BASIC Definition of lipo terminology

Aug 05, 2008 4 Replies

Each cell in a lipo has a nominal 3.7 volts. The amperage will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.



Soooooooooo, a 4s2p 4,400 mah lipo battery breaks down as follows:


4 cells in series (providing 14.4 volts). (Each individual cell in this example, has 3.7 nominal volts AND 2,200 mah). The volts determine the power.

and


2 sets of the 4 cells in parallel. Each SERIES set of 4 cells would have 2,200 mah. The cells in parallel are to increase the amperage of the battery pack. The amps in a pack determine how long the pack will provide power. More amps, more flying time.


Now I will throw the curve ball.....When a lipo cell is FULLY charged it typically reads 4.1 - 4.3 volts PER CELL.



When calculating battery size for you plane use the NOMINAL voltage. For instance, 14.4 volts would be a 4S battery.



Hope this answers some questions


Ted:

If 3.7 x 4 = 14.8, why isn't a 4S battery 14.8 volts if we use the nominal voltage per cell as the starting point?

Harlan

The spec is stated at no load open circuit voltage. - 4.2 volts. A 4S will measure 16.8V ish. When running under load, the voltage reduces to 3.7V very quickly and that is the voltage that should be used for power calcs etc.

Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

Sorry, I was tired when I wrote this and my math was off. It should have been 4 cells in series = 14.8 volts.

Some of the other newbies were looking for an explanation of lipo terms.

I thought it was..

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