# lipo not charging to stated mah



## stooped monkey (Feb 25, 2010)

I have been charging two 5500 mah packs, and they are saying done at 3200 mah. using a duratrax ice.set input at 4.5.... what are i doing wrong....


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## TOM MAR (Jul 24, 2008)

Are they 1, 2, 3 etc cell (s)


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## guver (Jul 31, 2002)

If they are 4.2 per cell then they are full and you aren't doing anything wrong.


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## ToddFalkowski (Aug 31, 2006)

If the charger stops at 8.4 volts, then they're probably fully charged. The 3200 mAh is probably what you put in, and not the full capacity of the cell.


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## irvan36mm (Oct 2, 2001)

ToddFalkowski said:


> If the charger stops at 8.4 volts, then they're probably fully charged. The 3200 mAh is probably what you put in, and not the full capacity of the cell.


In other words,you probably had 2300mAh in the batts *before* you started charging. When the charging is completed,the ICE will tell you how many mAh it put into the battery.
-GR


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## TOM MAR (Jul 24, 2008)

Correct GR 
Batteries are rated on useable discharge. To do this is not really a good idea. It could cause a fire, damage the battery causing it to do so unexpectedly at a later time. 

Unless you have a lot of experience with them, it's best to trust the mfg. provided you bought them N.I.P. or someone you trust.


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## stooped monkey (Feb 25, 2010)

So it is ok the way we are using and charging them, we do use a alarm on them. so the ice is showing what it put in. i am going to get one of them small meters to tell cell out put for each cell. i charged them till ics said done. and we are not going to use them till we know more.
Thank you all that replied, nice knowing people will share info...


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## TOM MAR (Jul 24, 2008)

I bought an inexpensive lipo bag ( $10 ) at our local hobby town to store them in. If I'm indoors I use it for charging or cycling. You shoudn't have any problems, The ice is a very good charger. 
I wasn't trying to cause you any trouble, just wanted to make sure you knew some of the things you might not want to do.:thumbsup:

You may never have a problem at all. It just pays to play it safe. 
You can check with the Mfg's, I think they recommend about 3.70 volts per cell when storing batteries. 
There are some older threads on battery safety & other do's & don'ts here on Hobby Talk both in Lipo & brushless and in the Oval section's Lipo & brushless.


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## 4ThePinkRacing (Apr 30, 2010)

MAH is like your gas gage on the real cars .. dont get me wrong yes its needed to keep eye on them .. but the volts is also importon . if you over charge one 1 of 2 things well happen .. 1st you will know real fast as it well fire up in a ball of fire .. or 2nd it gets very hot and expains try never to over charge .. and yes get a volt checker that does per cell check .. 

so like others said if you put 3200 in then u most likly had 3300 in them already .. never try to run them down like you would a sub c pack .. lipos dont like that .. you do that and they most times dont come back and are no good no more .. 
if you charge and have to put back in the pack what the MAH is then you ran it to long and need to check it closer


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## nutz4rc (Oct 14, 2003)

If you do run it too low and try to charge it will probably say "Volts too low" on your charger. 

Here is a method to recover that works (no guarantee). I have done it for some other racers and once for myself.

Put your charger on NiCad or NIMH set charge rate very low (.1 if possible) and start the charger watch everything closely. If you notice any heating, stop the charge and batt is done. If it charges, let the voltage come up just a little, then stop the charge. Now try it on Lipo charge again. It should start if the volts too low message will not appear. If you get the message again, try a little more charging as before. If you can get the cells in the lipo above 3.7 per cell, they will usually start to charge.


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## Dustin Proffitt (Dec 13, 2009)

If you are not running them all the way down to the Lipo cutoff then the charger is only putting back into them what you took out.


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## mbeach2k (Sep 14, 2004)

its because all the lipo numbers are fictional


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