How do I charge my LiPo Battery?
The first step to charge your LiPo battery is to figure out what voltage and current settings you will need to charge at. You can find that information on the label of any of your MaxAmps batteries. Select those settings, then plug in your main lead and balance lead, make sure balance charging is selected on your charger, and you are good to go! If you are interested in charging at higher rates, we will talk about that later on in this article.
The most important rule about charging is:
Batteries should NEVER be left unattended while charging. Now there are a lot of different reasons for this, but the main reason is that charging and discharging are the most dangerous times when using a LiPo. It’s the most likely time you can over discharge a cell, overcharge a cell, or charge a damaged battery which are the main causes of failure with a LiPo. Make sure you are constantly monitoring your battery during the charging process and never leaving the batteries charging unattended. And that leads us to our second point.
What settings should I use on my charger?
Be sure that the Lithium Polymer charger settings are correct for the battery pack being charged – both voltage and current settings. Select LiPo as the chemistry, the correct voltage, and the correct current for your specific battery. All MaxAmps LiPo batteries can be charged up to 5C. 5C is a multiplier of the capacity or milliamps of the battery. For an example if I had a 4000mAh MaxAmps battery and I wanted to charge it at 1C that would be 4 amps, 2C would be 8 amps, 3C would be 12 amps, 4C would be 16 amps, and 5C the max charge rate would be 20 amps. You can charge MaxAmps LiPos anywhere from 1C to 5C, the lower the rate you charge the longer it will take so if you charge at 1C it will take longer than charging at 5C. If you have questions about what rate you should be charging your battery, feel free to contact our battery tech team for help.
What is balance charging? Do I need to do it?
You must use a balance charging system otherwise, you risk your pack becoming severely out of balance over time, which will significantly decrease the lifespan. Balancing is making sure all the cells within the battery are in a close voltage range and are being charged and discharged at the same rate. Plug in your balance lead to your charger and make sure balance charging is selected on the charger.
Also, be sure that you have the correct polarity when connecting battery packs to a charger or into your application.
RED is POSITIVE (+)
BLACK is NEGATIVE (-)
What voltage should I charge up to?
In most cases you do not want to charge above 4.2V per cell. Some LiPo battery companies will tell you to charge above this rate for extra performance but this will lower the life-cycles of the battery. There is a trade-off for higher performance and capacity in exchange for lower life cycles.
Also, at full charge, especially above 4.2v per cell, the battery has the most stored energy. If a fully charged battery has the most potential for a large LiPo fire.
What voltage should I discharge down to?
You never want to discharge under 3 volts per cell! It is dangerous to go below this voltage because it can lead to thermal runaway, and at the very least will permanently damage your LiPo. We recommend a landing voltage of 3.5v to prolong the life of LiPo’s.
If you have any other questions check out our FAQ for more detailed information. If you can't find what you are looking for don't hesitate to contact our battery tech team for help and they will get back to you right away.
