Long-Term Storage Voltage - 3.8V / Cell

[Piper J3]

With winter approaching I’m wondering if there is a better way to condition MA2 batteries for long-term storage.

I fly electric RC planes and helicopters and have several LiPo chargers that can cycle batteries and also set the voltage to 3.8V per cell for long term storage. See the photo below...

Right now, I quit flying the MA2 with about 10 minutes flight time left in the battery. It would be nice to connect the battery packs to a special charger to bring each individual cell to storage voltage.

Any ideas?

 

[SmilingOgre]

I don't worry too much about the mA2 batteries. They have been doing a nice job of discharging within the first few days of charging to a reasonable level for storage. I may tap them once a month just to ensure that they are not discharged to a very low level. If perhaps one doesn't discharge properly I would no longer trust the battery logic and not use it. I agree it would be nice to be able to do a closer inspection but I have not seen a reasonable way to do that.

 

[TS_Thomas02]

I was targeting 3.8 volts per cell and hit it at about 3.77 to 3.85 or so for storage, so it's good to hear that I wasn't far off. I use the fly-more attachment that turns each battery into a power pack to charge up an iPad and bring them right down to this zone of 3.8v. I've got 7, 8 & 9 cycles on my three cells. Hoping to get many more cycles in the future. I'm a big fan of Airdata battery tracking. I guess we'll see if I get good life out of these things. Right now, I'm monitoring a slight increase in voltage deviations on the #3 cells of all three batteries after each flight.

 

[WithTheBirds]

Having many years experience with dumb LiPOs myself I must say it was a big change moving to my first experience with the smart batteries. It’s so convenient to get a rough idea of SOC from a quick press on the power button I just check occasionally, anything above one solid light and I’m happy to leave them be. It’s a delight not having to routinely stick a pile of packs on the charger to keep them (and me) happy.