.85V how would I set the charger to do that? The charger has preset voltages eg 7.4V , 11.1V etc etc

What is the consquence if the battery is left fully charged and stored like this?

So looking at the responses I could charge the battery between 1A and 5A on the 5000mAh batteries I have, the time taken to charge would depend on the the current I set. So it is safe to do any currents in between 1A and 5A.

Roughly how long would the 5000mAh battery charge at 1A verses 5A?

Thanks for the inputs guys,

Regards,

Fleetz

 

[fleetz]

I did my first balanced charge on the 5000mAh ...did it at 2.5A 11.V charge and it took 40 minutes approx.

No heat in then battery just the charger a bit warm, so I am getting confident about charging the batteries the next tim I will probably charge at 4.5A as I don't like charging the max rating of the charger.

I think I worked out the storage mode thing......run the battery in that mode and it will run it down to 3.85V or up if ii is under. I assume you have the balance connector in when doing this???/

Regards,

Fleetz

 

[bgbdwlf2500]

I did my first balanced charge on the 5000mAh ...did it at 2.5A 11.V charge and it took 40 minutes approx.

No heat in then battery just the charger a bit warm, so I am getting confident about charging the batteries the next tim I will probably charge at 4.5A as I don't like charging the max rating of the charger.

I think I worked out the storage mode thing......run the battery in that mode and it will run it down to 3.85V or up if ii is under. I assume you have the balance connector in when doing this???/

Regards,

Fleetz

Yep, sounds like youve got the hang of it. I always balance charge as it is better for the batteries. My 5000mah 3s take over 5 hours to charge at 1 amp but I charge at home so its no big deal.

Yes, I believe you are correct on your storage mode as well. The charger has a built in set point and will either charge or discharge to that voltage (per cell) As far as I know, storing them at full wont hurt them either