Charging Li-fe Rx packs!

[Bill Gibson]

So I started going thru the boats im going to race next weekend in Brandon and I want to stick a new Li-fe rx battery in my 20 hydro......and it occurred to me that I have no idea how to charge it! I have chargers that charge life batteries, but I have no idea about the amp rate or anything! HELP!

 

[rhomodel]

Just to be sure I would charge at a low C. As the battery is 800mAh, I would charge at 100 mAh: which would be around 9 hours if it was to be totally drained. Usually they are at 40% when new, so still about 400-500 mAh to pump in. Don't forget to hook up to a balancer so both cell are charged and voltaged alike.

 

[Danny King]

For receiver packs lipo or life I just stick with
.800 mah charge at .8amp
1000 mah chrge at 1 amp
1500 mah charge at 1.5 amp
2500 mah charge at 2.5 amp
5000 mah charge at 5.0 amp
Some can be charged faster but all should be safe at this rate.

 

[Bill Gibson]

Just to be sure I would charge at a low C. As the battery is 800mAh, I would charge at 100 mAh: which would be around 9 hours if it was to be totally drained. Usually they are at 40% when new, so still about 400-500 mAh to pump in. Don't forget to hook up to a balancer so both cell are charged and voltaged alike.

Thank you sir!

 

[Bill Gibson]

For receiver packs lipo or life I just stick with
.800 mah charge at .8amp
1000 mah chrge at 1 amp
1500 mah charge at 1.5 amp
2500 mah charge at 2.6 amp
5000 mah charge at 5.0 amp
Some can be charged faster but all should be safe at this rate.

Thanks so much Danny! Appreciate it!

 

[ALLAN YUEN]

Don’t set on Lipo must change use “ LiFe ” on the charger

 

[Will Gallagher]

What Allan said!!!

 

[Daniel's Racing]

Please be careful and safe.

Charging batteries can be the most dangerous aspect of owning and using batteries but really doesn't have to be.

Improper settings is dangerous but even with proper settings if something is going to go wrong it could happen during a charge cycle.

Only charge when you are present in the room on a non-combustible surface with no combustibles close by.

Not all chargers are the same. Be sure you know how to operate your charger.

A good understanding of what you are doing is important. Reading and understanding the manual is a first step.


Please note,

Some chargers to get to the LiFe mode you must go into the main menu and change the per cell voltage from 3.7 volt per cell to 3.3 volt per cell then when you scroll through again you will see LiPo mode is gone and now it has a LiFe mode there to choose.

This messes with people because they know their charger is LiFe compatible and instead of getting in the manual they assume LiPo must be the setting and make a very bad and dangerous mistake.

Be certain you are in LiFe BALANCE mode too. Not just LiFe CHARGE. If it isn't in BALANCE it won't balance even if you plugged in the balance cable.

 

[Rudy Formanek]

A $10.00 battery balance voltage checker that plugs into the balance port helps keep tabs on each cell. A worthy addition to your pit box if using lithium batteries, life or lipo.

 

[Daniel's Racing]

A $10.00 battery balance voltage checker that plugs into the balance port helps keep tabs on each cell. A worthy addition to your pit box if using lithium batteries, life or lipo.

Just do not use these for testing capacity on a LiFe battery.

Everyone I have ever seen/used will not read correctly. Whoever designed/programmed the program in them thinks a LiFe holds charge voltage like a LiPo does. They don't.

30 minutes off the charger and they settle down to nominal pack voltage so the testers say a fully charged LiFe is at 78% to 83% capacity when the voltage is at 6.66 to 6.68 volt which is 100% full capacity.

Those capacity testers are programmed for 100% to be the 7.20 volt that is used by charger to charge a 2S LiFe when that is irrelevant to what the pack will be in a short time after coming off a full charge cycle.

Keep in mind you never use voltage to judge capacity at anything below fully charged on a LiFe battery. You would not know if you were at 90% or 10% capacity as they only loose a few tenths of a volt during that period.

 

[gilbert galli]

Daniel, excellent explanation, I use reception batteries in all my boats and also in the transmitter and I have the same observations

 

[Bill Gibson]

Thanks for chiming in Daniel as they are your packs! I did what you said to do and all was well! Will you be getting or making any more of the 800mah packs?They fit perfectly in my .20 hydro! Again many thanks!

 

[Ronnie King]

I need some 800’s for my .21 also DP!

Thanks,

Ronnie King
NAMBA #1223

 

[Rudy Formanek]

Just do not use these for testing capacity on a LiFe battery.

I use mine to keep tabs on balancing both off charge and after use. Seen a few life receiver battery failures, all were from one cell going bad, could have been caught with a little more care.

 

[bermudadude]

i fix electronics and a major problem is premature battery failure. low/slow charging causes all the problems. they swell and all sorts of issues.
if u have any type of charger more than $30 these days there should be no issue auto charging a small reciever type cell.
u basically need to charge with at least 50% the amp rating .
u never want to charge ANYTHING that takes like a whole day to charge unless its a gel car or boat battery.

i know its nothing to do with this but as a public service i tell everybody to throw away those little square chargers that came with ur iphone up to jus recently. 1amp chargers are useless

 

[Mike Hughes]

For receiver packs lipo or life I just stick with
.800 mah charge at .8amp
1000 mah chrge at 1 amp
1500 mah charge at 1.5 amp
2500 mah charge at 2.5 amp
5000 mah charge at 5.0 amp
Some can be charged faster but all should be safe at this rate.

Yepper like Danny says. 1C charge rate has work great for the last 20 years or so. The newer batteries are able to take on more amps but I still charge at 1C rate.
Mike

 

[Tom Foley]

Yepper like Danny says. 1C charge rate has work great for the last 20 years or so. The newer batteries are able to take on more amps but I still charge at 1C rate.
Mike

Always ...

 

[SayMikey]

I have always charged life rec. batteries at 1c. I have packs 10 years old and as good as day I bought them

 

[Grimracer]

Life is weird.. you can charge it at 5C and it just does not care.. Most of the time I (most of us) have no real need to "top them off that fast". The typical battery leads are the "push gasket" anyway.

So.. if you have 22G or 24G leads.. you don't want to push them past 1.5A anyway!

Grim

 

[Daniel's Racing]

Thanks for chiming in Daniel as they are your packs! I did what you said to do and all was well! Will you be getting or making any more of the 800mah packs?They fit perfectly in my .20 hydro! Again many thanks!

I need some 800’s for my .21 also DP!
Thanks,
Ronnie King
NAMBA #1223

Bill and Ronnie,

Not sure when I will have the 800's again. Just placed a order but availability is not good on them right now. I will try again when I order again.