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Maximizing the life of the tiny LiPos ???

I am flying planes and helicopters that take the new tiny little LiPos, from 70 mAh to 150 mAh at 3.7 volts.

I already know that the most important thing it to make sure that they are not discharged too much. I use a timer for this.

I was told that it is not good to leave them in the charger. Also I have read that the best storage charge is 50%. I don't know how to do this with these tiny little batteries.

E-Flite said to simply keep them fully charged, and recharge them once a month if in storage. They also said that they should be charged at least until the charger flashes every

20 seconds.

Does anyone here have any more ideas about extending the life of these tiny LiPos?

Reply to
Peter Olcott
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For Li-Polys, the consensus seems to be to store packs at about 85% of peak. That works out to about 3.85V per cell.

Reply to
Tom Minger

(1) I seem to recall that all the stuff that I read said 50% charge, perhaps I am remembering incorrectly. (2) What is the best way to determine the voltage of the little tiny 70-150 mAh batteries?

Reply to
Peter Olcott

With a volt meter. But 1/2 voltage isn't 1/2 charged -- 1/2 charged means that you've sucked out half of the total amp-hours that the thing can hold. Pull a LiPo down to 1/2 voltage and it's toast.

Reply to
Tim Wescott

Where do I get a voltmeter that will work with the tiny little cells?

Reply to
Peter Olcott

Your confusion confuses me. Any old voltmeter will do, as long as you can get their probe tips on the wires.

Try Radio Shack.

Reply to
Tim Wescott

I was able to make an adaptor for my Watts Up watt meter. It seems to work very well when the battery is fully charged. When the battery is nearing its cut-off the LCD display gets dim.

What is the recommended minimum voltage for these LiPos to maximize their lifetime?

Reply to
Peter Olcott

Y'know, I'm drawing a complete blank. Battery chemistry is battery chemistry though, the voltage is invariant to size -- currents and capacity scales with size, but the voltage is a consequence of the chemistry which does not change. So whatever is recommended for regular LiPo cells is what you want to follow for the teeny ones.

Reply to
Tim Wescott

I will guess that 3.66 volts is reasonable, and conservative. I am pretty sure that this was the most conservative number that I have encountered.

Reply to
Peter Olcott

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