lipo charging/breakin?

[mustbnitro]

I am new to BL and have my set-up with a True R/C 8000MAH 14.8V 4S Lipo rated at: 80A(10C)/120A(15C) Max charge volts :4.2V/Cell@8Amps. To charge, an MRC 989. My question is now I don't want to blow a new battery and want to keep a long life with it.

1)Is there a break-in procedure for Lipo batteries?

2)What should I set the charger at? If 8 Amps max, should I charge under this or at exactly 8? I am new and wanna do this right. What should all of my settings be?

3)There is an auto-cycle function with the MRC 989, should I use this for break-in or when, what should the settings be for that if it is needed or used for Lipo?

4)Is it better to leave Lipos charged or discharged for storage?

Now, I also have a Feigao 9XL I bought, I haven't had an electric in about 8 years, I used to have a speed gem motor in a T3 with a rooster ESC, I know I'm dating myself.

5) Is there a break-in procedure for this or any BL motor?

Thanks!

[jnev]

1) No break in needed for a lipo battery

2) Set it at 8 amps

3) I've never used the auto-cycle function

4) From what I have heard, it is best to store them at 3.8 volts per cell, so for your 4s pack, store it at 15.2 volts.

5) No need for break-in on a brushless motor.

I also use a Superbrain 989, run a 9xl motor, and run a TrueRC 4s2p 8000mAH lipo pack. Weird........

[wallot]

1 - In Car no
2 - 8A and below. Some good cells can be charged even at higher rates but since most common chargers can do 10A max or are Watt limited not really a chance to charge them faster
3 - no need
4 - half charged

5 - No

[squeeforever]

You can leave them fully charged if you like. That is were I would store mine. Just in case they do drop a little from sitting, which can, but usually doesn't happen, they wont' drop to low. Usually they wouldn't drop unless they sat for a really long time or were bad packs, but just don't store them empty. You can charge at whatever your charger will allow you. At worst, charging at more than 1C will simply take a few cycles off the lifespan, which is rather long to begin with. You would probably be fine charging at 10 amps, and would never notice anything in performance or life. If that extra 15-20 minutes is that important, then go for it, but if its not, then just stick to 8 amps, or even less.

[mustbnitro]

Cool, I thought I had to be a lot more careful with that, but that is what I thought. Thanks for the info!

-I have an astro flight blinky balance charger that I ordered today, so I plug the battery into this while or after I charge and I am guessing it will blink or do something when the cells are balanced?

Long term store = 3.4 v/cell. Here in Quebec, long term store is important, because we have snow and can't play with r/c from november thrue may

Hey Squeeforever, you tell that we can charge li-po at 2C without any probs?? I've FP 5000mAh, 4s, so i can charge it at 10A if i want??

[suicideneil]

Some new cells can be charged at 2c, but most are rated for 1c- overcharging by too much will overheat and damage the cells, just like with nimhs.

[squeeforever]

You can charge a lot of the new cells at 2C. Usually the only downside to that would be a slight decrease in the number of cycles. See what the Flightpower packs are rated for. I think a few of the manufacturers are now rating them at 2C now, and if I'm not mistaken FP is one of them.

On the label on the back of my FP pack, they mention charge at 1C, but i don't know if i can charge at higer rate

[suicideneil]

If it says 1c, best to charge it at 1c really, rather than risking damage. Play it safe....

[rootar]

I keep my 5000mah 3s maxamps pack fully charged when i put it up, for no longer than a week or so and then i use it and then charge it back up before i put it up agian, is there anything wrong with that? should i pull it off the charger at 3.4, 3.8, or 3.7 volts per cell which would be best? the max amount of time it sits before i use it again is a week (usally only 3-4 days).

[squeeforever]

Nah, nothing wrong with letting it sit fully charged.

[starscream]

I've had my 20C kokam 3200's for a few years now and have always charged them at 8amps withouht any issues.
The Kokam's are expensive but I've always believed that in most cases, you get wehat you pay for.

[Patrick]

I've read that running in lipo's can help their life span. I think Shawn Palmer that used to be at cc was talking about it on another forum. Basically don't push them to hard or let them get overly warm for the first 15 cycles or so. I haven't done it on mine and I don't hear of other people doing it, so I don't know how much difference it makes.