How to charge a dead LiPo battery

Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries are one of the most popular batteries in the world. But just like any other batteries, they are easily damaged by wrongful usage. This happens mostly when charging the batteries and how much they are used.

Generally, you need to be careful when using these batteries that they don’t discharge too low. At least, they should never go below 3.0V. This is a big risk that may completely damage the battery.

You may have realized that many chargers will not allow you charge a LiPo battery that has gone below 2.5V. It happens a lot of times when the user is not careful enough to check how far the battery has been drained.

There are several factors that may make your LiPo battery run dead. And by running dead we mean using the battery for too long until it gives up. Such factors include:

· When you accidentally run your place or car for a long time. This may happen once or twice because sometimes people get excited. You forgot to turn off your music of any electronic devices when you left the car, running the battery down. Many drivers are notorious for such accidents.

· The voltage cutoff is not well set in the ESC (Electronic Speed Controller). The good thing about cars and planes is that they come with the ESC devices which help them regulate how much power is used in the batteries. But if you don’t set them correctly, you will be exposing your battery to too many damages. The low voltage cutoff helps regulate the battery usage so that it does not go below the recommended voltage.

· You leave the power switch on. When parking your plane or car, always ensure the power switch is turned off before walking away. Sometimes we forget to turn them off and that is costly to the battery.

· You forget to unplug the battery. The best way to save your LiPo battery is to unplug it every time it is not in use. Leaving it connected continuously discharges it and you will soon find yourself with a dead battery.

· Foolish flying. There are some mistakes people make when they are excited to fly a plane. For instance, getting your plane stuck in a tree somewhere several times while flying too low.

What do you do then? Most users will just toss the battery in the trash. But is that the only option you have? You can restore the battery.

LiPo battery not charging fully

There is no denying that charging a LiPo battery can be quite tricky. This is why many people don’t like going through the trouble of discharging the dead once.

But if the battery is not charging fully, you may need to consider how you are doing it. For starters, LiPo batteries are very selective when it comes to chargers. Not just any charger will get the battery into good shape.

And what does it mean fully charging a LiPo battery? It is normal though to have a batteries not charging fully. As a matter of fact, it is not possible to get a full charge. A 5000mAh charge on a 5000mAh battery is impossibility.  At best, you will only get to 4000mAh. Your battery pack voltage after charging should not go beyond 8.4V.

Just like complete discharging, overcharging damages the batteries. You need to understand how your battery works to enable you save it from such damages. These are things you can avoid if you are careful enough.

The best and easiest way to have control is by using a balance connector. The charger you buy should have an internal balancing circuitry for maximum protection. It does not matter whether the charger is not or old. A new charger may only speed up the charging process, but that does not mean it improves it.

How to recover a LiPo battery

Restoring a fully discharged LiPo battery is easy. Consider the following steps;

Step 1: Understand the risks

Understand the LiPo batteries are very volatile and dangerous. There have been many situations where such abused batteries have caught fire and burned down houses. Several radio controlled planes have caught fire and crushed because of these batteries.

A slow discharge is safe. Even if it goes all the way down, the battery will not catch fire. But the recharge face is where trouble may come in. At 3.0V, the dangers are significant and you must care. At 2.5Vs, most manufactures advice the battery is too dangerous and should not be recharged. Internal damage rate accelerates even further at 1V and below.

Step 2:- Get a smart charger

You need a good charger with balancing features. The charger must have the ability to control the charge current.

Step 3: Charging instructions

Just before you begin the process, here are a few things to note:

· Do not leave the batteries unattended. Monitor them constantly by feeling the battery heat with your hand.

· If it catches fire, let it burn outside in a safe area.

Step 4: Charge the battery

At this point, you need to be very careful to charge slowly. If the charge is below 3.0V, go at a rate of 1/20 C charge until it gets above 3.0.

You may require using a NiMh or NiCad charger setting. Most chargers have these safety features.

You can increase the speed to 1/10 – 1/5 C when the battery gets between 3.0 and 3.V. And when it gets above 3.7V, you can charge at 1 /2C until full charge.

Step 5: You are good for normal use

If the battery discharged too low, the internal damages are greater. But if the battery works ok, you are free to continue using it normally.

Dead LiPo battery disposal

Start by checking the warranty to ensure it has expired. Sometimes, a replacement is possible.  And if that is not an option, here are disposal steps.

· Discharge it as low as possible. There are many ways to do this, including using computerized chargers.

· Place it is a water bath with salt water. Submerge the wires completely and continue adding table salt in the water until it can no longer dissolve. Leave it in the water for at least 24 hours.

· Check the voltage. You are looking for 0.0V. If you don’t have it yet, put it back into the water.

· Now you can throw it in the trash. LiPo batteries are not hazardous at this point, so the garbage can will do just fine.

Recharging a badly discharged LiPo battery should be handled very carefully. If you think you are not ready for the process, take it to the experts.