Maximize Battery Life

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I was reading various posts on other forums and it seems that we should not be keeping our batteries charged if we are not going to using them right away. They should be stored in a discharged state. if so do we need a discharger or can we just take out the battery at the end of a flight with the red battery warning on the dji phantom for a proper discharge. Or should we drain it completely. I also seem to have read that if the battery is in a fully charged state and not being used, keep it in a 40 degree fridge to prevent deterioration.
Is this all speculation? What is the best care for the battery and what is needed in hardware to maintain the batteries such as dishchargers?
 
xstatic said:
I was reading various posts on other forums and it seems that we should not be keeping our batteries charged if we are not going to using them right away. They should be stored in a discharged state. if so do we need a discharger or can we just take out the battery at the end of a flight with the red battery warning on the dji phantom for a proper discharge. Or should we drain it completely. I also seem to have read that if the battery is in a fully charged state and not being used, keep it in a 40 degree fridge to prevent deterioration.
Is this all speculation? What is the best care for the battery and what is needed in hardware to maintain the batteries such as dishchargers?

a common question.
the answer is to store it at 50% charged, (3.85 volts per cell) in a cool place.


here's some good reading that everyone should bookmark
http://www.rchelicopterfun.com/rc-lipo-batteries.html

This is why I highly recommend a better battery charger, as the Phantom charger is about as crude as it gets.
most chargers have a storage option (and tons of other options for checking the status of your battery.
-by far one of the best investments if you're hooked on this hobby.
 
That is an amazing page. I have that bookmarked. It is really a must read for anyone in this hobby. I like the stuff you built and great shots of your how to do it?

As a user of the Dji Phantom, would you be able to recommend a pre made charger that would enable me to charge 4 batteries at a time? There are so many models out there! I would want one that would properly maintain the health of the lipos. I also hear of people charging in 15 minutes, it takes me about an hour with my stock phantom charger.
 
xstatic said:
As a user of the Dji Phantom, would you be able to recommend a pre made charger that would enable me to charge 4 batteries at a time? There are so many models out there! I would want one that would properly maintain the health of the lipos.

After reading that same article yesterday, I came to the same conclusions as Gizmo3000 recommended and ordered a "Hitec X4 AC Plus" charger -
smhitecx4_zps5aa56d00.jpg

It'll do 4 at once. AC/DC means it can charge at home as well as at the flying field. It also can connect to a PC for all kinds of analytical info about the battery and charging process and monitor battery temp during charge, with the optional USB PC adapter and temp sensor, both cheap. I did see somewhere that only one battery cable comes with it, so I ordered three more.

Sorry to sound like an ad, but this baby does a lot.
 
Racklefratz said:
After reading that same article yesterday, I came to the same conclusions as Gizmo3000 recommended and ordered a "Hitec X4 AC Plus" charger -
Does it come with cables for connecting the batteries?
 
xstatic said:
That is an amazing page. I have that bookmarked. It is really a must read for anyone in this hobby. I like the stuff you built and great shots of your how to do it?

As a user of the Dji Phantom, would you be able to recommend a pre made charger that would enable me to charge 4 batteries at a time? There are so many models out there! I would want one that would properly maintain the health of the lipos. I also hear of people charging in 15 minutes, it takes me about an hour with my stock phantom charger.

It's not my website! (but I learned a lot reading it!)

I just use an Accucell6 charger with a parallel balancing board. works great! (and I'm able to charge up to 6 batteries at a time, tho it's parlallel charging ,which is trickier to undestand)

but Hobbyking sells a number of chargers that can balance 4 different kinds of batteries at a time.
 
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... ecker.html

I strongly recommend the Cell Meter above since it gives you an instant % reading of the capacity in the pack.
After the flight, remove the pack and check the % left and it should read 20% or more.
If not, you can go in the Assistant and adjust the voltage level protection accordingly.
This way will assure that the packs will give you long life of services.
If you try to squeeze out more than 80% of the pack capacity, your pack will definitely be short live.
 
Tanasit that is a great reccomendation! I will definetely do that! Thanks 4 the advice!
 
Just a heads up you've never shopped on Hobby King
they have warehouses in a few different countries, and you can shop individually or them all at the same time, but have to click on the flag of the country to determine if it's in stock
, if you buy from the International warehouse you can save a bit, but it will take a few weeks to get to you.

here's the same charger at their USA warehouse for a few cents more
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__ ... ouse_.html

this is the one that I have tho, seems to work ok
tho it shows slightly different values compared to the Accucel charger values
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__ ... ouse_.html

*ALSO!** if you're not in a rush.. open up the web page for an item you're planning to buy.. and then LEAVE that web page open for 5-10 minutes,. and a little banner will come up offering you a one time change to buy that product for a buck less!
 
Yeah, the battery charging thing was a bit of a learning curve. Now store batteries at about 3.8v using the storage function on a four button charger. Bought power supply, charger, power lead and parallel charging board as four separate items. The Rcmodelreviews chap has a couple of great vids on YouTube on four button chargers.
My charger has 10A max output so can charge up to four batteries at 1C or six batteries at less than 1C.
Ditch the basic supplied Phantom charger!
 

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