ericrw Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 As an avid electric flyer, I do have one frustration! Mainly due to the weather forecasts which predict bad weather for the following day. On hearing this I don`t bother charging my flight batteries and the transmitter. Only to find next day to be an ideal day for flying !!! Eric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 If the delay is only for a few days, I would just leave the Lipo charged. If I became worried I would just, put onto a storage charge. I must say though, I am reluctant to go to storage charge, as i have come to believe that it is the number of cycles that is important, as well as not storing for prolonged periods at full. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Hickson Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 I too wish the forecasters could guess with greater accuracy. I can't count the number of times I have charged and not flown and likewise not charged and could have! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 I always leave my li-pos fully charged. Not saying it's correct, but just sayin'...... tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 I cannot speak for the rest of the country, the forecast for the NW is nearly always pessimistic. The weather often being better than predicted. In one area in particularly they are pessimistic and that is with respect to rain. Although I do remember as a youth, the weather here would be grey, just 13 miles away, where my wife (then girlfriend) lived, it would be raining, sometimes quite heavily. In winter it would be cold at home, and snow would be around the Bury/Rochdale area. I have no complaints in general with respect to forecasting. I do not know about the rest of you, i have on the desk top both the Met Office and a Microsoft weather utility, which I refer to the day before and often on the same day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Haycox Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Like Tim I always leave my li-pos fully charged and ready to go. Nev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry Pollard Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Like Tim and Nev, my lipos are always fully charged. I have always done this and some of my 4S ones are 6 yrs old and still working 100%. Do I fly a lot, yes I do, twice a week 52 weeks out of the year. Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkippyUK Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Like some of the others, I leave my LIPO's at about 4.0 to 4.1v at all times and they're ready to go and I don't care about the odd 0.2v and it's associated reduction in capacity - I've got 3S cells 3 years old and haven't noticed any significant drop off in performance and they've been stored at over 4v at all times. I never tend to fly until the batteries are flat and swap batteries a lot - I have a lot of LiPo's Does anybody have firm evidence that keeping them at 90%+ harms them or is it like the old wives tales about NiCads and 'Memory' which I never experienced in over 15 years of flying and car racing?. I've read about 40% capacity loss after storage at 60DegC for a whole year but come on, this is the UK..... (nearer the 4% loss at 0-10DegC) I store my LiPo's in an unheated model room and I cycle the use of my batteries by labelling them when bought so I quess they're all used at least once a month during the summer and less during winter when the temperature in the room is maybe below 10DegC for extended periods but it does have an antifrost heater set a 4DegC. If someone has more than anecdotal evidence of harm then I'll just postpone re-charging the batteries as I re-cycle the numbers. Thanks for any feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 I have suspected that some of the issue with respect to Lipos and full storage revolve around the relationship of charge voltage and temperature. I have the impression that charging a Lipo to 4.2V, when cold say 0 degree, will have the effect of the cells voltage going beyond 4.2v when in a higher temperature, say 20 degrees. As the chemistry of the Lipo does not allow this, the result is some damage to the cells chemical structure. I do not know this is fact, just a conjecture I have reached, from reading some articles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 I fly quite a lot so I usually just keep them charged. It doesn't seem to have had any ill effects. BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Ellis 1 Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 I recently bought a Power tech Xdrive 6 charger, so together with my Bantam BC6, can charge 5 batteries in about 40 mins. I've then got a seven minute walk from the house to the field. So, if good weather comes along, or the wind drops late afternoon, I can get a session in at short notice. Sorry to sound smug! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken anderson. Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 eric........... ask the lad with the red coat on to bring you a 'fast charger' and that will be you prob solved...you will be ready for any forecasts that come along.... ken anderson ne..1.....lad with the red coat dept..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 16/12/2012 16:40:09: I fly quite a lot so I usually just keep them charged. It doesn't seem to have had any ill effects. BEB Ditto, especially as these days, they are comparitively cheap to replace if hey do start to lose capacity quicker than one likes. I suspect this however is due to either 1) Discharging ( in use ) too low ( guilty occasionally at the indoor flying) 2) Thrashing the life out of 'em with v high current demand ( guilty on several counts m'lord ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericrw Posted December 16, 2012 Author Share Posted December 16, 2012 Another query?? Should one leave a Transmitter connected to the Wall Charger, at all times when not in use ?? I normally charge the transmitter overnight, using the Wall Charge (or wall wart as Tim calls it!),if the forecast is good weather for flying next day. But then I get caught out if the forecast is wrong! Eric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott finnie Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 I normally plug mine in before i go to bed, on average thats 7pm, im then up at 6 for my morning flight and its charged nicely, i dont trust chargers to be left on all the time, i fly almost everyday come rain or shine, though i do remember leaving my old futaba skysport 6 plugged into the wall most of the time Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 I haven't seen any ill effects of leaving Lipos fully charged. My 6S packs are stored fully topped up and they still perform well after 2 years and are well used during the summer.( I always label my packs with their first use date from new.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Posted by Erfolg on 16/12/2012 16:11:14: I have suspected that some of the issue with respect to Lipos and full storage revolve around the relationship of charge voltage and temperature. I have the impression that charging a Lipo to 4.2V, when cold say 0 degree, will have the effect of the cells voltage going beyond 4.2v when in a higher temperature, say 20 degrees. As the chemistry of the Lipo does not allow this, the result is some damage to the cells chemical structure. I do not know this is fact, just a conjecture I have reached, from reading some articles. Store my Lipos in a very cold (but dry) garage never noticed the alleged voltage change or any deterioration. Aways bring the packs up to room temp if they've been soaking at near 0C though. Also worth keeping them warm in freezing temps over the field - I put a couple of the click type hand warmers in their box - keeps their performance up to scratch. Edited By kevin goodwin on 16/12/2012 19:25:21 Edited By kevin goodwin on 16/12/2012 19:26:33 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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