LIPO Battery Charging – Tables for Various LIPOs
Want to keep your drone flying longer? Continue to learn about LiPo battery charging…
Dean at Skylab Flight Systems has put together a really good series of how-tos on these batteries, this time following up with even more information on LiPo battery charging. If you missed the first two in the series, here is article 1 and article 2.
Charts for various LiPo batteries (a few 2S, 3S, 4S and 6S LiPos) are included below. If you have these specific LiPos the charts will give you the settings necessary to put in your charger for proper LiPo battery charging. If you do not have the specific LiPo listed these charts will show you the relationship between the cell count/voltage of your LiPo, capacity, watts and charge rate necessary to charge one LiPo or para-charge multiple LiPos.
Using the charts you can determine how many batteries with the same cell count and capacity (mAh) can be charged individually or multiple LiPos in parallel. The charger would be set at the amperage shown in the box at the intersection of the Rate row (1C, 2C or 3C) and Number of Batteries column for your chosen parameters. (See Table A below)
One suggested way to use the tables is to determine the maximum you can charge with a certain charger:
- Find the amperage that is at or just below the rated amps on your charger
- Look at the wattage for the chosen amperage.
- Make sure Amps(A) and Watts(W) are within the parameters of the charger being used.
- Look at the number of batteries heading at the top of the column.
- Look at the Rate of the row heading on the far left to see the charge rate.
If both the amps and watts are within your charger’s specifications, the LiPo battery or batteries can be charged at the amperage indicated within the box.
All watts values are rounded up.
Efficiency and input voltage losses due to the charger and/or the connections of your charging setup have not been taken into consideration in calculating the values in the tables below.
I recommend setting the charging amperage below the amperage output rating for your particular charger to allow for headroom when charging. i.e. if your charger is rated at 6 amps output do not charge batteries at 6 amps.
I para-charge at a 1C rate and do not recommend charging more than four (4) LiPos above 2C rate. The additional information in the charts is provided so you can see the relationship between the Amps, Volts and Watts as the number of LiPos connected in parallel and the charge rate increases.
FORMULA: Volts (V) x Amps (A) = Watts (W)
Remember to use the fully charged voltage in the above formula.
I para-charge at a 1C rate and do not recommend charging more than four (4) LiPos above 2C rate.
ALWAYS FOLLOW THE MANUFACURERS RECOMMENDATIONS WHEN CHARGING LIPO BATTERIES
NEVER CHARGE LIPO BATTERIES UNATTENDED
The information provided in the above article is intended as a LiPo battery charging guide only and not a substitution for seeking the instruction and guidance of the manufacturer nor is it intended to cover every aspect of para-charging LiPo batteries.
Happy Flying and remember to always Fly Safe!
Dino
@DinosDrones on Twitter
WORKMODE Certified Pilot
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