So I am more of a tiny whoop, FPV guy and don’t own a DJI and don’t think I ever will, anyway - I am curious about battery management as a lot of my stuff I picked up off a mate who got bored. Anyway Lipo batteries… what should I know about them? do’s and donts? Should I keep them in a fireproof container? Whats the deal when things get really hot? and when do you know to throw an old battery away?
Currently I have a variety of 1s, 3s, 4s batteries. appreciate any advice
Store at half charge, try not to keep fully charged or nearly flat for more than a day. Store in a lipo bag. Charge at 1c so if its 1500mah, charge no more than 1.5 amps. Run down to about 20-25% capacity on your quad (3.6v on hover is a good voltage to land).
Excellent thanks, that’s great to know especially the part regarding a lipo bag as I currently don’t do that… what does a lip bag do (sorry if that’s a stupid question?)
I dont have them either. They are just fireproof bags. Lipos shouldn’t spontaneously catch fire though. It’s when they are charging. Try to charge outside on a paving slab.
If they get puffy and the voltage sags a lot on punch outs, its maybe time to recycle.
I have 9 snapper6 lipos that I didn’t look after. They’re swollen, and give out after 10 seconds on a hover.
ok that’s good to know, lastly, what about overcharging???
I have a board which I use to charge my 1s and 2s batteries… so I check the numbers frequently as its soo easy to get lazy with stuff like this and I have my kids operating them so I give them a checklist as my mrs is lazy as fuck with stuff like this. So I like to drill the kids on how to charge etc and stuff when they flying supervised in doors but just not with me… my mrs takes care of the charging etc but like I say she is a nightmare
also what does leaving a 1s on full charge actually do to the battery???
Your charger shouldn’t overcharge it. There are 2 types of lipo - normal and hv. Unless the battery is labelled as hv, charge to 4.2v as normal. It should be automatic. Hv is 4.35 I think.
But yeah, overcharging at best will shorten the life of the battery. At worst, maybe catch on fire. And lipos go up quick and fierce. What charger do you have?
This lipo is puffed from keeping it at full charge. Its practically useless now. I think metal in the cell starts to bridge from negative to positive. Suppose it will be dangerous in the long run.
Oh and dont pop them. Discharge fully then maybe chuck it into some salt water for a few days to make safe.
We charge with a couple of these, we normally fly 3 drones at once in the house so we always get a about 12 batteries charging on the go,
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Charger-Board-Micro-Cable-Inductrix/dp/B073QNF8XX/ref=asc_df_B073QNF8XX/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309834322446&hvpos=1o25&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3252469700989794185&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045999&hvtargid=pla-377371894685&psc=1
thanks you’ve been really helpful - no more dumb questions from me!!
Are. Yeah I have one of those. Better just leave the batteries in storage after a fly. They haven’t got a storage function mode. Great fun in the house aren’t they. 1s lipos are dirt cheap anyway.
We all ask stupid questions. But they’re not stupid cos you need an answer. Use the lower 200ma charge rate.
Oh yeah forgot. When you have just used a battery, its warm. Wait till its cooled down before you charge it up again.
Thanks man, really helpful info!! just ordered some lip bags 
Hi.
Lipo bags are practically useless. They won’t prevent a fire spreading or anything better off charging in a safe place and never leave batteries on charge unattended.
Storage charge should work out to 3.8-3.85v per cell.
Temp wise lipos don’t like the cold so don’t leave them in the garage over winter (I did that a few years back and it cost me nearly £400 to replace all my lipos that were trashed)
You can charge some lipos at higher amps than 1c but doing so will reduce the number of recharges that the battery will accept so best practice is to do a 1c charge.
Never over charge your lipos. They will explode! It’s also worth noting that cheep chargers never are accurate so buy a decent charger and again never leave charging lipos unattended
A lipo should feel pretty solid when you squeeze it. If it’s puffy it will be slightly spongy. Again take outside discharge to 0v per cell and dispose. Lipos need to be taken to the tip for proper disposal and cannot be put in the normal rubbish (dispite people saying otherwise)
Also if you puncture a battery’s casing just discharge slowly outside and dispose of it. Lithium and water (including ambient moisture in the air are not a good mix)
When a lipo is punctured it won’t always go bang but may smell sort of sweet. If you smell it and it smells sweet dispose of it.
Remember lipos are a consumable like props if in doubt for any reason discharge and dispose. It’s not worth the risk to you or your loved ones!
If you have questions then let me know and I would be more than happy to write a detailed article
Dude those swollen cells you have need to be discharged to 0v slowly outside and then disposed of. Not worth the risk keeping them and certainly don’t try and fly them…
Yeah I know. Thinking about doing a science experiment on one of them…
