savagecommander

anybody know of one? zippy lipos are 2c charge and my charger is only good to 5A.... any ideas?

mazdaprotege4

My Feedback: (32)

I always thought that you were not suppose to charge a lipo at a charge rate higher than 1C (so 5A for a 5000mah lipo).  Have lipos improved that much so they can be charged faster?

redfisher1974

i know thw new dynamite passport charger goes up to 8 amps and 5 amps discharge.

guver

My Feedback: (325)

989 mrc and checkpoint TC 1030 does 10 amps.

savagecommander

uuhhh yeah, gonna go with the 989...thnx for the info.

cenracer1

Don't do it.... or you will be buying new batteries very quickly... doubling the charge rate halfs the life of the batteries... Having a better charger however doesn't hurt any... I have a bunch of zippy's and if they say they charge at 2C, its most likely for marketing because some of the other companies claim theirs do... save you batteries and charge at 1C...

savagecommander

ok ok...explain that one to me- how does charging a lipo at 2c halve the life of the battery. i need facts.

BigTb17

It may not be as cut and dry as "charging at 2C halves the life", but charging at higher rates is harder on the battery. When charging at 2C you are forcing power back into the battery faster and it is harder on the internal chemistry of the batteries. It's impossible to quantify the exact detriment to battery life (maybe less than half, maybe more), but charging at higher rates will likely reduce overall battery life.

Newer batteries have different construction and chemistries that allow higher safe charge rates with less reduction in battery life.

savagecommander

ok- so why would that manufacturer advertise them a 2c charge? maxamps is saying they have cells that are 5c charge. whats the big idea? lipoo chemistry is different now and can handle higher charge rates or what? i think more research is in order.

BigTb17

As with most technology, Li-Po technology is advancing all the time. Better materials and construction methods provide better performance. If a battery is truely rated to be able to be safely charged at 2C then there will likely not be a great reduction in life (though, like anything, when used harder it won't likely last as long). However, as with the widely varying accuracy of a battery's "C" discharge rating across the industry, it's possible that a battery's ability to be charged at higher than 1C without reduction in life probably varies as well.

If it's rated for it, then it's very possible that you could charge your batteries at 2C without any issues. But it's just something to keep in mind.

burnineyes

Maximum cycles are generally rated at 0.25C, and the number of cycles a battery will last goes down as you go up on the charge rate and discharge rate.

A battery companies rating depends on the company and what they consider an acceptable loss of cycles. Of course the newer technology makes that number less and less so that they can market them as 2C or higher without concern of too short a battery life.

These numbers are just for an example and not accurate.

Battery A 2000mah- gets 1000 cycles at 0.5A charge rates
Battery B 2000mah- gets 1000 cycles at 0.5A charge rates

Battery A gets 850 cycles at 2A charge rates
Battery B gets 800 cycles at 2A charge rates
these are acceptable losses for both so both could be sold as 1C charge capable

Battery A gets 700 cycles at 4A charge rates
Battery B gets 550 cycles at 4A charge rates
Some companies may see 700 cycles as a reasonable amount of loss and market this battery as 2C capable
But battery B loses to much of its usable life at 2C so it can only be sold as a 1C

Again these numbers are strictly made up for explanation purposes and do not reflect actual batteries. But you can see that any increase in charge/discharge rates shortens the life of the pack.