Battery Storage - How long is too long?

Jussaguy · Sep 8, 2016

Merlin said:
Hi, I've spend quite some time trawling through the forums trying to get a better understanding of Lithium Polymer batteries. I now have a good idea of the ideal storage voltage and storage temperatures but how long before a flight is it OK to charge them up?

I like to be ready well in advance and tend to fly as soon as the sun rises which does not give me much time to charge the batteries the same day as some have suggested.

So the question is, how far in advance of a flight can I charge the batteries without causing any significant harm to them?

My rule is generally 36 hours but I have and often do break it because I have several batteries and always think I'm going to fly longer than I do. I wish there was a way to rapidly discharge without buying an expensive accessory.

I have all my bats set to a 3 day discharge. A couple are on 5.

Reasty · Sep 8, 2016

A good storage voltage is about 3.7 volts per cell,it's best not to leave them fully charged for over 2 weeks,the ideal scenario is to charge to storage voltage then top up the night before you fly the following morning,but they will be absolutely fine if left charged for a week and under 2 weeks.

Reasty · Sep 8, 2016

You will not be able to discharge them on the charger that comes with the typhoon h,you will need a digital smart charger and also battery adapters to be able to plug your battery's into the charger,from there you can then check your individual cell voltage and set discharge programs and also charge your battery's at a higher rate,I don't recommend charging them over over 1c so 5400mah as this can shorten the battery life span,even at 1c they will charge ALOT faster.

JCFlippen · Sep 8, 2016

Merlin said:
Are battery adapters for the Typhoon H available in the UK?

Can anyone recommend a good quality digital smart charger?

I don't think so.www. Quadcam.ch is the place to look. Overlander x2 charger.

Reasty · Sep 8, 2016

You can get the adapters from www.quadcam.ch very well made from a forum member in Switzerland and fast postage but very popular item so can be abit of a wait for them,charger wise I have the hitec h4 which is a very good charger and can charge 4 battery's at the same time,not the cheapest tho and needs a DC power supply,check the hitec website as they do other models that are ac powered so 240v
(Uk) there are also many cheaper options on hobbyking.com or in local model shops in store and online.

Steve Carr · Sep 8, 2016

Merlin said:
Are battery adapters for the Typhoon H available in the UK?

Can anyone recommend a good quality digital smart charger?

The H adapter can be purchased here as well as a charger. It looks like the adapter is on back order, but you can click on "Email when Available".

Shop Accessories & Parts - Carolina Dronz

Intelien · Sep 8, 2016

I wonder if this is ok to do? At the moment I only have the stock charger. So if I know it will be a couple of weeks before I fly again I only do a partial charge about 30 mins then do full charge the day before I fly. I wonder if this will be ok on the battery until I get a better charger.

PatR · Sep 8, 2016

JCFlippen said:
I don't think so.www. Quadcam.ch is the place to look. Overlander x2 charger.

Since Quadcam is out of Switzerland I'd guess they were most certainly available for the UK.

PatR · Sep 8, 2016

Steve,

Bear in mind the adapters sold by CarolinaDronz are those made by the guy that likes to post very rude pictures when he fails to comprehend when someone tries to complement him. His actions almost ended any further business relationship for me with Carolina. Not fair to Frank but his suppliers reflect upon him. For the record, I just bought a $600.00 camera from Carolina but wouldn't spend a nickle there if any of it was going to ralphie.

I'll buy from QuadCam all day long but will never, ever buy anything produced by ralphie from any source.

PatR · Sep 8, 2016

Intelien said:
I wonder if this is ok to do? At the moment I only have the stock charger. So if I know it will be a couple of weeks before I fly again I only do a partial charge about 30 mins then do full charge the day before I fly. I wonder if this will be ok on the battery until I get a better charger.

Better not to do partial charges. If the voltage level is good for storage it would be better to leave it there and just do a full charge the day before you intend to fly. Better still is to charge the day you fly but that's not always possible due to time constraints. A day or two before is okay but don't let them sit much longer than that without flying them down. If you did manage to charge and let sit for a week or so don't "peak charge" them. Use them as you normally would and fly them down, or storage cycle them if you have the equipment.

Reasty · Sep 8, 2016

PatR said:
Since Quadcam is out of Switzerland I'd guess they were most certainly available for the UK.

