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Breaking in a new LiPo

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  • Breaking in a new LiPo

    So there might be a thread here somewhere on this subject but couldn't find anything so thought I would ask. I'm returning to the hobby after about 10 years, have a brand new Freewing 80mm A-10 being dropped off by FedEx today along with all the goodies...transmitter/receiver, batteries and charger and such.

    This is a big bird requiring two 6S batteries and I have 4 Admiral Pro 6000mah 22.2V 50C's coming with the stuff I bought. My question, is there a break-in process for these or should I just be able to charge them and go once the build is done and I'm ready to fly? I know there is conflicting opinions on the charge/discharge/charge/discharge/fly/charge thing. It's been awhile since I flew and charged batteries so I'm curious as to what people mainly do these days. Thanks and sorry for the newb question lol.

  • #2
    I have twin chargers that have the feature of "cycling". All new batteries get 3 complete charge/discharge cycles before they get used in a plane. I charge at 1C and discharge at the highest rate the charger will allow, which in my case, it's about 8 amps. It balances charges to 4.2v/cell, then discharges to 3.8v/cell, rests for 10 minutes and does it again 2 more cycles automatically.

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    • #3
      I've read batteries shouldn't be charged to 100% for the first few charge cycles. and only discharged half way maybe a little bit more. once they get a few cycles they will start to produce more output and run time

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      • #4
        Originally posted by serpentracer View Post
        I've read batteries shouldn't be charged to 100% for the first few charge cycles. and only discharged half way maybe a little bit more. once they get a few cycles they will start to produce more output and run time
        I've read that brand new batteries need to be "cycled" about 3 times. IE, charge to full, discharge to storage on the charger, repeat two more times. Then charge to full for the first usage. Who do you want to believe? What you read or what I read? There are a lot of hocus pocus out there, with just as many "experts" on the subject.
        I've got nearly 100 LiPo's that have been treated in different ways over the years. When I first started, Never cycled batteries when new. I used to charge them to full and just left them till I used them, sometimes a week or more later. Brand new, used, really old. Treated them all the same. Then I started to use them and left them as they were, sometimes below 3.5V/cell until I needed them again, sometimes weeks later. I only started to cycle new batteries last year. I've got no name batteries that I've had and sometimes abused that are now 6 years old and they are only now starting to show their age. To tell the truth, no matter how I treated them, I honestly can't tell the difference from one to the other. Over the years, I estimate that I've retired maybe 20 of them - some old, some fairly new. One sure sign that you've not treated them right is when you puff them in a model. This can happen to newer ones and older ones. I currently have 4 batteries that I've put a big question mark on. Those are very old and treated in different ways. Still got and use the rest.

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