Discharghing a Lipo? Questions needed

[Pauly]

I'm trying to discharge a few lipos and I have never really done this. I've gotten some 2200mah 11.1 3s and 3300mah 11.1 3s. My charger on goes to 1.0a 9.0v for a 3s Lipo. Is this correct for both batteries in a discharge mode. It will go lower on the mah, but not higher. This is a DC-6 charger by Dynam.

[xviper]

Mine only goes as far as 3.0V per cell when discharged, so I don't know. I figure 9V is still quite a bit of voltage in a battery. A friend of mine rigged up this set up: He got himself a DC lightbulb with the accompanying socket. Put on an EC3 connector and he hooks up the battery to it and let it drain completely till the light goes out. Then into the garbage or the Hazmat bin at the firehall, even though they say you don't really need to treat depleted LiPos as hazardous material.

[fhhuber]

I always take the easy way out for discharging and put the pack in a plane.

I have my ESCs set so I can just run at WOT to LVC and the packs will be right at 3.7v/cell when they cool off.

[rtwatkins]

are you discharging to cycle them, or to dispose of them?

[Pauly]

I thought I was going to fly some, but it looks like I want be able to for a week or so. I have them all fully charged. Just going to store them a week or so or should I even worry about it?

[xviper]

I thought I was going to fly some, but it looks like I want be able to for a week or so. I have them all fully charged. Just going to store them a week or so or should I even worry about it?

A week or so, I don't worry about it. I've had LiPos fully charged for a year and they don't seem to have suffered any. I just top them off just before I fly. However, if you're worried about it, doesn't your charger have a "storage" charge function? On this function, I believe the charger will discharge or charge to the desired voltage, whichever it needs to do.

[Flygirl]

A week or so, I don't worry about it. I've had LiPos fully charged for a year and they don't seem to have suffered any. I just top them off just before I fly.

Ashamed to admit it but, me too.... ;)

[rc-eflyer]

I thought I was going to fly some, but it looks like I want be able to for a week or so. I have them all fully charged. Just going to store them a week or so or should I even worry about it?

If it helps you any, my charger takes the cells down to 3.86V in "Storage" mode. I bought some little stick on plastic slide switches from HK to help keep track of each batteries state. I slide it to green for a fully charged battery, halfway between for a battery at storage state, or red to one that has just been flown. They're cheap and have a sticky back.

Steve

[boomer108]

There's several schools of thought on storing and charging lipos. Some say you never leave them fully charged for more than 48 hrs because it's hard on the lipos, others say it's no problem to leave them indefinitely. On discharging most will agree to discharge to between 3.85 and 3.90. I error to the side of caution and discharge to 3.85 after 48hrs.

[doctormike]

I always storage charge my batteries if I'm not going to fly for a week. I prefer to fly them down to storage voltage. About five minutes of flying for the way I fly. It's more fun than standing by your charger for ever, and it's faster. I also wonder about wear and tear on the charger. It seems to work pretty hard discharging. Doc

[Pauly]

Thank You, I have left them for a couple of weeks before myself, but I grown to respect a Lipo more so now then in the beginning after reading some issues some have had. I don't want any kind of incident of any sort with one.

[doctormike]

They don't give the things away! I take care of mine. Doc

[Grossman56]

I hear you Doc, and good idea Steve, personally, with the weather being so iffy around here, wind wise. I usually have a couple of each charged and ready to go. When Fall hits, I drain them all down to storage mode. So far, they seem to be fine. It'll be interesting when the batteries have to be shipped at very low voltage, apparently this is going to affect the life of the battery. More Gov't regulation in the land of the free.

Grossman56

[xviper]

What is the charge on a battery for shipping now? It used to be around 3.8v per cell. There seems to be such a fine line between "not too low" and "kill your battery too low".

[doctormike]

I think I saw 3.7 v. which if true, is not bad. Doc

[farmflyer]

Tom at MRC said back in May that new regulations as of April 1 all lipos had to be shipped at 3.7v

[xviper]

That's not a significant difference for the authorities to make such a big deal over. Somebody was being too busy picking nits.

[farmflyer]

I've never actually seen a nit but they are certainly annoying.

[Grossman56]

Somebody's cousin's aunt's nephew twice removed from some legislative authority needed a job and they already had enough people watching shrimp on a tread mill.....

Grossman56

[doctormike]

Isn't it monkies that pick nits? Doc