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ST16 battery charging considerations

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I have nothing conclusive but have noted that the battery can be charged much faster by not letting it charge continuously. After having a recent problem I closely monitored the charge level frequently with the charger plugged in. At one point the charge remained at 51% for over an hour. I unplugged and didn't start to charge again for about 1/2 hour. I checked the charge after about 1/2 hour and it was over 70%. I don't have enough data to be certain but I've been varying the charging and have arrived at 100% a lot faster than previously. I'd come across several posts which mentioned the battery taking 24 hours to fully charge. I suspected that the 2..0 amp Yuneec charger was the problem so I'd tried a 2.4A without any noticeable shortening of the charge time. I suspect that there is something within the ST16 that prevents the full charge to be applied continuously. Likely a safety consideration.
 
with a external charger setup for the st16 battery at 6 amps it takes 2 hour 10 min to 2 hour 30 min. to recharge. I do not recharge from then st16 directly to slow. it starts at 6 amp but the current goes down over time until the battery is fully charged. but still beats the st16 controller.
 
Right. The wires on a USB charging system are always very small so they cannot carry much current. Removing the battery and charging externally will charge quickly. The downside is the need to connect to wifi to restore the time and date, but still faster than a long charge time.
 
I keep them charged fully after a flight, takes an hour or two if lower, I do have the leads to charge quicker, but also have spare batteries charged ready to go, hopefully all bases covered.
 
Right. The wires on a USB charging system are always very small so they cannot carry much current. Removing the battery and charging externally will charge quickly. The downside is the need to connect to wifi to restore the time and date, but still faster than a long charge time.
I was just putting it out there for someone (like me) that didn't have another charger or didn't want to remove the battery. I was kind of hoping that someone, somewhere down the line, would provide some additional info as to optimal on/off charging times.
Now to hijack my own thread: your reference to resetting the time prompted me to ask if you know of a way to get the correct time on the H video files. I just discovered that unless the month and year are set correctly on the ST16 they will be wrong on the H files. With the ST16 set correctly the H files are correct as to date and minute but the hour is seven hours behind. I got confused checking this out as I know where I am there's a 7 hour difference from Zulu but here it's 7 hours the other way. I tried lying to the ST 16 and told them I was in Greenwich but for some reason it didn't believe me. I was getting a headache at that point so I gave up. Do you know what I can do to fix this?
 
I'll help with the hijacking. I also live in the Pacific time zone and my ST16 is always an hour behind. I can change the time in the system settings but, when I go back to the main screen it's right back to being an hour behind. Don't know if it's daylight savings that's doing this or if it's me. Hopefully someone knows the answer.
 
I'll help with the hijacking. I also live in the Pacific time zone and my ST16 is always an hour behind. I can change the time in the system settings but, when I go back to the main screen it's right back to being an hour behind. Don't know if it's daylight savings that's doing this or if it's me. Hopefully someone knows the answer.
My problem is with the camera files. My ST16 shows the correct time. I don't know if this will help but I have "Automatic date &time " selected, and in the "Select time zone" it shows GMT-7 and PDT. PDT should be -8 but -7 is correct for PDST. But here's where I think your problem might lie. The ST16 wifi defaults to the camera so prior to setting the time I enable my local wifi and just set things and leave. Not enabling the local wifi prior to setting up things might be the problem. Then again, maybe not.

Edit. After I posted I recalled that in "Location" I have it selected and "Mode set to High Accuracy. Maybe there's something different with your settings.

second edit: just fixed a typo
 
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I keep them charged fully after a flight, takes an hour or two if lower, I do have the leads to charge quicker, but also have spare batteries charged ready to go, hopefully all bases covered.
Where did you get the spares? Yuneec.uk want £30 plus £12 postage for just one!!!
Mine takes about 6 hours to charge, i reckon its lifetime is done because it doesn't hold a charge for long either.
Also, where dya get the charging leads for it? Cheers.
 
Where did you get the spares? Yuneec.uk want £30 plus £12 postage for just one!!!
Mine takes about 6 hours to charge, i reckon its lifetime is done because it doesn't hold a charge for long either.
Also, where dya get the charging leads for it? Cheers.
£29 I paid at Hobbymounts and the same at Yuneec UK plus £ 9.99 but I always get plenty of spares so the postage is negligible, that seems to be cheapest in UK. The banana plug leads make a big difference in charging time.
 

