How To Discharge A Lipo Battery For Storage, Introduction And Method

The lithium polymer battery is a rechargeable battery and is different from other types of lithium ion battery as the electrolyte that it uses is in the form of polymer.

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The advanced lithium polymer electrolytes use a gel type material and because of this, these batteries have the ability of good conductivity even at room temperature. Lithium polymer batteries also use a separator that is micro-porous. This micro-porous separator is suitable for the lithium polymer battery and is better from the more usual porous separators that are used with standard types.

The lithium polymer technology is suitable for most of the lithium ion batteries such as Lithium cobalt, lithium phosphate, lithium manganese, etc. and of this because lithium polymer technology can not be considered a different battery technology. It is actually an enhancement to the types of lithium ion batteries that are already available. For the construction of lithium polymer batteries, the same anode and cathode materials are utilized and the only noticeable difference is the type of electrolyte and separator. Almost the same amount of electrolyte is used normally.

The charge and discharge properties of the lithium polymer batteries are similar to the standard types and due to this the usual charging methods can be used to charge them. Mostly  for devices like power banks, etc, USB power sources are preferred, but the hardware of internal charging electronics controls the whole process and the same path and circuits can normally be used.

Different manufacturing techniques are used for lithium polymer batteries and cells. A traditional lithium ion battery basically uses a cylindrical cell system or a box system which is known as 'prismatic' cells.Lithium polymer batteries typically contain a foil pouch type of format, which is described to be similar to chewing gum packets. This can be made much thinner than the more typical one. It is very good for many producers who always seek to have slimmer tools like laptops and phones, etc.

The lithium polymer batteries are made up of laminated sheets that are included within the battery. This made the batteries much lighter - in fact there is mostly a weight saving of approximately 20% or more than this.

The construction approaches used for these batteries also enable them to be manufactured in a variety of shapes and this is very attractive for mobile phone and laptop producers who want to design odd shaped batteries that fit into their very tightly packed device.

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Today’s lithium polymer batteries contain a shorter shelf life but they offer a longer self-discharge time. Longer self-discharge makes it suitable for the equipment that may not be used for a few days here and there. But lithium polymer batteries have very bad low-temperature discharge (0'C to 60'C) tand discharging LiPo batteries at ultra-low voltages can be dangerous. 

These batteries will discharge on their own during the usage, the more you use them, the more rapidly they will lose power. Besides, you don't have to  fully charge your battery in order to discharge them.

How do you discharge a lipo battery for storage?

You don't require a special charger to discharge lithium polymer batteries. Actually, the best and most efficient way to do this process is by using the battery. Lithium polymer batteries provide more power and run time than a typical battery, but these good features come at a higher price. These batteries can easily catch fire than other technologies. It happens mostly because of their construction chemistry.

Lithium polymer batteries are incredibly very easy to operate. But the major problem with these batteries is that they do not have memory, and as a result they do not have the capacity to store any kind of power information. Older technologies like nickel cadmium batteries have the ability to remember voltage from which you charge them and they also keep that as the lowest voltage it can go. And in case if you do not charge them fully, they will still memorize the highest level and keep it as the highest voltage they can get. Lithium polymer batteries do not have this ability so that you can charge them and discharge them several times.

How long does it take to storage charge a lipo battery

When you talk about storage charging a lithium polymer battery, the first thing to consider is the rate of charge/discharge at proper storage voltage.? Lithium polymer batteries, like all other batteries, do self-discharge, but the rate for this process is very low. If these batteries are left discharged, they can discharge below its voltage limit and make it useless and dangerous for the next time when you want to charge it.?But If they are left fully charged, the cells in the battery will unbalance quickly. A suitable storage voltage for a lithium polymer battery is 3.85V per cell.? Most LiPo chargers have a function of storage so that it will either charge or discharge the battery until it reaches  3.85V per cell.?

Storing lipo batteries fully charged

Lithium-polymer batteries must be avoided to be stored when they are fully charged because the chemistry of the battery is very sensitive, so if you try to store them at high temperatures, a reaction occurs inside the battery and leads to a series of chain reactions that can cause a major explosion.

If you leave the battery in storage for a long time when it is fully charged, it can build up stress inside the battery. Because of this, the battery swells up and leaving the battery fully charged at room temperature will lose 20% of the original capacity in a period of just one year. That’s why it is recommended to store the batteries in a cool place.

Conclusion

LiPo batteries must be stored in relatively low temperatures (40-45 degrees F), so a refrigerator is a suitable place for them. It's a good method to protect the stored batteries in case of ignition, so you should place the LiPo batteries in a LiPo bag and put the LiPo bag in the fridge.?The fridge is not the only option for placing LiPos, though. You can keep them anywhere with low humidity and reasonable temperatures.