How long do LiPos last?

[heli227]

I have 11 E-Flight 25C 1S 150 mAh batteries that seem to be dying. Purchased them in January.

The symptom is that the power often cuts out on Nano CPX. This does not happen with new batteries. Happens on all 11 "old" batteries. Also, when flying Nano QX, the power slowly drops and the motors completely stop after about a minute.

I think I may have about 30 flights per battery. I called Horizon and they were not helpful. The couldn't tell me if the batteries should last longer of the they are not meeting the specs.

I took excellent care of them, charging at around 0.1 amp or 0.7C. I ran them down to 3.7-3.8v. (Except for on three occasions, when I accidentally a ran it down all the way to 0). I use a Hitec X1 charger.

Are my batteries dead? I'm not an expert on battery chemistry, but it seems like they are not delivering the required power.

How long do 1S LiPos typically last if you take care of them? I read that they can last for hundreds of flights...

Is there a way to diagnose this problem with a battery?

[CrashNburn420]

Running them down too far and leaving them fully charged will greatly reduce the life of a Lipo. I don't track my battery cycles on micros but I would guess I get an easy 100 cycles out of them.

[Supertuna]

I have some i still use in my planks that are 5 plus years old depends on the build quality and more so now days the brand.

[FlyBri3]

My experience with an 1 cell lipo is if you get 30 to 100 cycles out of them your doing great! They just don't seem to have the life expectancy of a larger lipo, not sure why but just seems to be the way they roll! LOL I would say your batts are toast! Just my opinion.

[jhamel]

It is my understanding that once you run a LiPo cell below 2.9v, the battery would be most likely permanently damaged with very little usable capacity.

Battery University offers a wealth of information on batteries.

[Mateyhv]

I think small lipos are more susceptible to ageing because of their higher IR. Thats my opinion, an unscientific one. However if you have discharger some of you lipos down to 0V and more then once, its no wonder they are permamently damaged even if they were new.

[Caveman5150]

I agree with the above. I have an assortment of 1s to 6s Lipos of varying mah, and the one that always go first, I mean in less than 9 months, are the 1-2s batteries..
I have yet to get 100 cycles out of one.... I dunno why but this is definately a pattern,

I have two 6s batteries that I have been using since Jan 2012 at way over 150 Cycles & they're still going strong..... I'd be happy to get 6 mos out of the 1s

Re-stating the above for effect...the worst thing you can do is use your batteries until the engine dies or almost dies. If you stop when your timer tells you & not when the engine sounds rough you'll get a long life out of them