lipo charging question 4.15 or 4.20 for max charge?

[kevinjulieevan]

hey guys, i recently got a new charger and noticed the factory default for max charge was 4.15 volts per cell and when i asked around some folks seem to think this is "better" on the life of a lipo battery. i've always charged to 4.2 volts per cell for max charge and now store my lipos at 3.8 volts per cell. any other folks out there have an opinion on this one?
of course i'm sure my lipos would last much longer if i just kept them at storage voltage and never ever used them!
k.t.

 

[gyro]

hey guys, i recently got a new charger and noticed the factory default for max charge was 4.15 volts per cell and when i asked around some folks seem to think this is "better" on the life of a lipo battery. i've always charged to 4.2 volts per cell for max charge and now store my lipos at 3.8 volts per cell. any other folks out there have an opinion on this one?
of course i'm sure my lipos would last much longer if i just kept them at storage voltage and never ever used them!
k.t.

I have my Hyperion 615 duo charger set to 95% of total capacity, which works out to be about 4.15 volts per cell, as I've also heard this keeps the battery health better, and also takes about 10 minutes less per battery of charge time.

-G

 

[SnowDog]

I charge mine all the way up to 4.2...not sure if it really makes a difference, but that's just my opinion.

 

[wedoitall]

yea i always charge mine full.

 

[Ohio AV8TOR]

So what is the difference in flight time?

 

[ka9fax]

I have my Hyperion 615 duo charger set to 95% of total capacity, which works out to be about 4.15 volts per cell, as I've also heard this keeps the battery health better, and also takes about 10 minutes less per battery of charge time.

-G

Sounds good, i might also do this, but im wondering the same thing, can u tell that u lost any flight time?

 

[Ohio AV8TOR]

I have my Hyperion 615 duo charger set to 95% of total capacity, which works out to be about 4.15 volts per cell, as I've also heard this keeps the battery health better, and also takes about 10 minutes less per battery of charge time.

-G

So what is the difference in flight time?

can u tell that u lost any flight time?

Gary enquiring minds want to know I have been reading about this but have not talked with anyone who has been doing this long term.

Some quotes from RCG
More than a few set their chargers to charge Lipolys to 4.15V per cell as a compromise between full,longer life and faster charging / balancing.. Everydayflyer

FWIW, many of us deliberately terminate charge at 4.1-4.15V/cell as doing so has been empirically proven to extend the number of useful cycles for lipolys at the expense of a few seconds of flight time. mrforsyth

This is why I charge LiPos only to 4.15V. I heard that the military, where dependability counts even more, charge them to only 4V or so. Maybe a little more. Julez

If you want maximum life expectancy, charge as LiIon. Every 0.1V less doubles the life expectancy. Julez

 

[gyro]

Sounds good, i might also do this, but im wondering the same thing, can u tell that u lost any flight time?

Gary enquiring minds want to know I have been reading about this but have not talked with anyone who has been doing this long term.

Some quotes from RCG
More than a few set their chargers to charge Lipolys to 4.15V per cell as a compromise between full,longer life and faster charging / balancing.. Everydayflyer

FWIW, many of us deliberately terminate charge at 4.1-4.15V/cell as doing so has been empirically proven to extend the number of useful cycles for lipolys at the expense of a few seconds of flight time. mrforsyth

This is why I charge LiPos only to 4.15V. I heard that the military, where dependability counts even more, charge them to only 4V or so. Maybe a little more. Julez

If you want maximum life expectancy, charge as LiIon. Every 0.1V less doubles the life expectancy. Julez

I have been doing this "long term" for at least a year now. I really like this feature, but I only use it on my 4s and above batteries. The 3s 2200 size charge pretty quick regardless, and they're more affordable to replace as needed.
With my 4, 6 and 8 (2x 4s) packs, I charge all of them to the 4.15 or 95% of total capacity. I've not noticed any shorter flight times, with a mininum of 6 minutes flight team on each of my planes.

So... when I'm spending $50 or more per battery, I do what I can to preserve them: I charge to 95%, I store at 3.6-3.7v per cell when not in use, and I only charge at 3c max. It works for me.

-G

 

[Jwmav528]

I have been doing this "long term" for at least a year now. I really like this feature, but I only use it on my 4s and above batteries. The 3s 2200 size charge pretty quick regardless, and they're more affordable to replace as needed.
With my 4, 6 and 8 (2x 4s) packs, I charge all of them to the 4.15 or 95% of total capacity. I've not noticed any shorter flight times, with a mininum of 6 minutes flight team on each of my planes.

So... when I'm spending $50 or more per battery, I do what I can to preserve them: I charge to 95%, I store at 3.6-3.7v per cell when not in use, and I only charge at 3c max. It works for me.

-G

I'm a lot like Gyro. On smaller, cheaper packs, I treat them as if they're liquid fuel. I use them and beat on them and really only concern myself with being safe with them. Luke's RC (Glacier distributor) is 2 miles down the road and if I need a pack I can always run in real quick and get one for $20. I still buy them less often than glow fuel (don't judge me for flying classic pattern) and we all know how much that costs. This is the first time that I've heard about this charging method for packs and am seriously thinking about it now for more pricey lipos. Does it work well? Do you charge it as a LiIon or do you just set your terminal voltage to 4.15v/cell?

 

[gyro]

I just set my charger for 95% total capacity, which has the same effect as charging to 4.15/4.16v per cell.

-G