de-charging lipos

[buster1]

I am new to Lipos - I understand how to charge Lipos and balance - but when is the appropriate time to decharge them - where does this fit within the maintenance regimine of handling Lipos?

Thank you,
Jeff

[Skiddz]

Not necessary. No "memory" like NiCds have. Just don't ever discharge more than 80% of the packs capacity or 3.0v/cell and you'll be fine.

[cudaboy_71]

i wouldnt say it's COMPLETELY out of the maintenance cycle.

once a year i like to cycle my packs to see how much capacity they've lost. then, i can readjust my timer so that i'm only draining 85% of the available capacity.

aside from that, there's no reason to cycle/discharge a lipo.

[F1Atom]

Question: Is ok not to charge your pack right after a 10 min flight and leave it discharged for a week or two?

[cudaboy_71]

i wouldnt. the cells will discharge slowly on their own. if you dip below 3v per cell, damage is likely to occur.

however, it is not recommended to leave them fully charged for extended periods either.

some of the newer chargers have a 'storage charge' the fills them to 50% capacity if you plan on not using them for longer than 2-3 weeks. but, it's not that hard to just put them on the charger for 15-20 minutes either.

[F1Atom]

So... I should leave my lipo charged right after I fly? But not charged for more than 2 weeks. What if you fly for 5 mins instead of 10 mins (half capacity) and leave it as is. Would it damage the lipo? I ask because I go to college and I'm not sure when I'm going to get to fly again.

[cudaboy_71]

maintaining them can be a hassle.

no, you shouldnt charge them right after you use them either. the core temperature needs to come down to room temp before charging. that can take 30 minutes or so.

still, don't get overly wound up about all this. nothing's going to happen to them immediately if you leave them discharged for a little while. but, there is a danger of damaging them if they EVER go below their low voltage end of the spectrum.

after a flight on a pack, i usually try to make sure it has been recharged, or maintenance charged within 24 hours. so far, no issues.

if you pull 1/2 capacity out of the pack (a short flight) that should be fine. but, 10 minutes is long for any lipo i've ever used short of a fixed pitch micro. be careful on your flight times...over drawing the packs is WAY worse for the packs than just about anything else you can do to them.