How to Charge Li-po Batteries

Charging Lipo batteries is not just a plug in and go thing, there are very many things that should be considered since this kind of batteries are considered very unstable and if you charge them wrongly you might end up ruining the battery or exploding the battery. This is the reason why you should observe all the precautions while charging this kind of batteries for your safety and the safety of people around you.

How to use and charge Lipo batteries

There are a few steps you need to follow for you to charge your lithium polymer safely and efficiently. These are the steps you should follow;

1.Check very well the T-connector of your battery and the T- connector of your plug, once you have identified them, connect them by plugging both the red cable and the black one.

2.connect to your lithium polymer battery the balance connector to the 3 cell port

3.Connect the power source to the balance charger, make sure that the power source is 12 volts and it has an adapter that regulates the power income.

4.Long press the button which is indicated as “Batt Type” and when ‘Lipo batt’ appears choose that by pressing enter.

5.Press the button indicated ”Inc” for some time until you see on screen written lipo balance and then press enter.

6.After selecting all this, you will have to make sure that the current that you have selected is the right one. To change the current; press buttons indicated “Dec” and “Inc” and go through the desired current then press enter.

7.After making all these selections, it is time to start charging of your battery then, press start button and when the screen shows ‘ENTER’ you can now press start again to start your charging.

Lithium polymer charging and discharging tips

There are tips you should understand when charging or discharging your Li-po batteries. Here are some of the tips you should consider;

· You should not charge lipo batteries with a charger that charges at a very high rate, this will make the battery more unstable.

· You should not charge your battery to full charge if you are not using it any time soon; since they are unstable, they may explode anytime when the temperature increases.

· Do not discharge beyond safe limits your Lipo battery, this is because if the battery goes beyond the safety discharge point, it cannot be reversed again by charging, that means your battery will be dead.

· Make sure that you unplug your charger if your battery is full. The Li-po batteries have an automatic system that will put off the battery once it is full, however, there is no need to take chances, and a machine may fail.

Lipo battery safety regulations during charging

One thing you should keep in mind is that Li-po batteries are highly unstable and flammable, this is the reason why you should take precautions when charging them. If you fail to observe these safety precautions, you may end up getting in danger of blowing up your battery or at worst causing the whole charging area to burn up because of the explosion of the battery. These precautions include;

· Only use the battery’s original charger- this is because Li-po batteries have their charger made in a special way to balance the current to move in every cell equally. This cannot be done with any other charger except the original Li-po charger

· Don’t charge near flammable things- Li-po batteries are very unstable and very sensitive, for this reason, the battery can catch fire any time, this can be very dangerous if you have flammable materials near the charging area.

· Always charge Li-po batteries in a charging bag- this is very important in curbing the fire in case the battery catches fire. The charging bags are made of fire proof materials that can contain fire.

· Check the settings before charging- a Lipo battery must be set on the balance before being charged, this helps to regulate the amount of current entering the battery and to balance the current entering each cell. If a wrong current is set, the battery would explode.

· Equip yourself with a fire extinguisher- this is a very important tool when you are charging a Li-po battery, this is to be able to handle the fire in case the battery breaks into fire you can handle the situation easily. If you don’t have a fire extinguisher you can equip yourself with anything that can deal with fire.

· Do not charge the battery near high temperatures- you should not charge your batteries in places where the temperatures too high, this is because the battery will get more unstable and it will eventually explode.

· Monitor the charging closely- when charging this kind of a battery, you should always stay close to make sure that the process is safe, and also you should be around to quickly swing into action in case the battery explodes.

· Do not charge damaged batteries- those batteries that have been indicated as damaged should not be charged, also the batteries that have swollen are not good for charging, and they might explode any time.

To sum up all this, you can appreciate that the Li-po batteries are very important in many ways; however, they are very dangerous to deal with. This kind of batteries will need you to exercise extreme caution while charging them. The batteries are very unstable and flammable hence when charging them you should not expose them to much heat. When charging this kind of batteries make sure that you are prepared to face any fire risks, this is the reason why you will need to have a fire extinguisher near you when charging just in case fire breaks out you can be able to contain it. There are other many precautions that you should take when handling lithium polymer batteries.