Yep I've bought a ready to go Version from quadcam delivered to the uk in under a week and very good quality,highly recommended,also get them with the optional safe banana connectors as they can save you from a very serious accident if you are not to familiar with lipo battery's and the devastation they can cause if they are shorted out and explode.

Rayray · Sep 9, 2016

Intelien said:
I wonder if this is ok to do? At the moment I only have the stock charger. So if I know it will be a couple of weeks before I fly again I only do a partial charge about 30 mins then do full charge the day before I fly. I wonder if this will be ok on the battery until I get a better charger.

I think this has been mentioned before, but a simple solution, and fairly fast, is to put the battery in your H and hover it until you have 2 bars on the ST-16. 15 volts or less, without props spinning, should be good.

KEN TARDIO · Sep 10, 2016

Here is what I have learned some of which is through trial and error. I am sure there are a lot of decent chargers out there but if you plan on charging the H batteries I learned there is no real cheap way out. You either spend a few bucks and get something meaty that will get the job done right and if you are unable to do that save your money and stick with the stock charger. In order to anything below you first need to order the battery connectors either from Andy at Quadcam or from Carolina Dronz. I bought Andys connectors so I can only vouch for them and they are perfect. In order to do anything with these batteries you have to buy the connectors first. I ended up with the Hitec X2 AC Pro. To me this was a monster charger. It charges two batteries at a time and uses standard US AC current or you can use a 12 Volt battery. With regular AC current I can charge two 5400 ma H batteries from storage charge to full in under 45 minutes charging at 6 amps. This charger will also balance the batteries and or drain or fill them to storage charge.

I use a different system to Drain my batteries to storage charge. I use a 12 volt trailer tail light bulb and bulb holder from the auto store $6.00 for both, An on off switch from Radio Shack $3.00, and a 1S-6S Battery Voltage Meter Checker Low Voltage Tester from Banggood $2.99. I connect the battery, turn on the lightbulb and set the tester to go off at 3.8 volts. The first cell to hit 3.8 volts sets off the alarm and you are at storage charge. When I say alarm there will be no one sleeping in the house when it goes off. Impossible to forget about and drain the battery too far unless you can ignore a smoke detector sounding alarm. I like this system because neither the charger or battery gets hot. The battery is cool to the touch throughout the process and when completed. It almost seems too simple a solution but puts your batteries exactly where you want them at 3.8 volts per cell using very low tech. I have pics if anyone is interested.

hatfield · Sep 10, 2016

KEN TARDIO said:
Here is what I have learned some of which is through trial and error. I am sure there are a lot of decent chargers out there but if you plan on charging the H batteries I learned there is no real cheap way out. You either spend a few bucks and get something meaty that will get the job done right and if you are unable to do that save your money and stick with the stock charger. In order to anything below you first need to order the battery connectors either from Andy at Quadcam or from Carolina Dronz. I bought Andys connectors so I can only vouch for them and they are perfect. In order to do anything with these batteries you have to buy the connectors first. I ended up with the Hitec X2 AC Pro. To me this was a monster charger. It charges two batteries at a time and uses standard US AC current or you can use a 12 Volt battery. With regular AC current I can charge two 5400 ma H batteries from storage charge to full in under 45 minutes charging at 6 amps. This charger will also balance the batteries and or drain or fill them to storage charge.

I use a different system to Drain my batteries to storage charge. I use a 12 volt trailer tail light bulb and bulb holder from the auto store $6.00 for both, An on off switch from Radio Shack $3.00, and a 1S-6S Battery Voltage Meter Checker Low Voltage Tester from Banggood $2.99. I connect the battery, turn on the lightbulb and set the tester to go off at 3.8 volts. The first cell to hit 3.8 volts sets off the alarm and you are at storage charge. When I say alarm there will be no one sleeping in the house when it goes off. Impossible to forget about and drain the battery too far unless you can ignore a smoke detector sounding alarm. I like this system because neither the charger or battery gets hot. The battery is cool to the touch throughout the process and when completed. It almost seems too simple a solution but puts your batteries exactly where you want them at 3.8 volts per cell using very low tech. I have pics if anyone is interested.

Why wouldn't use the the storage function of the X2 charger since you have it rather than messing with the bulb setup?