Battery care

DroneClone · Jun 11, 2016

sam

OnTheRopes said:
Sorry I was mainly referring to storage percent or voltage?[/QUOTESame thing applies, except most all platforms state to store at 50-60 % so I fiquire wth the H battery, I would store at 14,7 to 15.0 volts and be close

DroneClone · Jun 11, 2016

Same thing applies, except most all platforms state to store at 50-60 % so I fiquire wth the H battery, I would store at 14,7 to 15.0 volts and be close

GunnyE9 · Jun 11, 2016

DroneClone said:
I personally do not break my batteries in so rigorously and on my Phantom's I flew them down to 15% from day one, and they are over a year old on some and still ticking and flying the same length of time ! So no I do not baby them, I land my bird at 14.3-14.5 volts, so according to the green battery level bars I am at 50% and 17-19 minutes flight. So I believe the bars are not accurate, on the DJI's it tells me in %'s so I just land after or in between first level battery warning which it tells me accurately I am at 15-20 %, DJI uses Smart batteries, why the cost a bit more !. Just buy the dog and fly the **** out of her and if your battery dies in a month ,buy more!
By the way, you were losing most of your races you stated, because you were not using Castrol Motor Oil ! LOL

So it was the oil I was using !?!? .... Never thought to change oils ?? ............... Ya funny bast%$# !!

Alrighty ... fly till I get a vibration or watch the voltage ........... Got ya !!

...

OnTheRopes · Jun 11, 2016

DroneClone said:
Same thing applies, except most all platforms state to store at 50-60 % so I fiquire wth the H battery, I would store at 14,7 to 15.0 volts and be close

You see Dragonflyerthom said "Lipo storage is susposed to be 3.85 volts per cell. So 15 volts is too low. 15.4 is storage volts. Hope this helps." so there is some ambiguity in how to decide on 55% or at least the best storage voltage?

Indiana Larry · Feb 22, 2018

Looks like this a very good battery care thread that has gone to sleep for awhile.

I like to check in on the battery expert ideas around the internet, mainly because the battery technology is still infant and evolving with Lithium Poly batteries.

Some of the tips that are very valid after spending a small fortune to fly them.

1. Do not store your batteries in a hot car, they will gas (swell) and degrade.
2. Do not discharge them lower than 3.8 volts per cell 15.2 volts total for storage.
3. Do store them in the fridge not freezer, off season. Experimented for two years with this one, does help.

Here is something new that has been tested true.

If we recharge a Lithium Poly battery to a value, less voltage capacity, say 4.0 volts per cell instead of 4.2 volts per cell its possible to increase by more than double the usable number of battery lifetime cycles. But this lessens flying time,

Ahhhhha! Makes you think huh? Battery manufacturers sell more batteries if RC product (aircraft) manufactures choose a battery that is giving us pilots less flying time than we want. We always want more time in the air, do we not? It's like loving fried chicken and cant get enough.

Here it comes! Knowing what pilot addictions we have, **** the battery/aircraft conspiracy. The H could have been designed around a 6S battery and chargers that cut off at 4.0 volts per cell. Giving pilots longer flight times and better battery longevity. Sure all the prop specs and component weights correlations would have changed of course.

Wouldn't you pay a little more for all you could eat fried chicken in one sitting?

Indiana

MarkC · Feb 25, 2018

HOW...can you get to 50-60% charge for storage with just the stock charger??? Seems like a PITA. Ordered a charger that shows voltage and a lot of other actual useful info.

AH-1G · Feb 25, 2018

Indiana Larry said:
Looks like this a very good battery care thread that has gone to sleep for awhile.

I like to check in on the battery expert ideas around the internet, mainly because the battery technology is still infant and evolving with Lithium Poly batteries.

Some of the tips that are very valid after spending a small fortune to fly them.

1. Do not store your batteries in a hot car, they will gas (swell) and degrade.
2. Do not discharge them lower than 3.8 volts per cell 15.2 volts total for storage.
3. Do store them in the fridge not freezer, off season. Experimented for two years with this one, does help.

Here is something new that has been tested true.

If we recharge a Lithium Poly battery to a value, less voltage capacity, say 4.0 volts per cell instead of 4.2 volts per cell its possible to increase by more than double the usable number of battery lifetime cycles. But this lessens flying time,

Ahhhhha! Makes you think huh? Battery manufacturers sell more batteries if RC product (aircraft) manufactures choose a battery that is giving us pilots less flying time than we want. We always want more time in the air, do we not? It's like loving fried chicken and cant get enough.

Here it comes! Knowing what pilot addictions we have, **** the battery/aircraft conspiracy. The H could have been designed around a 6S battery and chargers that cut off at 4.0 volts per cell. Giving pilots longer flight times and better battery longevity. Sure all the prop specs and component weights correlations would have changed of course.

Wouldn't you pay a little more for all you could eat fried chicken in one sitting?

Indiana

No I would get fat!

Ty Pilot · Feb 25, 2018

MarkC said:
HOW...can you get to 50-60% charge for storage with just the stock charger??? Seems like a PITA. Ordered a charger that shows voltage and a lot of other actual useful info.

Its best to always use a charger to put the battery at storage level, however; if you don't have anything but the stock charger, in a pinch you can fly to around 14.8 volts as shown on the ST-16 and after shutdown the battery voltage will rise up to around 15.2 or 3.8 volts per cell. Whenever I have a battery fully charged that I didn't use for a flight, I will fly in the back yard until 14.8 is shown while hovering at the end of a flight because using a charger to get a fully charged battery to storage level can take hours. There have been many times when; after doing this and letting the battery cool for half an hour or so, I will put them on my charger to reach storage level, and within a few minutes be finished. One time I did this and storage completion happened in around 45 seconds.

So basically if you don't have a charger that can properly put the battery at storage level - save and get one, but in the meantime fly down to about 14.8 volts and you'll be close to storage and your batteries will thank you. .

Fingerlakes · Feb 25, 2018

Spend a 1000 on a drone with LIPO, why wouldn't you invest 75.00 on a battery charger/conditioner with storage function.

Ty Pilot · Feb 25, 2018

I think perhaps a lot of people who are new to LiPo's don't know, or expect, the difference in how they (LiPo's) work when compared to say, a smartphone; and get caught out with a ruined battery. Hopefully threads like this will awake them before they find out the hard/expensive way.

MarkC · Feb 28, 2018

Got the digital voltage tester for the H batteries today. Tested all three of my batteries. One at 16.5, one at 16.6 and one at 16.7. Is that ok for them to sit there for a week or so like that, or do I need to get them down more?

I have a much more sophisticated charger coming next week that reads the voltage directly, can do all kinds of maintenance charges and balnce cells, etc. and put it in storage charge mode.

Ty Pilot · Feb 28, 2018

You shouldn't let them sit at full charge for more than a day or so. If I were you I would fly them down to a lower voltage as I mentioned above:

Ty Pilot said:
In a pinch you can fly to around 14.8 volts as shown on the ST-16 and after shutdown the battery voltage will rise up to around 15.2 or 3.8 volts per cell. Whenever I have a battery fully charged that I didn't use for a flight, I will fly in the back yard until 14.8 is shown while hovering at the end of a flight because using a charger to get a fully charged battery to storage level can take hours.