Lipo discharging options.

[Shazz4321]

How does everyone go about discharging Lipos that they haven't used?

On a good day I will run everything until I have nothing left and then do the usual storage charge routine when I get home. However on a bad day where I break everything in the first 5 minutes or life gets in the way I am stuck with a bunch of fully charged 1-4s packs (from drones to X-maxx) that I need to discharge.

I have an HTRC T240 (which is awesome) but that maxes out at 2A so it can take over a day to discharge a few sets of 4S 8000mah packs and I just don't have time to babysit them like a good responsible Lipo owner should so I end up just leaving them and then the HTRC times out.

In the constant hunt for more toys I have noticed that most chargers have a hilariously low discharge rate (Some <10W) so that doesn't help.

So I think my options are the AOKoda Discharger which honestly seems so old fashioned hooking up halogen light bulbs to discharge a lipo and seems a little unsafe or the ISDT line of dischargers (100\200W) which don't appear to balance them like the AOKoda does.

So some questions,
1. What does everyone do to discharge their Lipos?
2. Can you parallel discharge (with the appropriate precautions obviously) with say the ISDT 200 and has anyone done this. I have the board for it and understand the usual issues with keeping it capacity and cell count matched.
3. Is Balancing actually as important when discharging? I get that your Quad\truck doesn't but if I am buying something I want to find the best option.
4. Is there a better charger that actually has a decent discharge rate?
5. Am I just being impatient and should use the time I spend babysitting my lipos to reflect on my poor choice of Traxxas that just broke after 5 mins...

Thanks.

 

[Brandon]

I use the maylibet smart discharges a12. Balance discharge and quick.

 

[Vedak]

I use an ISDT 200W discharger. It is true that it doesn't balance it, but I treat it like running the car. So I'll discharge it to my desired cutoff voltage. Then let it settle for 15-20mins, and throw on the charger for a balance/storage charge.

Haven't tried parallel discharging before, never occurred to me. However the way I do things, works like an assembly line- so it's just one at a time.

I haven't tried using my actual charger to discharge before, but I believe it's rated to 10amps normal. And up to 40amps regenerative. I found it more convenient to have a separate discharger.

It's not necessarily babying, the slower you discharge the healthier your battery will be imo. However most of us don't want to sit for hours on end, keeping an eye on the battery.

 

[FlipSide]

The standard answer here will be to buy another truck! ?

 

[Shazz4321]

I use the maylibet smart discharges a12. Balance discharge and quick.

"Maybe she's born with it... Maybe its Maylibet"? (Sorry... that's my first thought)

Seems like an OK unit that in my travels and I also can't find where to buy it. (I'm Aussie so Amazon is basically no go here)

I use an ISDT 200W discharger. It is true that it doesn't balance it, but I treat it like running the car. So I'll discharge it to my desired cutoff voltage. Then let it settle for 15-20mins, and throw on the charger for a balance/storage charge.

Haven't tried parallel discharging before, never occurred to me. However the way I do things, works like an assembly line- so it's just one at a time.

I haven't tried using my actual charger to discharge before, but I believe it's rated to 10amps normal. And up to 40amps regenerative. I found it more convenient to have a separate discharger.

It's not necessarily babying, the slower you discharge the healthier your battery will be imo. However most of us don't want to sit for hours on end, keeping an eye on the battery.

The ISDT 100\200 seems to be a decent pick and strange that it's out there on its own in terms of options. A separate discharger also makes sense to me.

What is your charger that has the 10A discharge rate? Regenerative discharging is tricky as it mostly just moves the problem around.

The standard answer here will be to buy another truck! ?

That is my preferred option. However I can hide a new charger\discharger from my wife a little better.

 

[Vedak]

The ISDT 100\200 seems to be a decent pick and strange that it's out there on its own in terms of options. A separate discharger also makes sense to me.

What is your charger that has the 10A discharge rate? Regenerative discharging is tricky as it mostly just moves the problem around.

The 200 in particular is nice, because of the bluetooth feature. I can monitor it while I do something else nearby.

