RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Wait a second, what "snobbery between old guys and new guys"? I never read anyone giving anyone a hard time. Us "old guys" are only trying to help you "new guys" not trying to give any of you a hard time. Good grief since when has offering an experienced opinion "snobbery"?

Ian is AWESOME, second to none, the absolute best!

cheers max , I am learning new things everyday on here . And as for charging the Lipos , Carl hit the nail on the head. Charging at the correct charging rate .How do I know what this is ,there is no information with the battery and the charger says refer to battery manufacturer for info. also How long should I charge a new battery for ? What exterior temperature should I set the cut off to ? Do you have to wait until the low battery warning sounds on the tank before recharging or can you recharge half way through its charge ? so many questions , all Help appreciated. Duncan

All right Jack keep your hair on ,if you still have some old fella All the Help is much appreciated ,all I'm saying is ,us new guys deserve the right to jump straight in and learn the hard way . Taking good advise and starting with the easier stuff is boring

TANKYTOPY wrote:All right Jack keep your hair on ,if you still have some old fella All the Help is much appreciated ,all I'm saying is ,us new guys deserve the right to jump straight in and learn the hard way . Taking good advise and starting with the easier stuff is boring

ABSOLUTELY you do! Just trying to offer some advice that I wish I'd been given beforehand.

Considering selling mine if anyone is interested. No radio gear just the IBU3 in perfect condition.

Hey Jack .your advise is welcome and appreciated , sorry if I offended you in any way , it was meant to be taking in a light hearted kind of way. But hey look on the bright side ,Nightrider who started this thread might want to buy your IBU3

TANKYTOPY wrote:cheers max , I am learning new things everyday on here . And as for charging the Lipos , Carl hit the nail on the head. Charging at the correct charging rate .How do I know what this is ,there is no information with the battery and the charger says refer to battery manufacturer for info. also How long should I charge a new battery for ? What exterior temperature should I set the cut off to ? Do you have to wait until the low battery warning sounds on the tank before recharging or can you recharge half way through its charge ? so many questions , all Help appreciated. Duncan

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with your charger so I can't help much. When I first went to lipo a friend recommended I get the $20 B6 charger from Hobby King, and since they're so cheap I got two. They're very easy to use, just set for nimh or lipo with the push of a button, connect the bat and the balance plug and push the button. The light goes red while it's charging, turns kinda half green when it's close to finished and solid green when it's all done, with appropriate beeping noises.

You do not have to run the charge all the way down before recharging. They recommend you discharge to a certain level if the bat will be stored for long periods, but I don't usually do that. I haven't had any trouble so far, and shouldn't in the future, but they say it may decrease the life of the bat. Hey, at eight bucks each I'm OK if I get a few months less life out of one. So far I have three year old lipos and they're all still going strong.

Have you got a voltage checker? I just scored a couple of these and they're just a few bucks each.



You can also get them from Hobby King, and they're pretty handy. When just running I use an even cheaper LVA (low voltage alarm) and those I get from HK (Hobby King).

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hobbykingtm ... 2s-3s.html

Ask as many questions as you need to, Bro, someone here will always know the answers. Usually not me, but someone.

Here is my favorite charger. It does all kinds of batteries and was about $70.00us.

It's a duratrax there are newer more expensive models but this works just fine and I can store up to 10 battery styles and sizes.

I have the Onyx 240 dual charger for my nimh bats so I can tell you the Onyx brand is pretty good. I also have a few of their nimh bats (3000 mah) and they perform great.

Thanks guys.
My charger is pretty straight forward to work with , select lipo 2s 7.4 volt balance charge ,select charge current and press charge ,But what concerns me most is what charge current is best and for how long charging. And does anybody know what exterior temperature on the battery would be considered excessive..?

What I do know is the higher the "C" rating the cooler the batteries run. At least that has been my experience. I charge mine to no more than 4.1 volts per cell. 4.2 is the maximum amount of voltage per cell. Your average lipo will have 3.7 volts per cell or 7.4 for a 2 cell pack. Your balance charger will make sure each cell is properly charged based on the size of the battery. Maximum voltage is 4.2 per cell but that quickly drops down to the 3.7 that you operate at for the life of the charge until it hits low voltage and your board turns off or alerts you.

Make sure you store them at room temperature and never trickle charge them. Excessive heat and cold are bad for them.

They do make lipo battery storage bags to be safe or an old metal case (ammo box) is fine.