Best way to storage charge a Lipo battery
07-17-2016, 07:03 PM
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Best way to storage charge a Lipo battery
Hello everyone!
What’s the best or practical way to Storage Charge a Lipo Battery?
My charger (SKYRC iMAX B6 mini) has a storage charge option, but when I ran the Storage charge option on my 3S 11.1V 7200 mAh battery it got to about 3 hours into the process and still was not done; then my charger gave an OVER TIME LIMIT error, which is due to a charging limit setting set to 180 Mins (which can be increased). I guess I can try to Storage Charge my battery again after I raise the charge limit time to like 4hrs or more, but this seems way too long and unpractical to do every week after using my Lipo battery!
Does it normally take a lot longer to Storage charge a battery than to balance charge it?
More importantly, is there a quicker/better way to Storage charge a Lipo battery?
Thanks
What’s the best or practical way to Storage Charge a Lipo Battery?
My charger (SKYRC iMAX B6 mini) has a storage charge option, but when I ran the Storage charge option on my 3S 11.1V 7200 mAh battery it got to about 3 hours into the process and still was not done; then my charger gave an OVER TIME LIMIT error, which is due to a charging limit setting set to 180 Mins (which can be increased). I guess I can try to Storage Charge my battery again after I raise the charge limit time to like 4hrs or more, but this seems way too long and unpractical to do every week after using my Lipo battery!
Does it normally take a lot longer to Storage charge a battery than to balance charge it?
More importantly, is there a quicker/better way to Storage charge a Lipo battery?
Thanks
07-18-2016, 05:46 AM
#2
I warned you, in the other thread, it may take a while to bring down the voltage depending on how much energy is still in a pack 
. The iMax charger (50 watt version?) will only max out at 1 amp discharge. The amount of time you state it takes to get the pack to "storage level" is right. When in "Storage Charge Mode", and within 15 seconds after starting the "Storage Charge", pressing the start button should make the amperage setting start blinking. You then can increase the amperage up to 2 amps (at least on my chargers it's possible).
I don't think these chargers are meant to discharge a pack from a fully charged state. Doing so, like you have found out, takes forever
. Storage Charging Mode works best after you use the battery, and your ESC's low voltage cutoff circuitry kicks in. There are separate dischargers out there that you can buy to bring down your battery's voltage quicker. I personally use my light bulb discharger from back in the day of using NiCd/NiMh batteries. It consists of automotive turn signal bulbs (1157) and pulls about 27 amps. I have a low voltage buzzer/alarm plugged into the LiPo to warm me of "going too far".
This is one discharger out there. I never use it, nor have I ever search results on how well they work. Same principal as my old school way of discharging (bulbs). The energy from the battery has to be released some how. Warning: bulbs will get very hot!
. The iMax charger (50 watt version?) will only max out at 1 amp discharge. The amount of time you state it takes to get the pack to "storage level" is right. When in "Storage Charge Mode", and within 15 seconds after starting the "Storage Charge", pressing the start button should make the amperage setting start blinking. You then can increase the amperage up to 2 amps (at least on my chargers it's possible).I don't think these chargers are meant to discharge a pack from a fully charged state. Doing so, like you have found out, takes forever
. Storage Charging Mode works best after you use the battery, and your ESC's low voltage cutoff circuitry kicks in. There are separate dischargers out there that you can buy to bring down your battery's voltage quicker. I personally use my light bulb discharger from back in the day of using NiCd/NiMh batteries. It consists of automotive turn signal bulbs (1157) and pulls about 27 amps. I have a low voltage buzzer/alarm plugged into the LiPo to warm me of "going too far".This is one discharger out there. I never use it, nor have I ever search results on how well they work. Same principal as my old school way of discharging (bulbs). The energy from the battery has to be released some how. Warning: bulbs will get very hot!
Last edited by RustyUs; 07-18-2016 at 06:05 AM.
07-18-2016, 08:24 AM
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Hi RustyUS! Thanks again for responding with all that helpful knowledge! 
Everything is starting to make sense now, well now i'm starting to understand it, thanks to you! My iMAX mini does a max of 60W and 6A. I think ill get that bulb discharger you mentioned, looks like that will do that job and not wait around 4+ hrs! 
Thanks again for helping out a fellow RC guy!
Everything is starting to make sense now, well now i'm starting to understand it, thanks to you! My iMAX mini does a max of 60W and 6A. I think ill get that bulb discharger you mentioned, looks like that will do that job and not wait around 4+ hrs! Thanks again for helping out a fellow RC guy!
07-18-2016, 10:54 AM
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Ya if i break before i get to a pack my traxxas id charger can be in the two to three hour area for it to slowly discharge it. Scared me the first time too but once you know it makes sense.
