Accidently charge lipo with Nimh rate.

[devious17]

I forgot to change the charge rate for Nimh and went ahead to charge a lipo, no error throughout the charging and it was fully charged and that is when I realised my mistake.

Question, have I done any damage to the lipo by charging it with an Nimh rate?

[TomC]

I forgot to change the charge rate for Nimh and went ahead to charge a lipo, no error throughout the charging and it was fully charged and that is when I realised my mistake.

Question, have I done any damage to the lipo by charging it with an Nimh rate?

Do you mean that you actually charged it as a Nimh pack? If you did, I'm suprised that it didn't puff, or even blow up!!!!

Sounds like you were very lucky. I'd probably check the individual cell voltages to to see how they are. You may find that one or two are a lot lower, and hence, probably damaged.

Mate, you HAVE to be more careful!

Cheers,

Tom C

[devious17]

Do you mean that you actually charged it as a Nimh pack? If you did, I'm suprised that it didn't puff, or even blow up!!!!

Sounds like you were very lucky. I'd probably check the individual cell voltages to to see how they are. You may find that one or two are a lot lower, and hence, probably damaged.

Mate, you HAVE to be more careful!

Cheers,

Tom C


Thanks TomC

That is exactly what I did. I plugged the FP lipo back into the V Balancer to check individual cell and all 3 cells checks out, as if nothing happened.

I will check it again with the multimeter just to be safe

[Jafa]

I would not expect the cells to go out of balance

What was the charging current setting?
As long as that was not too far over the 1C rating then it would not hurt the pack,
except for charge termination - that's where it could turn to custard (overcharge & bang)
But this did not happen, so I'm wondering why
When I charge my LiPo's they hit full voltage long before they are finished charging
And what part did the balancer play in this?
In balancing did it trip the charger with a false peak?

You're certainly very lucky

[TomC]

Thanks TomC

That is exactly what I did. I plugged the FP lipo back into the V Balancer to check individual cell and all 3 cells checks out, as if nothing happened.

I will check it again with the multimeter just to be safe

Sounds like at least you had the pack plugged into the FP balancer which turns off the charger when any cell gets above ~4.21-4.23v. Again, very lucky mate.

Jafa, it has nothing to do with the c rating, it's all about voltage. A Nimh or Nicad program will charge the battery until the voltage 'peaks' for a few msecs and then stops. A Lipo/Li-ion program will charge to a certain volts/cell (4.2 for lipos, 4.1 for li-ions), then hold voltage and reduce current until a very low amp input (~0.2 amps). The only thing that seems to have saved this guy was that the in-line balancer he used is smart enough to stop the charger if any cell gets above ~4.21v. Most new in-line balancers like FP V's and Hyperion lba10's do. Other balancers, like blinky's which do not operate inline may provide a warning beep or two, but will not actually turn off the charger.

Mates, this is REALLY important to understand. Failure to do so could result in a VERY bad accident!

Cheers,
Tom C

[devious17]

I was charging at 1.2A that is the max I would do on any of my li-po. I hovered the FP 2170 until the voltage regulator buzzed, landed and checked the voltage , it read 3.64, 3.60 and 3.71

Plugged it into the balancer once again to equalise the voltage then stick it back into the charger with the V balancer. Still waiting for it to stop charging.

Could you tell me the Lipo composition has changed in anyway due to this mistake?

I will remember to make the proper selection, thanks TomC .