How many "uses" may I expect from my lipos?

[mwillack]

I know they don't last forever. How many times might I expect to use them before they fail and how will I know when they need replacing? Thanks in advance for your help...:)

[HPSOV2]

Depends how you use them, how you charge them, and how you store them.

If you stuff it up 1 cycle.
If it all goes well, 100 cycles.

[andrewt1971]

It also depends on who manufactured them. Some packs i've had struggled to get past 100 cycles, my current packs for my trex450 just got there 415th cycle this morning.

[redgiki]

If you use top-quality Korean-made packs, you can get up to 400+ cycles at 20C discharge with 3C balanced recharges.

If you use middle-of-the-road cheap Chinese/Hong Kong-made packs, plan on maybe 100-300 at substantially less than 20C. Trouble is, with the exception of Kokam and a few others, you can't necessarily be sure that your pack assembler is using the same cells from the same manufacturer consistently. The assemblers shop around for the best deals...

There are only a small handful of LiPo manufacturers on the planet. I read a report a year ago indicating that there were only 3 factories in the world that manufactured cells appropriate for model aircraft use, but I am having trouble finding the link.

[devious17]

I have tried most reputable lipo brands, with care and diligently timed flights none of my lipos gave me more than 60 cycles, on average 50 cycles is what I can derived from all my lipos.

I am guessing it is the weather that has some form of influence on the lifespan of lipos here. On a good day , the temperature is clocked at 32 to 34'C doing entry level 3D manouvers.