Tony H Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Hi Guys, I have Overlander Sports lipos which have a charge rate of 2Cmax and a Loongmax which has a charge rate of 5Cmax. Does anyone charge there Lipos at more than 1C and what are there results? is it safe? does it reduce the packs life? Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamish Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 If a battery says that it can be charged at 2C or 5C how can it be unsafe to charge it at the rated charge? I charge as rated and as yet have to see any reduction in output. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony H Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 Thanks Hamish that is true but I have heard most people play safe and charge at 1C only regardless of what the pack claims. So if my Pack is 2C and 2200Mah I could charge at 4.4amps? and my other 5C 3000 Pack I could charge at 15amps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony H Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 How soon after a flight do you tend to charge, do you leave it say 10mins for the Lipo to cool down first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry Pollard Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Hi Tony If you charger is capable of charging at 15 amp then the answer to you question is yes However most of my Lipos are 5C ones, but I very rarely charge above 1C. Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatMc Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 To charge a 3s battery at 4.4A you're charger would need to have a greater than 55W capability & to charge 3s at 15A would need to be rated over 190W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Posted by Tony H on 17/01/2011 16:53:16:Hi Guys, I have Overlander Sports lipos which have a charge rate of 2Cmax and a Loongmax which has a charge rate of 5Cmax. Does anyone charge there Lipos at more than 1C and what are there results? is it safe? does it reduce the packs life? Tony Many of my Lipos say 5C on the packaging, but I still charge them at 1C. As they are mostly 4000mah+ then to charge them at 5C would mean 20amp charge rates, which is more than my chargers can accommodate and more than my leisure battery can usefully produce for any period of time. No thanks, I'm perfectly happy charging at 1c, with either two or three packs on the go at a time - one on charge, one ready for flight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony H Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 My charger says it's 2C capable but it's only a 50W charger. would it be possile to speed the charge up a bit at say 1.5C or 3.3amps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry Pollard Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I have 16 4000 4s lipos all are able to be charged at 5c but like Leccy says my charger will not put enough power to charge at 5c and having so many lipos I dont run out in a session. All are charged up as soon as I get home. I am able to charge 6 lipos at a time so it doesnt lake long to have them all ready for the next session Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry Pollard Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Details of charger would be handy Tony Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony H Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 it's the Logic Fusion elysium LX60B pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdy Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Posted by Tony H on 17/01/2011 18:03:28: My charger says it's 2C capable but it's only a 50W charger. would it be possile to speed the charge up a bit at say 1.5C or 3.3amps? Yes. But it may not be ideal as many chargers have a safety feature which stops them putting too much in, and you would be getting rid of that. But then again, some don't. Try telling your charger that your pack is 1.5 times the capacity you want to charge, and you will get 1.5 times the current (if the charger is any good...). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatMc Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Posted by Tony H on 17/01/2011 18:03:28:My charger says it's 2C capable but it's only a 50W charger. would it be possile to speed the charge up a bit at say 1.5C or 3.3amps? Tony, I have 3 different chargers. If I enter a current into any of them that will result in a charge rate greater than the max power the charger can handle the current is automatically limited to within the power rating. I think that your charger will behave in the same manner so that even if you entered say 4.4A the charger would limit itself to perhaps 4A or lower. Like Leccy I always only charge at 1C max as I have plenty of spare packs that are charged in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatMc Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Posted by birdy on 17/01/2011 18:19:43:Posted by Tony H on 17/01/2011 18:03:28: My charger says it's 2C capable but it's only a 50W charger. would it be possile to speed the charge up a bit at say 1.5C or 3.3amps? Yes. But it may not be ideal as many chargers have a safety feature which stops them putting too much in, and you would be getting rid of that. But then again, some don't. Try telling your charger that your pack is 1.5 times the capacity you want to charge, and you will get 1.5 times the current (if the charger is any good...). Birdy, if I understand what you're suggesting I think it could be dangerous. I don't see how it will increase the charge current but it would be removing one of the chargers' safety features.Fooling the charger into over-riding the max capacity could result in it continuing to charge a fully charged battery that's past it's peak performance & possibly a little out of balance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony H Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 Just had a look at my charger again it says on it charge rate 0-6amps (2c Lipos max). so in theory this would mean I could charge my 2C 2200 at 4.4amps and my 5C 3000 and 6amps? Does charging the battery faster result in any long term damage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eck Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Most chargers, as well as a maximum charge current, also have a maximum wattage rating, which limits the current they can provide at higher voltages.This means that, although your (typical) 5A capable, 50W max charger can supply 5A to a 2s (8.4V at capacity) Lipo, it will only be able to charge a 4s (16.8V at capacity) LiPo at 2.9A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony H Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 So what would th max be on my lipos as they are 11.1v 3s? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatMc Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Posted by Tony H on 17/01/2011 20:57:37:So what would th max be on my lipos as they are 11.1v 3s?11.1v is the nominal operating voltage (3.7v/cell). The fully charged figure is 12.6v (4.2v/cell) So 50W/12.6v = 4A.But in reality this is only approximate. Your charger might settle on a figure slightly above this during the initial charging if the battery is fairly well discharged then drop below this most of the time as the charge progresses Edited By PatMc on 17/01/2011 21:37:22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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