Joe,

"Ideal" battery care/maintenance for lipos is not something that is practical for our applications as motor batteries (high discharge rates).

Practically -

Break-in will not hurt the packs, and will likely improve their longevity (I no of no specific amount of increase). For break-in, it is best done on a test stand at full throttle, using the prop to control the peak amp load. Part throttle does not control the peak amp load, only the average amp load. The ESC is a high frequency switch that simply decreases "on" time as throttle is reduced. Inline ampmeters (or Eagletree) are reflective of averaging. I typically break-in lipos over the course of 5 bench runs....starting at about 3C and 30% discharged, and gradually working up to 5C and 60% discharged. I charge at 1C during break-in. If I notice any hotspots or cell imbalance, I break them in more slowly (only needed to do this with 1 pack). And then I go a little easy on them the first couple flights (no extended full throttle).

For routine care/use -
- leave discharged at ~3.8 volts per cell at cool temps (but not freezing)
- charge (1C) just before flying
- allow them to cool to ambient before charging again
- never exceed 130F
- the shallower the discharge, the better. My personal opinion/experience is that <70% discharge is quite safe and limiting to 60% will not likely show much benefit for our application.
- prop to keep a minimum of 3.5 volts per cell at full throttle at the start of a flight (higher voltage is better)
- if unused for more than 1 month, don't expect maximum performance

You are not likely to "toast" a pack just because you charge it when it is still warm, or you stored it fully charged, or it got to 140F during discharge. However, all these things are relative, and the harder you run the packs, the shorter the life will be. A bad scenario is to charge a pack, let it sit for 3 months, then use it in a high discharge application with high ambient heat, discharging to 90% - that is far more likely to puff a pack then using the same pack reguarly, charging before the flight, and discharging to 70%. Newer lipos are far more tolerant of abuse than prior generations (especially high rate charging and discharging), but "abuse" is stil relative.

Regards,