Is anyone else plagued with cells going down in lipo packs?
I have been using them for about 6 years now, mostly for RC aircraft but also DIY LED cycling lights. They dont have a hard life with me, occasionally getting a 10C discharge but usually much lower. I usually set a discharge limit of 3.3v but rarely get to it. They are charged on good chargers at a maximum of 1C but usually 0.1C up to 4.2v
Have just had another one go down in a 4s 5000mah, this time a dead short. Sometimes they go high resistance and sometimes just much lower capacity than the others in the pack.
The only common factor is I do look for a bargain. Is that the answer, pay more?
Replies
Hi,
You do balance them occasionally, do you?
I had LiPos for about one year less than you.. I never had a cell die on me unless I overdischarged it or crashed it.
A couple of times, an overdisharge was caused by my then charger charging each cell completely independently of the others.. if there was one bad connection, then one cell never got charged at all and then overdischarged on the next use.
If your charger is the more common type with 2 thick wires to the battery and n+1 thinner ones to the balancer port, this should not happen to you anyway.
Regards
Soren