charging lipo batteries for the first time

[B3.is.King]

right so.

i recently took delivery of my new ace gens lipo 2s batteries and core-rc50 balance charger...

now on the back of the battery it says checked battery level and charged to 3.8v (from shop)

so when to first get your lipo batteries do they need charging before use or not?? plus when i do go to charge them do i set the charger to 3.7v or 7.4v??

a little confused on first use of these new batteries although i really want to try the lipo power out, but i dont want to bust the battery first go around.

should i wait to get my lipo cut off before using the battery or should 5 - 10mins on a brushed motor 4000mah 25c lipo be fine then charge again?

[sosidge]

LiPos will come partially charged from the factory - charge them before first use. Use the balance leads on your charger every time.

Don't run the car without a LiPo cutoff unless you are confident you will know when the car has slowed down. If LiPos get over-discharged there is a good chance they will be ruined, and a small chance they will fail inside the car and damage it.

[JCJC]

I would charge them first, at 7.4 and if you have the cables for balance, do a balance charge (that makes sure each cell is the same, not 3.6 & 3.8 if you like), set to 4 amps if they are 4000Mah. Should take less than an hour and may well come off at 8.4volts, make sure you pick lipo or lipo balance from the menu before you start, you can watch the amps drop as the battery reaches full charge, I would expect a 10 minute run to be no problem, when they are back on charge you can see what you have taken out of them (Mah wise not voltage).

Do not leave in the car connected when not in use, I have seen batteries slowly discharge even if the switch is off, if they drop below about 6.5 volts your charger may/will refuse to recharge them. Remember not just a bit more power its a lot less weight in the car.

Are these hard cased lipos ?

[B3.is.King]

I didn't go for hard cased this time as I only bought 1 peak as a trial to see if everything ran ok. But anymore which I but will be hard cased although if hard cased you won't be able to tell if they are puffing.

Going to wrap a little foam mating around them before fitting to the car

[JCJC]

We use soft case in smaller cars, and they use them rc planes etc, do not expect you will have a problem unless a club objects, or regional/national meetings.

Hard case ain't that hard, you can tell when they are puffing, I have seen batteries charged as MiNh by mistake, easy when you have a mix of both.

[B3.is.King]

So I charged the battery via 2s balance, voltage set to 7.4v and capacity to 4000mah.

The battery finished stating full capacity at 1959mah and a final voltage of 8.4v.
So what has happened?...
Was the battery partly charged, and only 1959mah needed to bring the charge up to 4000mah?

[mark christopher]

So I charged the battery via 2s balance, voltage set to 7.4v and capacity to 4000mah.

The battery finished stating full capacity at 1959mah and a final voltage of 8.4v.
So what has happened?...
Was the battery partly charged, and only 1959mah needed to bring the charge up to 4000mah?
Yes, lipo should be stored with partial charge, most will do thier last 5 min run, disconect them and leave them till next time, the concious may stick them on a charger and use storage mode, NEVER store them flat or full

[B3.is.King]

So I charged the battery via 2s balance, voltage set to 7.4v and capacity to 4000mah.

The battery finished stating full capacity at 1959mah and a final voltage of 8.4v.
So what has happened?...
Was the battery partly charged, and only 1959mah needed to bring the charge up to 4000mah?

[Pops]

So I charged the battery via 2s balance, voltage set to 7.4v and capacity to 4000mah.

The battery finished stating full capacity at 1959mah and a final voltage of 8.4v.
So what has happened?...
Was the battery partly charged, and only 1959mah needed to bring the charge up to 4000mah?


You have topped the lipo up to full..8.4v
It took 1959mah to reach full from its purchaced capacity
use it and re-charge in same way
next time it reaches full the mah reading is what you used in that race
Do not run lipo too low(use a cut off)
Dave

[JCJC]

Yes .................................................. ..............................................feel better, ;);)


but who was to know ?

so- run it for 5 minutes and see what you take out of it. (btb, no memory effect with lipo)

[Razzellrc]

Hard case ain't that hard, you can tell when they are puffing, I have seen batteries charged as MiNh by mistake, easy when you have a mix of both.
The way i stop that hapining is to buy a charger with auto detect/safty shut off