LiPo battery care tips

[dragonash]

There are a lot of threads about what to do and what not to do about the Phantom, but what about its factory battery and all other 3rd party LiPo batteries?

I just read that its not good to keep them fully charged for over 48hrs.
Is this true? What else might I be missing in terms of life cycle?

 

[rilot]

Don't discharge below 20%
Don't store for very long periods fully charged (a few days or a couple of weeks is fine)
Charge in a fireproof bag if possible
Never short
Discard if damaged

 

[lightingbryan]

Don't discharge below 20%
Don't store for very long periods fully charged (a few days or a couple of weeks is fine)
Charge in a fireproof bag if possible
Never short
Discard if damaged

I would read the manual. It actually tells you to discharge the battery under 20% in certain situations when using the Phantom2 smart battery.

 

[rilot]

I would read the manual.

I have and I disagree with it.
LiPos suffer damage when discharged that low.

 

[N017RW]

There are a lot of threads about what to do and what not to do about the Phantom, but what about its factory battery and all other 3rd party LiPo batteries?

I just read that its not good to keep them fully charged for over 48hrs.
Is this true? What else might I be missing in terms of life cycle?

There's tons of information out there so you can form your own opinions.
DJI has taken a lot of worry out of their use by adding the 'smart circuitry' to the battery.

I'm not a fan of this due to cost and the proprietary nature of the sales channels but it probably does a good job of maintaining the battery overall for those who just want to fly and photograph. But I would prefer to have more control of the charging process with my computer chargers and balance interfaces and feel I could better maintain them myself.

FYI: I found a video of LiPo manufacturing which I hand not seen before recently.
It's about 1/4 down the page if your interested.
http://www.rchelicopterfun.com/rc-lipo-batteries.html

Cheers!

 

[The Editor]

I would read the manual.

I have and I disagree with it.
LiPos suffer damage when discharged that low.

+1
Rilot is correct. Although they do not suffer irrepairable damage until they go below 3v per cell it will certainly shorten the life of the pack and it will need replacing sooner.

Now wait a minute.... that wouldn't be DJI's hidden agenda would it? To get people to buy more batteries earlier than they would really have to?

Nooooooo..... I'm sure it's just a sensible 'battery conditioning technique' that DJI have put in place :roll:

 

[Jebus]

Don't store for very long periods fully charged (a few days or a couple of weeks is fine)

So it is ok to leave the batteries fully charged for say a week or so? That's good to know! I thought you wouldn't want to leave them fully charged longer than a day or two at the most.