Am I Charging Too Quickly??

[LuMan]

I';ve had a bit of a surf around the old ';tinterwibble, and can';t see anything adverse about my current charging set-up, but I thought I';d check in with the more knowledgeable lot here on the forum...

I';ve got a couple of Floureon 11.1v 3S 25C 2200mAh packs, which I charge through my Imax B6AC (v2) charger. All goes well and the packs charge up beautifully and give me about 16 mins flight time out of my STOL fixed-wing.

The thing that';s baking my melon at the moment, is that these things are hitting full charge in about 35 minutes. I';m not complaining. It';s good that they charge quickly. But am I stressing them out a bit by doing this?

Unfortunately I can';t find the original instructions for them, and the Floureon website doesn';t provide copies. I do know that my charger kicks off charging them at 2C, which is above the ';rule of thumb'; approach of 1C.

Should I manually drop the charge rate to 1C, or revel in my time-saving approach to refuelling the packs??

[LuMan]

A bit more info...

I';m now charging the 2nd pack at 1C (2.2A). The cells were showing 3.4v each, and the charger reported the ';Fuel'; at 5%

It was 14:42 when I set it off.... Let';s see how long it takes...

[LuMan]

Well, as you';d expect, at 1C the packs took 1 hour to charge.. well, 1:08 to charge, but I';m not worried about the 8 minutes. I';ll keep my charging rates to 1C unless I get a battery that specifically boasts a higher charge rate.

You live and learn 

[hoverfly]

Boring old fart, but I charge all my batts at 1c and balanced, some are 4 years old ,a bit puffed but still OK.

[Slayer23]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm here goes another convo down the pan

[guest325]

I always have and always will charge at 1C, some of my Turnigy blue 3S2200 25C packs are nearly 5 years old now and are still in good condition; speaks for itself!

[LuMan]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm here goes another convo down the pan

Slayer - you legend! I actually didn';t get any double entendre from hoverfly';s post until you mentioned it! 

As for hoverfly and Darrell - thanks, chaps. I';ll be a good lad and keep charging at the proper rate. 

[hoverfly]

Now I';m confused,   and worse still the ratties have stolen  my conducting  rubber pad .

[nate80]

The quality of the battery has a lot to do with how long they';ll last when charged at a greater than 1c rating. Those floureon batteries are decent enough to charge at 2c without any real issues. They';ll actually accept up to 5c (not that I';d recommend it).

I always balance charge my lipos, and generally at 1c, but 2c is fine if I';m in a rush. It may reduce the life of the battery (number of available charge cycles and maximum capacity) EVER so slightly, but I';m ok with loosing a few seconds more flight time over a 36-48 month period and buying a new battery every 3-4 years rather than every 4-5. I';d rather spend a few pence more in the long run in order to have an easier and more enjoyable life.

[atomiclama]

I charge every thing at 2A coz I can';t be ar$ed to change it.

[hoverfly]

I charge every thing at 2A coz I can';t be ar$ed to change it.

Ampist..

[LuMan]

Thanks for the feedback, chaps. I think I';ll err on the side of caution and charge at 1C. I reckon that I can be well enough organised to give myself 1 hour charge per pack (or thereabouts). 

[atomiclama]

Ampist..

Don';t start  ::)

[hoverfly]

Thanks for the feedback, chaps. I think I';ll err on the side of caution and charge at 1C. I reckon that I can be well enough organised to give myself 1 hour charge per pack (or thereabouts). 

The charge time will be slightly less if you don';t discharge below 18/20 %..

[apollo7]

This thread begs the question for me as i am still getting to know my new Overlander charger, i put a 4s lipo on and set to 4s, then set the amps to what the lipo is so for a 6600 i set to 6.6, all seems right

[LuMan]

Yep, ties in exactly with my approach, apollo. Effectively charging at 1C. Does it take about an hour to charge? (It should do  )

[apollo7]

takes a bit longer for the 6600, about 1 hour 20 at a guess