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BATTERY

samtex

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2020
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Austin Texas
One mini 2 battery out of 3 allows only max charge to 50% (two indicator lights.) Since used in only 9 outings I do not understand why it will not fully charge. However, as a sidebar, In a long conversation lasting about 15-20 minutes, I neglected to protect batteries from the sun and the result is they got warm to the touch. So My question is could this battery have been affected such that it will not take a full charge? As a sidebar, After I return from an outing I charge batteries to 100% and place them on a tray for auto discharge. When I am ready to go out I check the status of my batteries and recharge for the outing. I also have a notepad to record the status of batteries by dates so that the batteries will not discharge less than 20 to 30%.
 
Heat is not good for a battery and even more so with a nearly full charge. It's possible this resulted in an OverCharge state which physically ruined the battery.

Regardless, the battery is a (one of many) Single Failure Point of your aircraft and if there is ANY type of question about the battery it should be removed from the Flight and used only for ground testing/upgrading etc. Any suspect battery should not go into the air any more.
 
I neglected to protect batteries from the sun and the result is they got warm to the touch...[edit]...As a sidebar, After I return from an outing I charge batteries to 100% and place them on a tray for auto discharge.
This is exactly what you should not do to Lithium-based batteries. Heat stresses batteries...and charging them while hot is about as bad as it gets.
As a sidebar, you are lucky you have only "killed" 1 of them.
 
Yep, that battery should definitely be permanently grounded.
With what ever damage it has, it might not even give that 50% of flight time with voltage possibly crashing down very suddenly.


As a sidebar, After I return from an outing I charge batteries to 100% and place them on a tray for auto discharge.
That's also recipe for premature death of them:
Lithium based batteries are no lead acid batteries and you shouldn't charge/store them always full just for the fun of torturing them.

Every time you push cell voltage above certain comfort zone, it starts chemical reaction accelerating cell degradation/capacity loss and the closer to max the voltage the faster it is.
(+remember that all chemical reactions are accelerated by heat)

You can extend usefull life time of any Lithium based batteries by not charging it to 100% unless needed.
Charging to say 80% lowers stress lot compared to "gauge to edge of red" charge.

Electric cars actually have their battery management system calibrated for not charging cells to full voltage to increase life span.
Laptops can also have such feature to avoid unnecessary battery wear in mostly wired/wall powered use.
And at one point Sony even added feature to its smart phones, which learns day's chedule and if phone is connected to charger at evening it stops charging IIRC at 80-90% doing final top up just at morning to minimize time spent at maximum cell voltage.
 
Thanks for the helpful advice which I will certainly pay attention to in battery maintenance. I was also advised that if any indication of damage not to use the battery. I cannot observe any damage as the battery appears normal and not swollen. They will not charge more than 50%. regardless of the time charging. Could I learn anything about battery damage using a connection without lifting off? I surely will not recharge batteries to 100% until the day before an outing. Three indicator lights is sufficient, right?
 

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