🦺General LiPo Battery Tips

This page will guide you through general battery tips and tricks to prolong your batteries' life span as well as exercise safety and caution when using LiPo batteries

LiPo batteries by nature can be generally considered "unstable" if not properly taken care of. Below are steps to follow and abide by in order to promote a long life span for the batteries and use them in a safe manner.

• Do not leave the battery fully charged for long periods of time. Leaving LiPos charged for long periods of time keeps a lot of energy stored inside of the cells. This not only gives "power" in the event of a combustion, but it also shortens the life of the cells themselves.

• Do not charge the batteries faster than manufacturer recommendation. Charge ratings are often referred to as "C", i.e. "charging at 1C". A 5,000 mAH battery charged at 1C would be 5A. 2C would be 10A, etc. Watts Innovations recommends charging all batteries at 1C. Charging batteries too fast can result in overcharging various cells and having an unbalanced battery.

• Always balance charge your batteries. Utilize LiPo battery chargers that have a balancing option and always balance charge your batteries. During the charging process is when the battery is the most vulnerable; failing to balance charge the batteries could result in one cell becoming overcharge and cause it to fail or combust.

• Do not leave the batteries exposed to heat (hot car, excessive sunlight, etc.) Leaving batteries exposed to direct sunlight for long periods of time can heat up the cells internally; causing swelling and possible combustion.

• Do not over discharge the battery beyond 3.65v per cell. Discharging the battery below 3.65v per cell damages the cells and shortens their life. Not only a shorter life span, but it can make the cells behave unpredictably. Such as discharging faster than the other cells, not staying balanced with the other cells and producing less power.

• Place the batteries at storage charge if not using them for more than 2-3 days. Storage voltage is 3.8-3.85v per cell. This is the optimal voltage for long term storage, as it is about 50% of the battery's total voltage. It is recommended to cycle batteries every month; however when storing the batteries for longer than a few days, it is recommended to discharge them to about 3.8-3.85v per cell.

If you are using the Watts Innovations 12s Ultra Light 16,000 mAH batteries (or any 12s LiPo with an AS150-U or XT90 connector), can you use CHEK to your advantage to quickly and easily verify the charge level of the battery itself. CHEK will allow you to determine whether the battery is at a safe storage voltage or not, as well as verify if the battery is fully charged and ready for flight.