[NSRCA-discussion] Battery discharge/storage question

[Scott McHarg]

For what it's worth,  I did just go online to see what others were saying.
 I found forums that said it's no problem and others that said don't do it.
 Of course, a lot of them that were "for topping off" were talking about
charging from storage and not truly topping off.  My comment was only for
topping off say, above 90+%.  I'm sure chargers still detect it but I'll
take my scolding and just do as he said.  Gaining <5% doesn't seem worth it
to me.


On Wed, May 8, 2013 at 1:29 PM, Jay Marshall <lightfoot at sc.rr.com> wrote:

> This is an interesting issue. I’d like to hear more justification for not
> doing it. Never heard it before or seen anything in the literature.****
>
> ** **
>
> *Jay Marshall*
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org [mailto:
> nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org] *On Behalf Of *Scott McHarg
> *Sent:* Wednesday, May 08, 2013 2:06 PM
> *To:* General pattern discussion
> *Subject:* Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Battery discharge/storage question****
>
> ** **
>
> I got scolded not too long ago for even suggesting it by a ThunderPower
> rep.  I wanted to top off because after a week, one of my packs had dropped
> down to like 94% (yes it was an older pack and had a little over 180 cycles
> on it).  I was told that topping off "could" cause damage to the packs
> immediately regardless of age.  It was a fairly stern warning.  Honestly, I
> didn't ask more because I was already hanging my head from the scolding.  I
> just said "Yes sir, sir".  :)****
>
> ** **
>
> On Wed, May 8, 2013 at 1:00 PM, Atwood, Mark <atwoodm at paragon-inc.com>
> wrote:****
>
> Okay, I'll bite. Why don't you want to top off the charge? I know a lot of
> people who insist on doing this even if they just flew the day before.
>
> Sent from my average intelligence  phone
>
>
> On May 8, 2013, at 1:44 PM, "Scott McHarg" <scmcharg at gmail.com<mailto:
> scmcharg at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> I haven't seen any issues with a battery left a full charge for a week but
> I wouldn't recommend longer at full charge.  Just make sure that you DO NOT
> top off the charge prior to flying.  I have started doing what Keith does
> as well which eliminates all concerns.  The worst part is having to wait at
> the field while you bring that battery back up to 50%.  Last one out has to
> lock the gates.
>
>
> On Wed, May 8, 2013 at 11:23 AM, Keith Hoard <klhoard at hotmail.com<mailto:
> klhoard at hotmail.com>> wrote:
> I take my batts to the field at 50% and leave the field at 50% charge. If
> I can't do that, then I discharge when I get home. My batts seem to last a
> long time.
>
> The (dis)charger is supposed to get hot, that is where the energy from the
> battery is going - into the heat sink. That's Ok, my PL 8 gets hot too.
>
> The PL8 can only discharge 100 watts by itself, but can do much higher if
> it is using "regenerative" discharge - dumping your LiPo's charge back into
> a lead acid battery. I don't know if the 10X has that capability or not.
>  Otherwise I'd just keep using the low discharge rate, or plan your flying
> day to end with a storage charge.
>
> Wow, that was a lot of typing to do on a phone!!
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On May 8, 2013, at 11:15, "Bob Kane" <getterflash at yahoo.com<mailto:
> getterflash at yahoo.com>> wrote:
>
> I have had to abort a couple of planned flying sessions so far this spring
> due to weather.  I have read that lipos should not be left at full charge
> for any significant length of time. So what is a significant length of time?
>
> Hours?  Days? Weeks?
>
> My Turnigy 10XS charger has a discharge/storage mode, but the maximum
> discharge current is 1 amp. It takes a couple of hours to bring a 10S pack
> down to storage level, and the charger gets pretty warm(!) during the
> discharge.  Up to now I have only worried about discharging the pack for
> long term storage.
>
> If leaving the cells fully charged for more than a day or so is bad, I am
> considering building a dedicated discharger, there are some pretty simple
> yet effective designs on RCU.
>
> Bob Kane
> getterflash at yahoo.com<mailto:getterflash at yahoo.com>
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> --
> Scott A. McHarg
> Sr. Systems Engineer - Infrastructure
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> ****
>
> ** **
>
> --
> *Scott A. McHarg*
> Sr. Systems Engineer - Infrastructure****
>
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-- 
*Scott A. McHarg*
Sr. Systems Engineer - Infrastructure
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