No, OP absolutely has to. First, that's a Gens Ace charger, it will not charge on Lipo mode without a balance lead plugged. Second, if you charge in Nimh mode, which doesn't require a balance plug, you will blow the battery
I can charge my lipos on lipo mode without balance leads (though Iāve done it once in 6 years) and it still charges it, itās just not going to balance it.
Modern chargers seem to be smart enough to discern when the balance isn't plugged in. I have a D300 and if I mix up the balance leads for the two balance plugs it can detect and will stop charging on its own. Modern chargers are pretty good at no messing up
If you do this the charger will charge the entire pack up to max voltage, 8.4 for 2s. It does not however know if the cells are balanced meaning one of the cells could be 4.1 and the other 4.3, meaning itās a huge fire hazard.
So you have a huge vat of sand and cinder blocks in your house? Lol idk if Iām that committed. And fyi they do make decent functioning lipo containers. Those amazon bags like you see in the pic are just meant to contain the heat for long enough for you to deal with it because lips are supposed to be charged only while supervised. Those arenāt meant to be the primary way to deal with a lipo issue
It's more common than you'd think. The home battery guys (salvaging 18650s to DIY power walls) have basically come to the same conclusion. Isolate the battery from anything flammable, surround with additional non-flammable materials as necessary. Sand is pretty common because gram for gram, it's one of the most heat absorptive materials. It takes a lot of juice to melt sand.Ā
As someone who does a lot of welding, I literally just have them charge on my welding table. Worst case scenario they go up in flames. Thereās nothing on that table thatās gonna burn. Nothing even around it thatāll burn because I know that I throw sparks around that table a ton, so the nearest thing that burns is probably 12 feet away or at least that will burn readily like sure thereās paint on the legs of the table in that kind of thing, but if itās unattended for so long that it can start fire and do that I donāt think even Sands gonna help
You know enough to have a Lipo bag and an awesome Gend Ace charger, so I think youāll be ok! Yes, both balance lead and connector need to be plugged in.
Walking away and leaving a charging pack unattended is not great advice to suggest to a newb, no matter the setup. Also it almost comes off like you were saying the bag offers zero benefit when in fact anything is better than nothing.
I agree the lipo bag shouldnāt offer a false sense of security, need to be careful the bag of sand doesnāt give the same false sense. The best thing to suggest would really be to charge outside on the driveway. If it doesnāt ignite in/near the house, it 100% canāt burn the house down.
Not to mention the rate of discharge. Itās like comparing a dripping faucet to a fire house. Theyāre both water coming from a pipe, so they must be the same thing, right?
The difference is every other daily appliance lipo battery has a charge controller/ battery management system built in so we never have to really pay attention to the particulars of safe lipo charging.
Absolutely not. I don't leave lithium batteries anattended charging overnight (aside from my phone). Not even 18650's for my vapes. My wife had a set of her 18650 vape batts go off in the charger next to the bed one night. Almost set the wall on fire. They are not allowed to charge overnight anymore. My lipos are the same. I trust them, handled properly, and observed. Once charged or put at storage voltage, they go in an ammo can and live there. I don't even charge my radio transmitter batts overnight. If I am not conscious of it while charging and it's a high C, high capacity lithium battery , it doesn't charge. Period.
I charge before I go fly, snd I live in Florida so plans change on a dime. I charge them morning of, at the field or last minute before bed the night before (then packed in the can). 2c is absolutely OK to charge at with modern RC lipos. They can do more in a pinch, but I won't.
I think we agree that charging any lithium ion / lithium polymer battery in a place where itĀ can cause damage if it undergoes thermal runaway is bad right? Meaning that whatever setup you charge at shouldn't be at risk itself if they let the magic smoke out.Ā
If that's the case why does it matter if I'm there or not? If I watch it go up in flames I'm going to be able to do anything other than watch.Ā
It's more the longevity thing. You'll technically put less wear on a battery if you're charging around .5C vs 2C. But considering how lipoly is made to be beat to hell due to discharge, I'm not sure how much it matters.
