Help! Lipo charger not working

akimbo

Active member
after I crashed my plane it was left out side for 4 hours but the battery voltage was fine. I then storage charged it with no issue. The next day I decided to charge it up again and the charger was showing two different numbers on the confirmation screen. I remember the instructions saying not to charge it if this happened so I didn’t. I don’t know if this is an issue with the battery or the charger, how do I fix it?
 

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Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
...I don’t know if this is an issue with the battery or the charger, how do I fix it?
It looks like your have a 3 cell battery & trying to charge it as a 1 cell battery.
Try setting the charger to 3 cell.
 

Foamforce

Well-known member
i did, i think it is the battery saying that it is one cell
Yeah, R is what is detected. Are you sure you plugged in the balance plug correctly? Either you have it plugged in wrong somehow, forgot to plug in the balance plug maybe, or two of the cells on the battery are completely dead. If you weren’t sure of your connections you could post a photo.
 

akimbo

Active member
Yeah, R is what is detected. Are you sure you plugged in the balance plug correctly? Either you have it plugged in wrong somehow, forgot to plug in the balance plug maybe, or two of the cells on the battery are completely dead. If you weren’t sure of your connections you could post a photo.
i guess the battery is toast. could this happen if it was left outside for a bit? i was able to storage charge it so i don't understand how this could happen.
 

Foamforce

Well-known member
i guess the battery is toast. could this happen if it was left outside for a bit? i was able to storage charge it so i don't understand how this could happen.

If it got fully discharged that could happen. The battery might be puffy looking in that case.

You could double check that it’s the battery and not a problem with the charger by using a multimeter to test each of the individual cells on the battery. Test between pins 1&2, 2&3, and 3&4 on the balance plug. Each one should give you about 3.8v. You’ll probably find that two of them are very low, like 2v. That will be confirmation that you have a dead battery.
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
...i was able to storage charge it so i don't understand how this could happen.
I have had balance leeds disconnect from inside the battery. Gently pull on each of the wires to see if any have come loose. If you have a loose wire, it can be soldered back on.

Also check the pins in the balance connector, sometimes they will work loose and need to be shoved back into the connector.

If the balance wires and connectors check out, then I agree the battery is toast.
 

Bricks

Master member
If it got fully discharged that could happen. The battery might be puffy looking in that case.

You could double check that it’s the battery and not a problem with the charger by using a multimeter to test each of the individual cells on the battery. Test between pins 1&2, 2&3, and 3&4 on the balance plug. Each one should give you about 3.8v. You’ll probably find that two of them are very low, like 2v. That will be confirmation that you have a dead battery.


There is only one ground ( usually black ) to check each cell connect multimeter 1-4 2-4 3-4. four is ground connecting 1-2 etc will show nothing.
 

Foamforce

Well-known member
There is only one ground ( usually black ) to check each cell connect multimeter 1-4 2-4 3-4. four is ground connecting 1-2 etc will show nothing.

That’s not right. The cells are in series so each balance lead is connected to the positive one one cell and the negative on another. Only the last wire isn’t connected to a ground. The way that you’re suggesting to test would show the combined voltage of the cells between the wires. So in your example, 1 to 4 would show you ~11.1v. 2 to 4 would show you ~7.2v. 3 to 4 would show you ~3.7v. The way I suggested would show ~3.7v, for each cell in the series.
 

Bricks

Master member
OOOps you are right brain fart was just setting up some leds using some 3 volts and some 12 volts using one ground.