Battery Protocols

[OnTheRopes]

Having just received my H920+ I finally have a couple of A10 chargers to play with. Currently putting my Typhoon H batteries through a balanced charge.
Previously I have just charged them with the original single charger and used them but I was wondering how much information people log for their batteries and figure with so many expensive batteries I better take good care of them.

What info do you keep on your battery log?
For new batteries do you subscribe to the fly to 50% for the first 10 flights then discharge to 8% then fully charge school of thought?
Do you always balance charge?
How long do you expect to store the battery unused for before you do a storage charge?

 

[OnTheRopes]

Found an old thread on much of the subject here Setting up new charger

 

[PatR]

ALWAYS balance charge. Takes a little longer but I don’t see any sense in flying with cells out of balance. That cuts flight time and can damage cells.

For full charge storage periods I have yet to find a hard and fast rule. I use 5 days as a cap and all I can say is my batteries don’t puff after sitting a long time unless I failed to monitor stored voltage periodically. The 8 batteries I bought for the H from dealers in mid to late 2016 are still going strong.

I’m one of those that subscribes to conditioning new batteries. Experience has taught me that mild treatment for the first 5-8 flights ends up providing longer battery life and a little more useful flight time. I do not discharge further after a flight as that defeats the purpose of not deep discharging a new battery. When new I don’t fly batteries hard, such as full throttle with GPS turned off or perform extended full throttle climbs. There are those that see things differently and I can’t fault them as they seem satisfied in what they do.

Info on battery log; for me that’s extensive;

Date received.

Voltage as received.

Cell balance as received.

IR new, as received.

Date of charge/discharge cycle.

First charge IR after allowing the battery to cool for an hour after charge.

Cell balance after first charge.

Voltage at start and finish of a charge cycle.

Rate of charge.

Cycle number.

Voltage at power up prior to arming.

Voltage at lift off.

Voltage immediately prior to landing.

Voltage post landing, motor load removed.

Flight time.

Battery numbers used for each flight.

Yea, I’m a bit anal about it.

 

[OnTheRopes]

Yeh that's thorough alright but great info
What is IR Internal resistance? I use the A10 which has internal Resistance meter and how does one monitor that and what does it mean when the resistance changes?
How are you recording voltage in the field, off the ST16?
A lot of writing there or are you recording voice ?
Sop first 5-8 flights down to 50%

 

[PatR]

I type.

Field numbers come from the ST-16. I’ve observed a max voltage delta of 0.1v between a voltmeter and the ST-16, with the ST-16 always the lower value. Not enough to fret over so the ST-16 is used as the field standard. As it’s what will be used in flight you pretty much have to trust it, but verify a few times to know what it does.

IR= internal resistance. If the values are increasing over time they are indicating cell degradation. Monitoring is done periodically. Pick a number like 5 or so cycles for a monitoring interval and stick with it. However, new Yuneec batteries start out with a terribly high IR and degrade quickly so checking them every couple flights is a good idea.

 

[OnTheRopes]

I type.

Field numbers come from the ST-16. I’ve observed a max voltage delta of 0.1v between a voltmeter and the ST-16, with the ST-16 always the lower value. Not enough to fret over so the ST-16 is used as the field standard. As it’s what will be used in flight you pretty much have to trust it, but verify a few times to know what it does.

IR= internal resistance. If the values are increasing over time they are indicating cell degradation. Monitoring is done periodically. Pick a number like 5 or so cycles for a monitoring interval and stick with it. However, new Yuneec batteries start out with a terribly high IR and degrade quickly so checking them every couple flights is a good idea.

Thanks, I shall start monitoring from your example

 

[OnTheRopes]

@PatR How often if at all do you run a discharge cycle?

 

[PatR]

Personally, I’ve never run a discharge cycle on a lithium battery, only storage cycles. I reserved discharge cycles for NICD and NIMH batteries. NICD cells are prone to developing memories that reduce useful capacity and a full discharge and charge cycle will break the memory and return the battery to a normal state. NIMH are not as bad but can develop a memory. Lipo’s are not noted for memory issues.

 

[OnTheRopes]

Personally, I’ve never run a discharge cycle on a lithium battery, only storage cycles. I reserved discharge cycles for NICD and NIMH batteries. NICD cells are prone to developing memories that reduce useful capacity and a full discharge and charge cycle will break the memory and return the battery to a normal state. NIMH are not as bad but can develop a memory. Lipo’s are not noted for memory issues.

OK that's good enough for me. Thanks

 

[PatR]

If it helps, here's part of a XLSX log book spreadsheet I use for tracking things. Copy the file and change the .txt to .xlsx to open it. This site will not accept a xlsx file. It works for me but may not be all that someone else might want or need, so make it your own any way you wish if you choose to use it.

The Flight Log helps support the battery sheet with batteries used for a flight, along with flight times, are listed in the notes section Flight Log sheet. I only track the battery time the motors are actually turning. I don't log power on or off time. For the most part I log time the same way I would if flying full scale.

 

[madatme]

OK that's good enough for me. Thanks

I pretty much agree with Pat, all my rc batteries don't get a full flying dis charge, never let them sit fir more than a week on a full charge, always balance charge, storage charge when done, something I do during long term is partial charge to exercise them and then storage charge, almost all my batteries have lasted several years with no problems, sure you will have a bad one in time, example I have a couple of Thunder power batteries that are 10 years old and they still fly. So the end of the story is take care of them and they will take care of you

 

[madatme]

And no I do not keep log files-to much work and no fun

 

[OnTheRopes]

If it helps, here's part of a XLSX log book spreadsheet I use for tracking things. Copy the file and change the .txt to .xlsx to open it. This site will not accept a xlsx file. It works for me but may not be all that someone else might want or need, so make it your own any way you wish if you choose to use it.

The Flight Log helps support the battery sheet with batteries used for a flight, along with flight times, are listed in the notes section Flight Log sheet. I only track the battery time the motors are actually turning. I don't log power on or off time. For the most part I log time the same way I would if flying full scale.

It might help but it opens up like this
PK ! ª÷X¤y [Content_Types].xml ¢(

 

[OnTheRopes]

And no I do not keep log files-to much work and no fun

I know what you mean

 

[PatR]

It might help but it opens up like this
PK ! ª÷X¤y [Content_Types].xml ¢(

Did you change .txt to .xlsx?

 

[OnTheRopes]

No

 

[PatR]

Ah ha