Charging issues

[Trickelitrick]

I run my kraton using 2x3s 5000mah lipo....always takes about 1hour to charge them on 5a... no changes done no extraordinary events just starting today when charging after about 50-60mins charger gets "stuck" on 0.1a and keeep going like that for more than 60minutes extra...quite annoying and i cant figure out why so if anyone got any tips id be glad to try them in pic you see charging time and this normally takes about 50ish minutes with same settings and everything.

 

[Trickelitrick]

Forgot pic lol

 

[Dustin Mustangs]

Your battery has a bad cell. The last stage of charging a lipo is when your charger attempts to balance each cell to exactly 4.2v. As you noted, it does this using a small fraction of the original charge rate. A healthy battery should take 5 or so minutes to balance. Bad batteries take significantly longer or might not ever balance. This is how most lipo fires start so I would recommend not charging it again.

 

[Trickelitrick]

Your battery has a bad cell. The last stage of charging a LiPo is when your charger attempts to balance each cell to exactly 4.2v. As you noted, it does this using a small fraction of the original charge rate. A healthy battery should take 5 or so minutes to balance. Bad batteries take significantly longer or might not ever balance. This is how most LiPo fires start so I would recommend not charging it again.

Ok good to know thank you very much i'll replace asap

 

[yonzariq]

Do you have a lipo cell checker?
Thay way you can check each cell individually.

But the charging does finish?
Most of the times this means the cells are balanced again, but if it happens every time you charge this one lipo the lipo might be bad.
If it happens with all lipo's I would try another charger as your balance board might be bad.

 

[chevys10zr2003]

I run my kraton using 2x3s 5000mah LiPo....always takes about 1hour to charge them on 5a... no changes done no extraordinary events just starting today when charging after about 50-60mins charger gets "stuck" on 0.1a and keeep going like that for more than 60minutes extra...quite annoying and i cant figure out why so if anyone got any tips id be glad to try them in pic you see charging time and this normally takes about 50ish minutes with same settings and everything.

I don't believe that you have a bad battery personally. I have a hitec x4 charger and 8 batteries. Since they were all new, every single battery has taken an hour and 45 minutes doing a balance charge and doing like you said going to really low amps towards the end but around 50 to 60 minutes to do a regular charge. Normally I do a balance charge on them before I take them out to play since I have time and then when I am out running I don't do a balance charge, I do a regular charge. I see in the picture that you did a balance charge on them since it says "BAL" in the lower left. The next time that you run them down try doing a regular charge so it says "CHA" in the lower left and see how long it takes to charge.

I am thinking that before when you had 50-60 minute charges you were either on charge or fast charge and now you switched it to balance charge and are now having longer charge times.

But as yonzariq suggests I also recommend that you get a lipo cell checker. They aren't that much money and if the battery is still good and you don't throw it away because of that it will pay for itself saving one battery.

 

[Dustin Mustangs]

I don't believe that you have a bad battery personally. I have a hitec x4 charger and 8 batteries. Since they were all new, every single battery has taken an hour and 45 minutes doing a balance charge and doing like you said going to really low amps towards the end but around 50 to 60 minutes to do a regular charge. Normally I do a balance charge on them before I take them out to play since I have time and then when I am out running I don't do a balance charge, I do a regular charge. I see in the picture that you did a balance charge on them since it says "BAL" in the lower left. The next time that you run them down try doing a regular charge so it says "CHA" in the lower left and see how long it takes to charge.

I am thinking that before when you had 50-60 minute charges you were either on charge or fast charge and now you switched it to balance charge and are now having longer charge times.

But as yonzariq suggests I also recommend that you get a LiPo cell checker. They aren't that much money and if the battery is still good and you don't throw it away because of that it will pay for itself saving one battery.

Charging a lipo without balancing is bad practice. Charging a lipo that is slow to balance without balancing is flat out dangerous.

Don't take my word for it if you don't want to but at the very least look into it for yourself with a Google search before you try this. Info on lipo fires and how they typically happen is all over the place if you look.

 

[chevys10zr2003]

Charging a LiPo without balancing is bad practice. Charging a LiPo that is slow to balance without balancing is flat out dangerous.

Don't take my word for it if you don't want to but at the very least look into it for yourself with a Google search before you try this. Info on LiPo fires and how they typically happen is all over the place if you look.

I have looked into it and Lipo fires can really happen at any time. They can happen just sitting on a shelf. All I'm saying is that I have 8 batteries, from 3 different manufacturers, have tried them on my charger and two of my friends chargers as well. Since new, ALL 8 have been slow with balance charging. Now it could be possible that I got 8 bad batteries or that all three quad battery chargers are bad but I have never had a problem with any of them besides that. I'm not saying that you are wrong and I'm not saying that you're right. When it comes to Lipo batteries it's just like asking people what is the best car to get. You will get A LOT of varying opinions and not really any of them are 100 percent always correct, unless of course you design Lipo batteries for a living. I was just giving my experience with them and my opinion.

 

[WoodiE]

Charging a LiPo without balancing is bad practice. Charging a LiPo that is slow to balance without balancing is flat out dangerous.

Don't take my word for it if you don't want to but at the very least look into it for yourself with a Google search before you try this. Info on LiPo fires and how they typically happen is all over the place if you look.

I would agree. While you don't HAVE to charge your LiPo every time with a balancing board, I wouldn't charge to many times in between using one.

 

[yonzariq]

I would agree. While you don't HAVE to charge your LiPo every time with a balancing board, I wouldn't charge to many times in between using one.

At home I always balance charge them, when out on meetings and such and I need to charge, then I won't but will check them with my lipo checker before and after running them.

 

[chevys10zr2003]

At home I always balance charge them, when out on meetings and such and I need to charge, then I won't but will check them with my LiPo checker before and after running them.

And that's what I always do as well. I balance charge with the balance boards before I take them out and storage charge with the balance boards when I'm done but while I'm running I just do the standard charge with the balance boards and check them with a cell checker and they are always within 0.00v to 0.02v of each other. Like I said above though, everybody has their own way of doing things and not everybody is going to agree.