Help! New to LiPo's. Charging question.

[Oldbrass]

Hello FliteTesters!

Noob to electric RC aircraft here and I need to make sure I don't blow up my LiPo. I have a C1-XR charger from Keenstone with balance board and I need to charge up my Tattu 850 75c. When I go through the settings on the charger, I have a option for 800 or 900 but not 850. I'm assuming that I just go with 800? Does this look correct to you all?

Thanks!

 

[JasonK]

Assuming your lipo is a 3 cell, yes that looks correct.

 

[Aireal Anarchist]

if you have a 800mah battery you charge at .8a...if you have a 2200mah battery you charge at 2.2a rate
3000mah battery you charge at 3.0a
in your case with what appears to be preset charging rates choose the nearest rate to match your battery

 

[Merv]

I need to make sure I don't blow up my LiPo. !

Lipo safety is something we all need to take seriously. Lipo's don’t explode, they do burn violently. Don’t charge or store lipo’s near anything flammable. There are many commercial products available. Many including myself, use ammo box for Lipo storage. I have subdivided mine with drywall, if one battery goes, hopefully the others will be OK. I also have a plastic bag filled with sand on top of the batteries, a flame will melt the bag a d release the sand to smother. If you choose to use an ammo box, be sure to remove the gasket. Lipo’s do vent while burning.

 

[Aireal Anarchist]

Lipo safety is something we all need to take seriously. Lipo don’t explode, they do burn violently. Don’t change or store lipo’s near anything flammable. There are many commercial products available. Many including myself, use ammo box for Lipo storage. I have subdivided mine with drywall, if one battery goes, hopefully the others will be OK. I also have a plastic bag filled with sand, a flame will melt the bag a d release the sand to smother. If you choose to use an ammo box, sure to remove the gasket. Lipo’s do vent while burning.

thanks ....will remove my seals

 

[Oldbrass]

Ok. So I hooked it up and now it says "Connection Error".

I did solder on the correct plug for the smaller battery and you know... red to red, black to black. It's not exactly rocket science. And yet, it does not work.

Thoughts?

 

[mrjdstewart]

Ok. So I hooked it up and now it says "Connection Error".

I did solder on the correct plug for the smaller battery and you know... red to red, black to black. It's not exactly rocket science. And yet, it does not work.

Thoughts?

typically that happens if you try and charge a 3S on a 4S setting or similar. i does not look like you have done anything wrong though? your positive you have it all wired correctly?

also, i personally would never charge any battery @ 3.0 A as mentioned above. I charge all my batteries at a lower 1.5 A regardless of the mah of the battery. charging to quick is one of the easiest ways to help kill your battery.

just my $.02,

me

 

[Oldbrass]

your positive you have it all wired correctly?

Thanks mrjdstuart,
I mean... yeah? I think so? Black to black, red to red is what I did. Seems pretty strait forward. For what it's worth, I'm pretty good at soldering and do it fairly often, so it's not a giant mess of over tempt solder and melted insulation. The joints are solid and clean and the connectors I bought already came with leads on em, so it was super idiot proof. Then again... I have been known to be a rare breed of idiot from time to time, so I guess anything is possible! I started a new thread on this conundrum to chronicle my woes and hopefully give you knowledgable folk all the pieces you need to figure out what I'm doing wrong.

 

[Aireal Anarchist]

check the voltage in the battery ....that brand charger cant see the cells if they are too low

since you have a balance charger....you can plug in another battery that isnt too low and then it tricks the charger not to see the low cells

 

[JasonK]

I am going to add a question based on someone's comment today at the air field ->
should you 'storage' charge your lipos when your not using them (not a full charge)?

I was told that charging my lipos when I got home would wear out them faster and make them a higher burn risk then using a charger that would 'storage' charge them (then doing a full charge when I get to the field).

This seemed odd to me, can anyone point to some solid info one way or another on this?

(Same person also said he charged higher then 1C rate all the time - as fast has his charger could go - which seemed more dangerous to me then leaving the battery charged).

 

[Aireal Anarchist]

charging a higher amperage than the battery is rated for is not good for the battery and he is correct that storing the battery fully charged is not proper method....run your batteries down flying to 3.5 - 3.7ish volt per cell ( this is acceptable storage range) and store them, charge them up when your ready to go fly

there is a ton of careing for lipo battery tutorials .......you would do well to read them .....when & if you step up in the RC world to $100 batteries you will appreciate what you learn about their care

 

[JasonK]

I guess I will have to bend drain my batteries then as my chargers don't have a 'storage' mode. how long is 'storage'? most of my batteries get used 2-3x times a week right now.

 

[Aireal Anarchist]

if you run the batteries down to 3.5 - 3.7ish volt per cell when flying your always leaving them in storage mode and you dont need the charger to do it
anything over a couple days I discharged for storage

 

[Hoomi]

Back to one on your earlier questions, if your charger does not have a setting for the particular mAh rating of the battery, always default to a lower rate. The battery will still charge, just a bit slower. If you charge at a higher rate than the battery is rated for, it's more likely to damage the battery.

Also, if your charger has a "Store" function, it's not a bad idea, once you're done flying, to run your batteries back across the charger on "Store" function, to make sure they're at the proper level for safe storage. Letting LiPo's sit with either too much charge, or too little charge, can cause damage to them and shorten their useful life. On that as well, try to time your flights so that you land with a reasonable charge left on the battery. Flying your plane until the battery has run down too much will also shorten your battery lifespan.