RC Battery & Charger

Posted by Philipsen Saleh on May 16th, 2021

RC LIPO BATTERY GUIDE: EXPLANATION, SAFETY, AND CARE

Without LiPo batteries, quadcopters and also drones most likely wouldn't exist. Why? Since no other battery offers as much power while supplying high quantities of present in so little of a plan. This means: longer trip times, better maneuverability, and also much faster flying. To put it simply, more fun. Nonetheless, there is a lot of confusion about what terms mean, just how to appropriately bill lithium polymer batteries, as well as how to be risk-free when making use of batteries. In this lipo battery overview, you'll get: A thorough explanation of battery specifications-- Nominal and cut-off voltage, capability, C-rating, interior resistance as well as even more Exactly how to raise the life of your lipo battery What to try to find in a lipo battery charger How to utilize a lipo battery charger Why equilibrium charging is important The distinction between different kinds of battery adapters Proper lipo battery safety and security and treatment A reference of usual lipo battery terms So, allow's begin with battery specs.

Battery Voltage

The initial specification that most individuals consider when picking out a battery is the voltage. As pointed out in my article on electric motor Kv continuous, the speed of your motors is symmetrical to the voltage you provide to them so higher voltage batteries are capable of turning motors much faster than reduced voltage batteries. The voltage of your battery will identify the type of ESC's as well as motors that you will require to utilize. Lipo battery voltage is specified by the number of cells in collection. Each cell has a nominal voltage 3.7 V. Different battery companies mark their lipos in different means but the majority of people have a tendency to refer to their batteries as 1ST, 2S, FIVE, etc The following voltage graph reveals each battery classification and also the matching voltage. 1S = 1 cell in series x 3.7 V = 3.7 V. 2S = 2 cells in collection x 3.7 V = 7.4 V. THREE = 3 cells in series x 3.7 V = 11.1 V. 4S = 4 cells in collection x 3.7 V = 14.8 V. FIVE = 5 cells in series x 3.7 V = 18.5 V. SIX = 6 cells in series x 3.7 V = 22.2 V You may also see lipos that use a letter "P" to mark voltage. For example, 2S1P or 2S2P. This is not as usual with quadcopter batteries yet you might see it with LiPo's suggested for other sorts of RC lorries. " P" represents the number of cells in parallel. 2S1P suggests "2 cells in collection and also 1 cell in parallel." If a battery doesn't have a "P" then it is assumed to be "1P." So 2S1P as well as 2S coincide point. 3S2P suggests "3 cells in collection as well as 2 cells in parallel." This battery would certainly have a total of 6 cells with 2 identical groups of cells with 3 cells in collection in each of those teams.

Optimum Voltage and Cut-off Voltage.

Take into consideration the 2 battery voltage contours in Figure 1. An "suitable" battery and also an "real" battery are revealed. An optimal battery would certainly be capable of supplying constant voltage for the whole time it is releasing till it is completely discharged. Real batteries do not act this way. Rather they begin at a higher voltage and after that their voltage will slowly reduce as the battery is released. So while an excellent battery may have a voltage of 3.7 V during the entire time it is discharging, an actual battery will start at the optimum voltage of 4.2 V As it releases, maintain lowering. Exactly how much will it decrease? If you allow it, it will totally discharge down to no volts. Nonetheless:. Battery producers generally advise you do not discharge your battery listed below a certain minimum voltage. This minimum voltage is called the cut-off voltage. Several makers advise the cut-off voltage for lipos to be 3.0 Volts. Practically speaking, this suggests you must set your voltage alarm system to something more than 3.0 V to ensure that you can safely land your quadcopter prior to it drops listed below 3.0 V Many individuals set their alarm systems to 3.3 V.

Battery Capacity.

Battery capability is measured in Amp-hrs or milliamp-hrs. It gives you an indication of the total power that a battery can keep. Generally, the greater the ability, the longer your battery will last. Making use of the gas storage tank analogy, a high capability battery has a large gas tank that permits it to keep a lot of gas. The most effective method to recognize the capability of lipos is to consider exactly how it is gauged. The general treatment is to take a battery and also find out what consistent current triggers the lipo to drop listed below the battery cut-off voltage in exactly 1 hr. The capacity is after that simply that existing times 1 hour. So a 3000 mAh capability battery will drop from complete voltage to the cut-off voltage in 1 hour if you discharge the battery at 3000 mA (3 Amps). 3 Amps x 1 hour = 3 Amp-hrs = 3000 mAh. There is one vital point you need to keep in mind ... The ability of a battery lowers as the current draw rises. This suggests that if your ability is 3000 mAh for a consistent 3 Amp present draw, after that your ability will be less than 3000 mAh if you attract a constant 6 Amps or a constant 30 Amps. I've seen a great deal of descriptions of capability that do not inform you this. You will often see it written that if your battery's ability is 3000 mAh, then that implies you can attract 3 Amps for 1 hr, 6 Amps for 30 mins, or 30 Amps for 6 mins. Generally this is not the case. In order to tell just how current impacts capability, you require to check out a lipo battery discharge curves. A lot of good battery datasheets will reveal different discharge curves for various constant present draws. This figure shows the discharge curve of an ONE, 1700 mAh, 35C battery (extra on what "35C" suggests later on). Each line represents a various continuous current (42.5 A, 47.6 A, 51.0 A, etc.). This figure reveals us that for a given cut off voltage the discharge ability lowers as the current draw rises. In this example, for a cut off voltage of 3.0 V, the capability at 1.7 A (1C) is 1700 mAh as well as I would certainly approximate the ability at 42.5 A (25 C) to be about 1630 mAh as well as the ability at 68.0 A (40 C) to be regarding 1460 mAh. So the 2 vital points to bear in mind regarding capability are:. Capability informs you the quantity of existing that the battery is capable of delivering for 1 hour. If you release your battery at greater currents than that, your capacity drops. ( Note car battery charger - asda -hrs is not a step of power. Energy is measured in Watt-hrs. If you presume that the battery is discharging at continuous voltage, you could compute power from that. However, as we discovered in the previous section, batteries do not discharge at continuous voltage.).

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About the Author

Philipsen Saleh
Joined: May 12th, 2021
Articles Posted: 4