Recommended Lipo Batts for Multi-Rotors???!?

[Maverick888]

Hi all....

For some reason, my lipos for my quad doesn't quite last. In fact after slightly more than 10 cycles my 4000 and 5000 3S pack showed signs of bloating already. Not alot but definitely bloating.

It's strange...I did all I can, from i) motor / prop / esc / auw matching to the diligent battery maintenance after every fly...it still continue to bloat.

I know it sounded silly, does lipo brand matters? (Will it be better to get more branded batts like Thunder Power?). I ordered most of my batts from HoxxyKxxg.

I will post pix of my bloated batts later

Any advise from anyone?

[Aramid]

Hi all....

For some reason, my lipos for my quad doesn't quite last. In fact after slightly more than 10 cycles my 4000 and 5000 3S pack showed signs of bloating already. Not alot but definitely bloating.

It's strange...I did all I can, from i) motor / prop / esc / auw matching to the diligent battery maintenance after every fly...it still continue to bloat.

I know it sounded silly, does lipo brand matters? (Will it be better to get more branded batts like Thunder Power?). I ordered most of my batts from HoxxyKxxg.

I will post pix of my bloated batts later

Any advise from anyone?

I have Turnigy Nano-Tech LiPos (4000 3S, 2200 3S), RevoElectrix (3700 3S), Tahmazo (3200 3S) for 2 quads but never had any bloating. The battery packs hardly even get warm both under use and while charging. What's your charging settings? I only charge mine at 4amps max, no more than that.

[bozora]

I use Revolectrix with no bloat issue.

[Maverick888]

I have Turnigy Nano-Tech LiPos (4000 3S, 2200 3S), RevoElectrix (3700 3S), Tahmazo (3200 3S) for 2 quads but never had any bloating. The battery packs hardly even get warm both under use and while charging. What's your charging settings? I only charge mine at 4amps max, no more than that.

I used Voltron 3S 2800 and 5000mah and Zippy Flightmax....I charge at a conservative 1C, meaning if its 5000mah I charge at 5A and if its 4000mah I charge at 4A. But it still bloats!!! I check my amp draw...it's definitely within range.

[perdification]

Did you overdischarge? How low did you discharge your cells to? Maximum I allow my cells to discharge to is 3.700V. I would recommend 3.800V if you would really want to preserve the lifespan of expensive Lipos (yes, some of you might disagree, but 3.8 is being very very conservative). Also, are your cells balanced? Full charge voltage is 4.200V, any higher and you'll get bloating as well. Also, are you using the correct C rating battery? Make sure all these are right, and it should solve your bloating issue.

[Fly999]

How long do you keep your fully charge Lipo before your flight?
Fully charge Lipo tends to bloat if keep for too long never use.

[Maverick888]

Did you overdischarge? How low did you discharge your cells to? Maximum I allow my cells to discharge to is 3.700V. I would recommend 3.800V if you would really want to preserve the lifespan of expensive Lipos (yes, some of you might disagree, but 3.8 is being very very conservative). Also, are your cells balanced? Full charge voltage is 4.200V, any higher and you'll get bloating as well. Also, are you using the correct C rating battery? Make sure all these are right, and it should solve your bloating issue.

I did my best to ensure i
i) dont over discharge
ii) always balance my batts (this is done via my Schulze Charger...I dont think i need to do anything) during charging.
iii)And definitely use the correct C.

I realize that my voltron cells are more susceptible to bloat vs my zippy.

May I know what other brands of batts can I get locally? I may want to try some other makes. Thanks

[Maverick888]

How long do you keep your fully charge Lipo before your flight?
Fully charge Lipo tends to bloat if keep for too long never use.

I fly every Sat and Sun and I'm assuming that I dont need to discharge it for storage. Will it bloat within a week?

[elmosan]

I found out the hard way long time ago when I left a small lipo 3s 1000mah. Didnt see it and was in the car for the weekend. Yes luckily nothing happened, except that it ballooned. It wasnt even discharged or anything. Very dangerous, I was lucky.

So another factor could be storage temperature.

[elmosan]

I did my best to ensure i
i) dont over discharge
ii) always balance my batts (this is done via my Schulze Charger...I dont think i need to do anything) during charging.
iii)And definitely use the correct C.

I realize that my voltron cells are more susceptible to bloat vs my zippy.

May I know what other brands of batts can I get locally? I may want to try some other makes. Thanks

you could always give john a call if you want to try revolectrix. I have a couple of 3S 2200 and after many cycles, they are problem free so far.

[rayonnair]

I did my best to ensure i
i) dont over discharge
ii) always balance my batts (this is done via my Schulze Charger...I dont think i need to do anything) during charging.
iii)And definitely use the correct C.

I realize that my voltron cells are more susceptible to bloat vs my zippy.

May I know what other brands of batts can I get locally? I may want to try some other makes. Thanks

10 cycles is way too few for batteries of any brand to be exhibiting any sort of bloating. Either the battery is defective or you are doing something wrong.

- You say you don't over discharge. As perdification asked, what is your voltage when you land? Mine ends up between 3.7 and 3.8v, and if it has gone near 3.7 that's "danger zone" territory for me.

- How many mah do you add back when you charge it up? Don't discharge more than 80% of the rated capacity of the battery. E.g. a battery is 1000mah capacity, don't use more than 800mah. Your charger ought to tell you how many mah went back in.

- You say you "definitely use the correct C". Is this for flight use or for charging? For flight use, how do you know? What is your quad's amp draw? If it is a HK or Voltron battery I would cut the pack's continuous discharge rating in half and take that value as the "true" continuous discharge rating.

- You also mention that you don't storage charge the batteries. Don't do this. Always put your batteries in storage charge. Your charger ought to have a setting, general consensus is that the batteries ought to sit at 3.8 - 3.85v for storage purposes. I never leave my batteries for more than 1 night in any other state of charge than storage.

FWIW, I've used the Zippy, Turnigy and Voltron packs of varying sizes 2-4S, and not a single one has bloated due to anything other than my own silly mistakes (2 damaged to crashes, 1 bloated because C rating not suited for application, 1 charge too fast, 2 plug the plugs the wrong way! ).

[Aramid]

Lucky me, I guess. I've crashed and deformed Lipos (that still works well), left some of them fully charged for a week, accidentally drained some of them to as much as 90-97% a few times (calculated based on what went in according to the charger), and they all still provide a consistent and stable output and flight times with none of them bloating at all. I log every charging detail in an Excel sheet (e.g., starting voltage, charging current, ending voltage, mAh charged, flight time, and notes on what I did during the flight). Since I don't have telemetry, I time all my flights and the sheet helps me have an idea how long each flight should go based on historical data.

[Maverick888]

you could always give john a call if you want to try revolectrix. I have a couple of 3S 2200 and after many cycles, they are problem free so far.

Thanks Elmosan...I have heard good comments bat revolectrix lips...I will try it. But I just check their web...it seems all their cells are out of stock!!!!

[elmosan]

Thanks Elmosan...I have heard good comments bat revolectrix lips...I will try it. But I just check their web...it seems all their cells are out of stock!!!!

No problem. Oh, I usually call him, then go down collect. AFAIK, they join up the packs upon receiving order. After that I simply head down to their office to collect and pay.

[Maverick888]

Hiya Folks ....here are some of my packs from HK. They looked well fed,