What's your LiPo battery workflow? Looking for best practices through your experience...

[InsatiableAmos]

I'm fairly new to electric flight and have discovered a few key LiPo management practices I should've been doing, as well as discovered that I've been over-concerned about certain other aspects of LiPo management. What does your LiPo "workflow" look like around a flying session? Specifically:

1. How do you "charge up" to prep for a flying session? Things like equipment used, timing, organization, etc all helpful
2. How do you manage battery usage/swaps/charging at the field?
3. How do you store and/or maintain batteries afterward? (Discharge? safety equipment? Organization? etc)

And anything else noteworthy you'd like to share!

 

[quorneng]

I fly from a field very close to where I live so I fly alone & rarely take more than 1 plane at at time.
As a result I only charge the LiPo(s) I will need either the night before or before I leave.
As soon as I get back home I always put the LiPo on the 'storage' charge setting on my charger. This setting will automatically either bring a LiPo up to 3.85V on each cell or reduce if the cells are above 3.85V. I am always present when I charge or storage charge a LiPo.
I try to be 'kind' to my LiPo by arranging that most of my planes only discharge at no more than a 20C rate at full power and I try to use full power as little as possible.
My rule is if a LiPo is significantly warm at the end of a flight I note I am reducing its life every time I fly it like that.
It works for me.

 

[Monte.C]

I've been told by experienced members that charging the night before is fine. I don't want to spend a lot of time in the morning waiting on the charger.

They sell Lipo bags, like a little fireproof pocketbook I guess. I did some research and decided a steel ammo box best suits my needs for storage at home.

 

[Monte.C]

I use this charger

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L5YBJI2/?tag=lstir-20

and it works without a flaw for me. There are a lot of clones, and from what I read you want to be careful to get an "original authentic" one. They even have what looks like a laser sticker or some such on them. I guess it's not cool to burn the house down.
But I did have to buy a separate AC adapter for it.
Others here might recommend a charger to better suit your needs.

You also want one of those really inexpensive pocket-sized battery charge readers.
This guy is enough to get you started just fine.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003Y6E6IE/?tag=lstir-20
Give yourself 5 minutes of flight time, then bring it down and check to see what's left on the battery. Start to get a feel for how much flight time you'll get for that battery on that motor in that plane.

 

[Bricks]

Me personally look at Lipo`s as a consumable just like Nitro or gas, I don`t throttle back just because I may use more fuel. That being said I do not purposely abuse my Lipo`s but I will fly them the way I want. I use a timer on my radio for flight times and when time is up I land, then either recharge or put into storage.

My big gripe about batteries is the same size battery from the same manufacturer are not equal in length of life span.

 

[InsatiableAmos]

Thanks, all! I have a LiPo "safe" bag already and was using this charger, but it doesn't have a discharge or storage feature. For $20-30 more with power adapter, I went ahead and bought the charger Monte linked and love it. Much more adjustable, much "safer" feeling in that it gives a status readout, comes with alligator clips for charging from your car battery, and it has discharge and storage functions included.

Also, finally made it through a full battery without crashing for the first time ever! Woo!

I might not need to worry about charging workflow for a little while now that I know I get ~10mins flight time out of a 2s 650mah battery, and my nerves are shot by the end of it! (flying a Mighty Mini Simple Trainer in 3ch mode w/ polyhedral wing)

I use this charger

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L5YBJI2/?tag=lstir-20
View attachment 201021

 

[Merv]

After you charge, let the batteries rest a minimum on 15 minutes before use. A longer rest is better.
Likewise, after a flight, let the battery rest min 15 min before charging.

I balance my pack nearly every charge, when I finish flying for the day, put the packs in storage charge. That is unless I plan to fly the next day, then I fully charged the packs.

I use an metal box lined with drywall similar to this one for storage and charging. I place a plastic bag filled with sand on top of the pack. The idea, if there is a fire, the bag will melt & release the sand. Hopefully putting out the fire.

 

[Allister779]

Always balance charge.
Never run your batteries too low. Personally, for my gear with telemetry I want to land at above 3.55v/cell (inflight voltage) and for my planes without telemetry I’ve worked out on a timer when to be on the ground with about 3.7v/cell. You’re mileage may very but these numbers have worked for me, my flying style, and all those other variables. If you’re nervous about it, bump those voltages up.
I will also storage charge batteries if they’re going to be sitting for a long time, but in the summer when I’m flying more regularly I won’t get too worried about a battery left over from the weekend if I know I’m going again next weekend. Longer than that and I’ll put it into storage.
I will fast charge (2C) some of my batteries in the field, especially when I’m flying FPV quads, when I’m at home I only charge 1C.
I let batteries cool before charging them, at least 10 minutes (but I live in a cooler climate).
Battery bags aren’t to prevent the fire, or even stop it. They are just to give you enough time to deal with it before it gets out of hand. Dealing with it means sand bags, or class D fire extinguisher or just getting it the heck out of the garage.

Most importantly, if a battery is damaged, puffy, or it just gives you that strange feeling when you use it: dispose of it. I use an old car headlamp to run the voltage to 0v over night. If I’m worried I will leave it in a tub of water outside to keep the battery cool as it’s discharging. Once I have 0v then I cut the end off the battery lead and short it together by twisting the wires together. Dispose according to your local laws.

 

[PsyBorg]

I usually charge my packs the night before I plan to go flying. If I do not fly I do not leave them full charge more then two days. If I need to discharge them I do quick hovers in my living room to drop the voltages off full. Once that is done if I plan to not fly for longer then two days they get put on storage charge.

As far as safety handling them they are ALWAYS in plastic containers even sitting on the charge table waiting to be used. I use these sunflower containers as they will fit two 2s to 3s packs or the single 4s and 5s packs for my larger quads. These also stack nicely in my back pack for safe transportation to and from the field. The containers are thick enough they can take a big hit and are nearly puncture proof when in the backpack zipped up so they cant move around.

I also regularly check internal resistances and keep a record so I know what pack has changed. I used to keep charge data but thats pretty redundant since its usually full or storage charge there is no need. The count of charge cycles on each pack is also noted. some of my packs are well over 200 cycles with minimal IR change. Some I have smoked first run hitting them too hard fresh out of the box on a super hot summer day or extremely cold winter day. Since doing that several times I wont fly when its over 95f unless its a light powered cruise style flight on my baby quads or under 40f during winter. Those are the main times I have seen internal resistance changes happen and usually the outer cells change more then the inner cells destabilizing the packs so charge times and heat becomes unbalanced between cells.

 

[Warlord Three Zero]

I use this charger

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L5YBJI2/?tag=lstir-20
View attachment 201021

and it works without a flaw for me. There are a lot of clones, and from what I read you want to be careful to get an "original authentic" one. They even have what looks like a laser sticker or some such on them. I guess it's not cool to burn the house down.
But I did have to buy a separate AC adapter for it.
Others here might recommend a charger to better suit your needs.

You also want one of those really inexpensive pocket-sized battery charge readers.
This guy is enough to get you started just fine.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003Y6E6IE/?tag=lstir-20
Give yourself 5 minutes of flight time, then bring it down and check to see what's left on the battery. Start to get a feel for how much flight time you'll get for that battery on that motor in that plane.

I have a similar one. It has a cable to link to your PC. Lots of options available on that program for charging / balancing/ discharging.


Michael

 

[Monte.C]

I have a similar one. It has a cable to link to your PC. Lots of options available on that program for charging / balancing/ discharging.


Michael

Wow I wasn't even aware of that - I'll have to look into it.