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Electric Stunt => Gettin all AMP'ed up! => Topic started by: Motorman on October 15, 2012, 11:47:29 PM
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I see that you have been doing lots of research and that's a good thing!!! The RCgroups.com battery and charger section is one of the best places for you to continue your research as there is tons of great info on there and you will probably find the answers to every one of your question. You ask 2 excellent safety related questioned that even though they have been answered before on here are worth repeating.
A lipo should NEVER EVER EVER be charged above the manufactures recommended rates!!!! If you don't know that rate contact the manufacturer or the dealer that sold you the lipo.
A LIPO SHOULD NEVER EVER GET WARM OR HOT WHILE CHARGING!! If it does, something is wrong and you have potential for a fire!!!!!!
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How can you tell if you are getting all the flight time you can out of your battery?
You can measure voltage after flight. If the volatage is under 3.7V per cell, then you are going too deep (if the battery is heathy - means no damaged cell etc). Also you should controll recharged capacity. You should not charge back more than 80% capacity.
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As an adder to Igor's comment, to determine the percentage you are putting back, divide the number of mAh that goes back from your charger and divide that by the total mAh of the battery. This will give you the percentage. For example: 2140/3300 = 64%. Hope this was helpful.
Ron
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Your battery is specially made for RSM by Longre Power. In ECL we simply do not require any battery above 25-30C. It makes no sense to me to pay more for a higher "C" rated battery so that is why I have negotiated the special manufacture of the 25C rated battery.
Your battery is a 3 cell (11.1V) 3300 MAh Li-PO. You should charge the battery at 1C. In the case of your battery that is 3.3 amps. Charging at this rate is safe so that is what I would strongly suggest that you do.
The easiest way to determine how much of the charge your flight is using is to purchase a neat little unit called a "Capacity Controller". I have one of these in my flight box and would not be without it. You simply hook up your battery to the controller and it will read each cell and also give you a total capacity figure (as well as a % figure). RSM offers this tool at $24.95.
Regards
Eric Rule
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Motorman:
Like Will D said, follow the Manufacturer's recommendation. EVERY Lipo pack I have shows the max charge rate on the label. It is typically shown something like 20C/1C or 25C/3C or something like that. (see examples below) If the marking is not obvious see if you can find it in the fine prine on the labels.