WINTER BATTERY CARE

This article was taken from the Thunder Power Web Site and I thought it interesting in preserving our very expensive Li-Poly batteries.

To store your Li-Poly batteries for the winter the article suggests some simple basic steps. Li-Polys do not handle being left in the fully charged or drained condition. To insure that you have good dependable batteries for the spring, Thunder Power Tech Support advises that you follow these basic steps:

1. Charge the battery for storage to 3.8v to 3.9v per cell.

2. Check the voltage with a digital Volt Meter once a month while in storage.

3. Re-Charge them as necessary to keep them at 3.8v to 3.9v. per cell.

4. Keep them stored in a cool, dry area with a stable temperature of 40 to 70 degrees F.

A simple inexpensive voltmeter is distributed by Common Sense RC and called the Cell Spy. It checks 2-3 cell packs and by moving the checker up one pin on the balance plug you can check the other cells as well. Just be careful to maintain the polarity –negative to negative. Joe Acosta at Build Right Fly Right hobbies turned me on to this simple device and I haven’t had a battery failure yet or a crashed plane because the battery wasn’t fully charged or a cell was defective. Mine is 2 years old and I know that there are new and improved models.

OK guys, this is what I was talking about on how to contribute to our news letter and Web Site.

Contributor: Carmen Luciano

p.s. by Bill Capes – A decent VOM (volt-ohm-milliammeter) is available from http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90899 for typically$4.98, often on sale for $2.99. Useful for general use around the house as well.