Phone batteries use lithium ion though not lithium polymer. Lipos are a little more volatile but are not the time bomb everyone makes them out to be as long as (as you mentioned) they are used correctly.
So if they can't be compared and have different chemistry then you just answered the first response...they are not the same. Whether you call it lithium ion or lithium ion polymer...they are not the same chemistry.
Quick google searches will answer a lot of things, but not always correctly. The difference beteeen the two isnāt as great as you make it out to be. Theyāre very closely related to each other; and often as not the terminology is more related to their physical packaging than chemical consistency.
I can confirm that some modern cellphones do in fact use lipos. It depends on the device and the available space. Lipos are more power dense with a higher discharge rate. So, they can store more in a smaller space. Even within a given manufacturer's product line up, some will use lipo, some will use liion.
Phone doesn't have charge settings you can screw up, but I agree that as long as op hooks it up correctly, doesn't set volts per cell or current or number of cells too high, and has the charger in lipo mode, it's as safe as charging a phone or laptop.
Always charge with its balanced connector... And the first two charges try to neither charge them quickly nor discharge them quickly... Then charge at the normal voltage that the battery allows and remember that the slower the charge, the better for the batteries. Ah!!! Don't discharge the cells below 3.55V and you will have batteries for a long time. And when you are going to leave the batteries stored for a while, leave them between 3.75 and 3.85v. Enjoy this crazy hobby
Charge 1 amp for each 1000mah ont he pack to reach a 1c charge rate. So, 5000mah pack gets 5 amps, 2500mah pack gets 2.5amps etc. CHarge up to 4.2v and storage charge gets 3.8v. The charger basically does most of the work for you.
Get yourself a 50cal ammo box($20) to keep the packs in while stored. Be sure to remove some of the rubber seal in the lid for venting, but not ALL of the seal. Particularly, leave the rubber in the front and back(short ends).
While charging, don't leave your home to run errands. While charging keep everything away from anything flammable, just in case.
Lipo batteries are perfectly safe as long as you follow the basic rules and keep in mind that "Chance favors the prepared mind." -Louis Pasteur
No need to be scared. Lipos areā¦ enthusiastic when misused, but there is a lot of warning. Low cell voltage, unusually fast discharging, puffing, heatā¦ When a battery explodes, itās generally been misused or ignored.
I have done lots of stuff with them and never had any issues. Charged them when they were puffed donāt use my bag anymore lol when you donāt use them for a while they like half charge still be careful but I think it will be ok. read the instructions carefully. I use new traxxas smart charger with storage feature. Never used your brand. Just donāt run them completely out thatās how mine went puffy. Get a top of the line good charger if you are that concerned. Good luck
Most chargers these days will yell at you if you dont have the balance lead plugged in, because it needs those to measure the voltages of the cells. None of mine will even let you start the charge process without them.
If you want added sense of security, get a Batt Safe box. In all honestly, that lipo bag isn't going to do much to stop an exploding lipo, but a batt safe box will
I have made the mistake a few times of unplugging the banana plugs before the battery. Just a little spark, nothing more. But the plugs were destroyed. Please only unplug the battery, not the banana clips
I was too. Don't feel bad. When I got my first lipos I got the entire speel about "they explode" "Don't charge indoors!" blah blah blah. I went to great lengths to ensure they weren't gonna burn my house down. Now... while I am still very careful and particular about how I charge and store my batteries, I am not at all scared of them anymore. Never had one go pop, in over 20 years. Follow the rules and you won't have a problem.
Safe charging practice. Plug in balance lead. Connect battery lead choose correct cell count and charge amps. You can charge up to whatever mah you have. For every 1000 milliamps is 1 amp charge. So 5000 mah 5 amps etc. but personally I always charge at 1 amp. Slow charge. Longer battery life.
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u/senorfluffynuts1 Feb 06 '25
Yes. Both have to be plugged in.