The other reason for a separate discharge unit, is just in case something fails. Rather lose that unit as opposed to my nice charger.

Regenerative seems like a feature I'd use, if I was powering the unit with a lead acid battery from the car. But all of my charging is done at home.

My charger is an FMA Powerlab 8x2

 

[arrma_tigger]

For 2S packs .. 12V GM parking light. . Plug it in, check it in 30 mins.

 

[5AFE CRACKER]

I just put mine on its stand connect the battery and giver some throttle action while also checking for any unusual behaviour also turn on my light kit and test steering then I check voltage with this little guy.

 

[fpvmiller]

I have a total of 4 of these. I combined two for a single 300w discharger setup that I use for parralell discharging.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ET33R5S/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_UDC1Eb69SMPTS

I need to take a pic of it. I added fans to it also that acts as another discharge load and cooling.

 

[Shazz4321]

I have a total of 4 of these. I combined two for a single 300w discharger setup that I use for parralell discharging.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ET33R5S/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_UDC1Eb69SMPTS

I need to take a pic of it. I added fans to it also that acts as another discharge load and cooling.

Yeah I am torn between these and the ISDT line. This looks like a re-branded AOKoda (it even has it on the pic )

I just find it so old fashioned having halogen bulbs and mounting them in something to make them safe etc but it is crazy cheap... Could swap them out to resistor banks... I like your idea of adding a cooling fan as well... That's kind of good thinking.

 

[Vedak]

Nothing wrong with old fashioned if it still works. I have a Samsung Note 8, it's currently out of date. But my favorite phone is actually a flip phone I use for work.

 

[Shazz4321]

Nothing wrong with old fashioned if it still works. I have a Samsung Note 8, it's currently out of date. But my favorite phone is actually a flip phone I use for work.

Yeah I get your point. I actually like how they've done it. Simple, clever solution to a problem. Maybe its just about the fiddliness of having to deal with hot light bulbs sitting around batteries and mucking around with having to rig something up to keep it safe. I may get one to play with either way as they are around the $30AUD mark... With the ISDT its at basically plug and play.


All I want is a fully functioned, easy to use, fancy, cheap, Bluetooth enabled, wifi, high capacity, charger, discharger and balancer... Why is that so hard to find... ?

 

[Vedak]

Understandable, that's where I went ISDT. It was more convenient for me. It's not everything you listed, but the 200 model is bluetooth.

 

[razorrc]

I use the maylibet smart discharges a12. Balance discharge and quick.

Me too. Whatever you do, I don't think it's a good idea to use the T240 as a discharger. Discharging is really hard on a charger because it's converting the energy into heat, and those chargers aren't the best made for that purpose. A separate discharger will get the longest life out of your charger.

 

[Shazz4321]

Me too. Whatever you do, I don't think it's a good idea to use the T240 as a discharger. Discharging is really hard on a charger because it's converting the energy into heat, and those chargers aren't the best made for that purpose. A separate discharger will get the longest life out of your charger.

Yeah good point, never really thought of that... It maxes out at 2A each channel so not a massive amount of heat but still...

 

[nino]

If I needed a discharger I'd probably go with a bunch of wire to make a yuuuge resistor, and a low voltage alarm.

The reason most chargers have poor discharging performance is that you have to dissipate the heat somehow (and a lot of it), and they're simply not designed for that.

 

[Shazz4321]

For the people with the AOkoda. Can you set it to fully discharge (so to 0V)? I have a couple of dead, dropped cell and puffed packs that I should probably safely dispose of and thought this might be a good way as well?

Follow up Question, has anyone swapped out the halogens for a resistor bank setup?

 

[fpvmiller]

The aokoda will discharge to low volts (I think 3 lowest) but not 0.

I use pc fans to discharge lipos to 0 volts. Connected to the main lead.

 

[Shazz4321]

The aokoda will discharge to low volts (I think 3 lowest) but not 0.

I use pc fans to discharge lipos to 0 volts. Connected to the main lead.

PC fans are your solution to everything aren't they! ?

Is this your pc?

 

[Vedak]

Looks that will double an a desktop fan as well.