# lipo battery questions



## Rc Driver (Apr 29, 2005)

Few questions about lipo batterys after running a race should i just charge the battery up again or discharge down to 3.2v per cell first? Also when i charge them on my checkpoint 1030 they stop charging at 8.4volts is that were the cut off should be at? Its a 6000mah pack but only took about 1300mah charge but notice it was at 8.4 volts just as an example. Still learning about these lipo batterys and dont know the proper care for lipo's. Thanks


----------



## OvalmanPA (Mar 21, 2000)

Just recharge while using a balancer. LiPos are designed not to be charged past 4.22 volts per cell "safely". Some newer chargers will allow you to readjust the final "cutoff" voltage to allow charging to 4.22 volts per cell. However most LiPo chargers are designed to cut off at the 4.20 volts per cell you are getting with the Checkpoint charger. 

They charge under a constant current/constant voltage (cc/cv) parameter. When you begin the charge, the charger applies a constant current of say, 6 amps for your 6000 mah pack. Once the pack reaches 4.2 volts per cell the charger switches to a constant voltage mode and drops the current until it feels the pack is charged (differs by charger). You only took 1300 mah out of the pack during a race so that's all the charger puts back into it while maintaining the 8.4 volts in the pack.


----------



## Rc Driver (Apr 29, 2005)

Okay that makes since. The charger goes into trickle mode after it seays its full should i leave it connected and let it trickle or just unplug it then? Also say if they pack gets ran all the way down until the cutoff of the 3.2v per cell then you charge it but it reaches the 8.4 volts before the mah capacity is close to full. Does that mean the battery is junk? Or your just not going to get all the capacity of the pack? Sorry for so many questions, i appriciate the help


----------



## 4ThePinkRacing (Apr 30, 2010)

........


----------



## OvalmanPA (Mar 21, 2000)

One thing I can agree on however is that the pack shouldn't be trickle charged. Once a LiPo is done charging, it's done, no trickle charging. If you have that selected as an option, see if you can turn it off. From a completely discharged state you will probably get to or close to the rated MAH of the pack back into it. All chargers are different. However, as I said above, LiPos are designed to be charged by constant current to 8.4 volts and then will switch to a constant voltage until they either reach capacity or the charger attempts a certain portion of the capacity.


----------



## Rc Driver (Apr 29, 2005)

Thanks


----------

