Ernie Misner

I head someone say that li-po batteries had a 3 year life span when they were being used or not. That doesn't sound right to me.....

Thanks for any input!

Ernie

bdavison

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I dont know exactly how long they will last. Some people say 500 charges.....I dont think thats right.

I know that if you use it on a regular basis, and charge it properly, you can get well over 300 flights on one, and at about the 150 flight, it really starts to peak, and the charges last longer and run stronger. I had a 3cell lipo that really ran great, and had over 300 flights on it.

Get a good charger like the ICE or Triton. Ive found shortened lifespans by using the cheap chargers. Also if you can use a cell balancer to keep it charged correctly.

Ernie Misner

>>> I know that if you use it on a regular basis, and charge it properly, you can get well over 300 flights on one, and at about the 150 flight, it really starts to peak, and the charges last longer and run stronger >>>

Was that using a regular or balancing type of charger?

Thanks for you input!

Ernie

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

That was just using a regular Triton. The performance really increased after about 150 flights. It went from 15 min flights up to about 25, and it would really crank out the power at full throttle.

For some reason they run better if they are warm. Tony Stillman told me that some of the pattern flyers using electric power were heating them up a little on the radiators of their cars before competing, and he said it improved the performance.

flyerboy7800

did u balance it to get 300 flights or not?

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

No, I dont have a balancer....just the regular Triton like I said. I would think balancing would make them even better.

mike burk

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/
Lists specs for all of the different chemistries that we use including liPo'ss.
In a table they say liPo's lose about 20% of their capacity in a year at room temp.
My experience bears this out with the larger capacities deteriorating faster than smaller cpacities. I have 17 batteries from 5 different manufacturers, after a little less than a year the best tow are an Etec 450 mh with 85% of capacity remaining and a TP860 with 85%, the worst a TP 2100 with 51% of capacity remaining. There are 3 Dymond's 1300mh - 65%, 1100mh - 77% and 900mh - 85%

The deterioration increase appears nearly linear as capacity increases.
For most of us, LiPo life appears to be more a matter of time than usage.

Ernie Misner

>>>> For most of us, LiPo life appears to be more a matter of time than usage.

Ahh, that is what I was wondering, since I have a new lipo pack that has never been used. I bought it last summer and don't have the plane ready yet. That means my lipo pack is losing much of it's lifespan already.....? Should I leave it uncharged as it is....?

Thanks,

Ernie

bdunsire

FWIW - in my experience (a couple of years, about 20 packs in use right now) - deep cycling kills them faster than just use. I used to run them until the voltage cut off the motor. After a few packs 'went away' - (low and short power output) - I started paying much more attention to recharge points, never letting the pack get down to the cutoff (ending flights as soon as I see a drop in power) - and my packs seem to live much longer now. 3-400+ cycles - but I have also found a BIG difference with various manufacturers (!) too.