Originally Posted by
All Day Dan
Thanks Truck,
According to the Tritan manual the cutoff should be 2.5 volts per cell. According to Hitec, it should be 2 volts per cell. Neither one recommends deep discharging the cells. However it would be a good safety factor to monitor a packs capacity on a regular basis. Dan.
Dan and Lifer, according to various sources and spec sheets, the most common recommended cut off voltage for LiFe cells is 2.5 to 2.6 volts though I have seen sources recommend voltages up to 2.8 volts per cell. I wouldn't have a problem with the Hitec recommended 2.0V / cell. Reason being, the voltage is dropping so quickly when LiFe cells discharge to this level, the discharge will terminate very quickly anywhere in this voltage region. In this voltage range, you'll be seeing flashing digits on the display as the voltage will be changing that fast! I usually set discharge to terminate at 5.0V for a typical 2 cell airborne receiver pack.
If using A123 cells, I wouldn't worry at all about deep discharging them as they were designed for rugged, high discharge environments. If using the Poly Pack type LiFe batteries, there are few real specifications available for these types of batteries but I wouldn't worry at all about doing discharge tests on them. If they won't withstand a discharge capacity test, they're not worth using as an airborne battery.
Dan, are you using some of the LiFe batteries these days?