Basic Lipo care and feeding

[trillian]

OK, I am currently building (albeit slowly) two electric helicopters.

I have 5 LiPos but as yet I have not used them yet or charged them or anything.

If I am not going to use a LiPo right away should I partially charge it ? or Fully charge it? or ?

I know somewhere I also saw something about 'breaking in' a LiPo, is this a generally accepted thing and if so how is it best to do it?

One more thing, I have two chargers that I got with heli kits. One is an align RCC-3CX, the other is a Gaui Ga-003. I know there are much better chargers around, so should I ditch these chargers right from the start or if I use them now and get a better charger later could I shorten the LiPo life by using them?

Thanks,
-T

[Pinecone]

a) I would get a better charger that tells you how much you put in and balances on every charge.

b) Lipos come charged to the proper level for long storage, the manufacturer has no idea how long they will be in shipping, sitting on store shelf, sittin gon your shelf, etc. The proper long term storage charge is 3.8 - 3.85 volts per cell, which is 50% charged.

c) Many people take it easy fo rthe first 3 - 5 cycles, discharing no more than 50% and not pulling heavy amp draws. Not sure if it helps, but it can't hurt.