i am a beginner in RC Flying hobby. I bought Imax B6 charger and 1000mah 3S battery. I have used battery few times in a week just for testing servos and motors as i am building my first FT Flyer. Now i have got a problem. Charger is not charging the battery , it says low voltage. It is showing 2.3 4.15 4.20 volts of cells. What should i do? kindly help. I also charged the battery to full each time i used
LiPo battery voltage problem
- Thread starter zeeshan
- Start date
I cam across one solution of charging it as NiMh battery. But that increases voltage of 3rd cell beyond 4.2.
can it be error in the charger
I doubt anything is wrong with your charger. You could always double check the voltages with a cell checker.
On occasion, I have trouble balancing a battery. The problem happens when one pin of the balance plug fails to make contact or a single balance wire has disconnected inside the pack. Then you will get a reading like 3.6 - 0.0 - 7.2. You are getting “reasonable” reading on each cell. But the low voltage (below 3v) on the first cell indicates a bad cell.
On occasion, I have trouble balancing a battery. The problem happens when one pin of the balance plug fails to make contact or a single balance wire has disconnected inside the pack. Then you will get a reading like 3.6 - 0.0 - 7.2. You are getting “reasonable” reading on each cell. But the low voltage (below 3v) on the first cell indicates a bad cell.
PsyBorg
Wake up! Time to fly!
Are you fast charging? just plugging main power lead into charger like old school nicads or are you balance charging? if you fast charge all the time cells can get wonky like that. ALWAYS balance charge if you are not already with lipos.
Other then that if this was regularly balance charged then that one cell has popped. Ill bet the Internal resistance is super high and should not be charged again. If this is the case and the battery is bad here is how to safely discharge it for disposal..
Other then that if this was regularly balance charged then that one cell has popped. Ill bet the Internal resistance is super high and should not be charged again. If this is the case and the battery is bad here is how to safely discharge it for disposal..
can i not recover it?
PsyBorg
Wake up! Time to fly!
There are ways to try and bring a lipo back that has been drained to low. I cant recommend anyone do that though. That has to be your own decision. Just understand lipo fires are no joke. You have to decide if a 20 dollar lipo is worth the potential of burning down your house or setting your flying field on fire.
I suggest you start by checking the internal resistance before making that decision. If there is too much variance between cells then the greater the resistance the faster the battery will degrade anyways and it will forever be a time bomb waiting to go off.
For me its NEVER worth the risk if I even have half a doubt on a battery.
I suggest you start by checking the internal resistance before making that decision. If there is too much variance between cells then the greater the resistance the faster the battery will degrade anyways and it will forever be a time bomb waiting to go off.
For me its NEVER worth the risk if I even have half a doubt on a battery.
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
2.3 volts on a cell is hard to come back from. I do have a old cheap charger that will cheat the cell and force the charge but this could be dangerous. Chances are that if you were using the balance lead to test servos, the one cell would be isolated from the rest to run the servo tester so you would have consistantly drained one cell on every use on the tester, leaving the rest almost fully charged. With the one cell down so much further then the rest you will have trouble charging it with a good charger. They have the built in failsafe for a reason, reason being it could cause overheating or fire trying to bounce it back.
I would say invest in a $5-10 cell checker just to be safe. Normally you dont want to go below 3.3 on any of the cells. Lipos aren't like other Lithium batts where you can drain them completely. They are only safe and effective from the 3.3-4.2 volts range. Lipos all the usable power is in the top 15% of the capacity, And it gets hairy anywhere outside of that. Not sure if the company will replace it, if you got it like that maybe. But if it was plugged into the servo tester the same way every time then you are the one who drained it from just the one cell. All cells fully charged and balanced should read as close to 4.20 volts, maybe an average of 4.18 but thats it.
I would say invest in a $5-10 cell checker just to be safe. Normally you dont want to go below 3.3 on any of the cells. Lipos aren't like other Lithium batts where you can drain them completely. They are only safe and effective from the 3.3-4.2 volts range. Lipos all the usable power is in the top 15% of the capacity, And it gets hairy anywhere outside of that. Not sure if the company will replace it, if you got it like that maybe. But if it was plugged into the servo tester the same way every time then you are the one who drained it from just the one cell. All cells fully charged and balanced should read as close to 4.20 volts, maybe an average of 4.18 but thats it.
quorneng
Master member
I can only endorse what the others have said.
You will most likely be able to restore the weak cell to 4.2V but it will have been damaged and it will have a very limited capacity along with a high internal resistance. This means it will not be able to maintain the same voltage as the good cells when it is under load so it will get damaged further. Using damaged cells greatly increase the likelihood of self igniting and burning fiercely.
In LiPo batteries a cell below 3V has to be considered damaged. The battery must be fully discharged and disposed of.
You will most likely be able to restore the weak cell to 4.2V but it will have been damaged and it will have a very limited capacity along with a high internal resistance. This means it will not be able to maintain the same voltage as the good cells when it is under load so it will get damaged further. Using damaged cells greatly increase the likelihood of self igniting and burning fiercely.
In LiPo batteries a cell below 3V has to be considered damaged. The battery must be fully discharged and disposed of.
As others have said, scrap the battery and buy a new one. This is literally a fire waiting to happen if you try to recover it; it’s not worth it.
If you’re trying to do servo testing, you’re better off using a pack like this in combination with the servo tester, with 4 AA batteries:
Barnabas Robotics RC 4 Cell AA Battery Holder with Futaba FUT JR Plug/3-Pin Servo Connector | 6V Battery Holder with Dupont Connector | Battery Holder for Receiver Cars Heli Planes Boats https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZKYVD8P/?tag=lstir-20
I use this setup to get my servos centered and make sure they work; it’s also helped me diagnose a problem between a low amperage ESC/BEC and some cheap metal gear servos that I bought off of Amazon.
Lots of people will recommend using the balance plug and that you don’t need a servo tester or separate battery pack, but I disagree for the situation that has happened to you - draw on one cell that can fry a battery.
If you’re trying to do servo testing, you’re better off using a pack like this in combination with the servo tester, with 4 AA batteries:
Barnabas Robotics RC 4 Cell AA Battery Holder with Futaba FUT JR Plug/3-Pin Servo Connector | 6V Battery Holder with Dupont Connector | Battery Holder for Receiver Cars Heli Planes Boats https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZKYVD8P/?tag=lstir-20
I use this setup to get my servos centered and make sure they work; it’s also helped me diagnose a problem between a low amperage ESC/BEC and some cheap metal gear servos that I bought off of Amazon.
Lots of people will recommend using the balance plug and that you don’t need a servo tester or separate battery pack, but I disagree for the situation that has happened to you - draw on one cell that can fry a battery.
Similar threads