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£29 I paid at Hobbymounts and the same at Yuneec UK plus £ 9.99 but I always get plenty of spares so the postage is negligible, that seems to be cheapest in UK. The banana plug leads make a big difference in charging time.
Hobbymounts st16 batteries are out of stock, had already checked them.
None on amazon or ebay either!!??
Yuneec seems only option, unfortunately i don't need any spares since i have an almost complete dissected H - as you know [emoji52]
 
I cracked the case & poured in the juice.
 
Bear in mind that although li-po and li-on batteries are both lithium chemistry they are not the same and have different charging requirements. We generally charge li-po batteries at a 1C rate unless they are labeled to allow a higher charge rate but a li-on’s ideal charge rate in under 1C. 0.7C or so is the rate commonly referenced.

Li-on batteries generally have a charge limiting circuit built into them that will allow a higher charge rate for a portion of the charge period but the circuit reduces the charge rate after the cells reach a certain temperature and capacity level. To prevent the battery from being damaged by a high charge rate the circuit will terminate the charge cycle when using high charge rates before full capacity is achieved. The faster a battery is charged the faster cells heat up due to resistance and the charge circuit reacts to resistance and limits the charge cycle. A fast charged li-on battery will indicate being 100% charged but not have reached full capacity when the cycle terminates due to sensed resistance. A li-on charged at a lower, recommended rate will last longer that a fast, high rate charged battery because the lower charge rate allowed the battery to reach full capacity, and balance when multiple cells are employed, by not having the charge cycle interrupted by the protection circuit.

Short version; you can only charge a li-on battery as fast as it will let you and the faster you try to charge it the less use time you will obtain from it. Those that have long flying days that are inhibited by ST-16 charge times might consider obtaining a second or third ST-16 battery and change them out as needed during a flying day rather that trying to charge the battery faster.

After market chargers with lo-on capability are faster that the factory charger, and cell phone/tablet chargers are also faster than the stock charger but both are still limited by the battery’s internal charge circuit. We should accept that li-on’s will charge slower than li-po’s no matter what we do to speed up the process.
 
You carry spare copter batteries, you should also carry spare ST16 batteries too, luck has a habit of running out, well for me anyway.
 
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Bear in mind that although li-po and li-on batteries are both lithium chemistry they are not the same and have different charging requirements. We generally charge li-po batteries at a 1C rate unless they are labeled to allow a higher charge rate but a li-on’s ideal charge rate in under 1C. 0.7C or so is the rate commonly referenced.

Li-on batteries generally have a charge limiting circuit built into them that will allow a higher charge rate for a portion of the charge period but the circuit reduces the charge rate after the cells reach a certain temperature and capacity level. To prevent the battery from being damaged by a high charge rate the circuit will terminate the charge cycle when using high charge rates before full capacity is achieved. The faster a battery is charged the faster cells heat up due to resistance and the charge circuit reacts to resistance and limits the charge cycle. A fast charged li-on battery will indicate being 100% charged but not have reached full capacity when the cycle terminates due to sensed resistance. A li-on charged at a lower, recommended rate will last longer that a fast, high rate charged battery because the lower charge rate allowed the battery to reach full capacity, and balance when multiple cells are employed, by not having the charge cycle interrupted by the protection circuit.

Short version; you can only charge a li-on battery as fast as it will let you and the faster you try to charge it the less use time you will obtain from it. Those that have long flying days that are inhibited by ST-16 charge times might consider obtaining a second or third ST-16 battery and change them out as needed during a flying day rather that trying to charge the battery faster.

After market chargers with lo-on capability are faster that the factory charger, and cell phone/tablet chargers are also faster than the stock charger but both are still limited by the battery’s internal charge circuit. We should accept that li-on’s will charge slower than li-po’s no matter what we do to speed up the process.
Thank you Pat.
Those details are sometimes hard to find. The ST16 li-on cells in my 1s3p pack were 2400mAh. My 3000mA back door charge started at .4c for 1 hour. No warm up was noticeable. (The Opus charger will warm 18650's some.) I have flown twice since the back door charge and the ST16 discharge & recharge cycles have been normal.
 

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