Batteries, cells and volts!

Hi Everyone.

I need the expertise of you guys to help me out, basically to understand how the SOLO battery is used.

Here are my simple questions that I am struggling with:

  1. How many cells does the battery have?
  2. What can I let the battery draw down to in Vdc terms?
  3. When fully charged, my battery registers 16.57 Vdc. Is that OK for a 14.8 Vdc SOLO battery?
  4. How many recharge cycles can the SOLO battery take before I should stop using it?
  5. Is there any higher capacity batteries on the market for the SOLO yet?

I hope I haven't asked too much in one go, but I am getting real confused over the battery info. I've never been a very math-type of person and so fail in understanding how to work things out with regard to LiPo batteries.

Regards.

Mike.

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Replies

  • Sorry if I sounded critical of the charge voltage. I understand that many battery chargers do have preset limits. However if you can reduce the charged voltage to 4.1V per cell you will help the life of the battery. This is a fact and also my experience.

    Batteries don't get instantly warn out. Over time flight times get less and less but this decay is slowed by optimum charging.

    The battery is a chemical devise and the charge is an electronic device made by electrical engineers. Sometimes that effects the outcome.

    Best of luck.

  • Hi Mike

    I don't have a SOLO but I use a lot of 3DR gear.

    16.xV LiPo is a 4 cell battery. 16.57V is over charged.

    Checkout this blog article. HERE

    I charge my batteries to only 4.1V per cell. This improves the battery life by more than double and they store better. The capacity of a battery is only part of the character of a battery. The C rating is just as important. I wouldn't mess too much with the batteries in an of the shelf copter. This will effect the default parameters of the flight controller and the behavior

     

    http://rctrix.com/?p=17
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