I sourced some Venom LiPo's (3S 11.1V 4000mAH) from Tower hobbies and they sold me a bunch of duds.
The batteries seem to drain after just 7 mins of flight and now the charger refuses to charge them, because they are bloated and 'damaged'.
I did take care in using a balance charger and a blinky to equalize the cells and was pretty careful about not letting the battery discharge too much.
What more can i do to avoid battery damage?
I blame tower hobbies for selling me lemons. Incidentally even for the Airtronics radio that i bought from them, the battery drains in under 15 minutes after a full charge.
So i would also appreciate it if i could be pointed to reliable brands/online stores.
Thanks
Srinath
Replies
The worst cause of premature battery failure is heat. This is a rule of thumb for any battery.
There are an number of ways batteries can be subjected to heat exposure.
The amp draw above the c rating over time can make a battery hot.
Paralleling 2 batteries that are the same doubles the current output ability given.
As indicated a over drain condition could generate heat.