Lipo storage volts

[Phil Green]

 

Edited January 16 by Phil Green

[i12fly]

Well, just to be awkward, I charge indoors at < 1C but watch over them like a mother hen. I've got aquarium thermometers on each so I can see if the temp is rising. I store at 4.0 volts per cell or thereabouts and yes it might lose a bit of life but some of mine are from 2016 and 2020 and still going strong. It means that I can charge up the night before flying in about 20mins per two on my 2 channel charger. During winter and I'm not flying for a couple of months I store them nearer to 3.8 volt per cell. They are stored in a brick garage, when the weather is freezing, like now I've got a couple of light boxes to keep them warm. These are two metal biscuit tins with 13W bulbs in them, the lipos sit in metal boxes on top and keep the temperature about 6 to 15 degC depending on outside temp.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

We’re 52 weeks a year down here in the balmy South Midlands Area. We have a slightly heated clubhouse to retreat to though. 

[GrumpyGnome]

We're 52 weeks of the year here in the frozen North too.  We don't need no heated clubhouse - we're real men (even the women!) 🙂

 

I charge my LiPos indoors in very cold temperatures, and store them in fireproof containers in the boilerhouse so they don't get too cold. 

 

The advent of balance chargers must have made charging orders of magnitude safer. Previously, I had 2 fires whilst charging with an incorrect number of cells selected - outside on a flagged area next to he garage. In those days, I rarely flew much in the winter.

[leccyflyer]

I think you are probably correct on the increase in safety with the introduction and adoption of balance chargers with auto-detection of cell numbers. A couple of caveats to that though - it also coincided with some orders of magnitude increase in the numbers of folks using lipos for their models. Secondly I do get a bit concerned when I read of folks with cells that are charging to >4.2v/cell, especially when the pack is also rather unbalanced. It can happen - I retired at first one, then two of my previously bulletproof Turnigy Reaktor field chargers last year when I noticed -because I check - that they were intermittently not terminating  the charge until all cells were at least at 4.2v/cell, even where that resulted in one cell going higher than that. It didn't happen every charge, or even very often and it was on a couple of older packs, but I couldn't trust them.

[GrumpyGnome]

Yes, good advice to check the chargers.

[Fly Boy 3]

Thanks lads , great info. Some background on me. Been flying and 

building for over thirty years, all from plans and am an ic nut,lol.

      I have powered glider with brushed motor, (two cell lipo only.)  built one elect model and obtained a second hand foamy. Neither has flown until better weather.     
       Disposed Lipos (correctly) a s I did not know how to look after them and new ones inthe post. I had read lots of info on charging and now dis charging and only charge at 1c never unattended. They will be stored in lipo bags in out door shed.

            I did read on line of battery supplier that at a charge, change connectors to own requirements. Any one know which one ?   Thanks again for all your help. FB3