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 Regardless of RC helicopters you are into
-either gas/nitro or electric, you are not going to
avoid a Li Po (lithium Polymer) battery. This is the breakthrough
battery technology which makes the battery smaller, lighter yet more
powerful. Because of its unique chemical set up and reaction, Li Po
battery can be dangerous if you are not careful. After you read all
the information here, you will understand why everything else you
buy has a product warranty but most of Li Po battery manufacturers
do not provide product warranty for Li Po battery packs. This
page is to provide newbie pilots all information you need to know
about Li Po battery so
they can enjoy the hobby without getting into troubles.
HeliTown.COM
does not own the source of information or is not responsible for any
damage or problem you get into.
Though it sounds scary, a Li Po
battery is quite safe if you are careful and follow the safety
guidelines provided by the manufacturer and it will provide you with
more power for longer flight time. So before you start
thinking of using a Li Po battery, you should read
Important Safety Instruction and Warning
article here.
Though this is the ThunderPower's, it is applicable to most other
brand Li Po batteries.
Don't want to read or search any
more? Just ask our Tech Support team at Helitown FORUM here.
There are a few things you need
to know when you use a Li Po battery pack: number of cell,
battery voltage, battery mAh and battery discharge
rate (C) and charge rate (C).
Number of Cells: A cell
is a unit of each Li Po battery pack. Normally, it is abbreviated "S". For
example, my APEX 3 Cell battery (picture above) is marked "3S" on the label. This
information is used to determine the voltage of each pack and it is
critical to know when you charge your Li Po battery.
Battery Voltage: Electric
potential of a battery pack. For a Li Po battery pack, you can
tell voltage if you know how many cells your Li Po battery has.
For example, I know that my APEX 3 cell Li Po battery
has 11.1 Voltage. This is because each cell contains approximately 4.2
Volt. Always, check the label for the exact voltage.
MAh: Milliamp
Hours. A unit for measuring electric power over time. mAh is
commonly used to
describe the total amount of energy a battery can store. A higher
mAh rating means the battery can power a device that consumes more
power and/or for a longer amount of time. For example, my Li Po
battery pack rated at 2200 mAh can power a device drawing 100
milliamps for 22 hours.
Discharge Rate
(C): C-rate - Capacity Rate - of a Lithium polymer (Li Po) battery.
This is a critical information of a Li Po battery pack each RC
pilot should know. The C- rate is used to determine how many
amps a battery can deliver the power. For example, my APEX 2200 mah
pack rated 12C can deliver 2.2 * 12 or 26.4 amps of power.
Charge Rate (C): Normally
you can charge your Li Po battery at the rate of one time of its
capacity - 1C to avoid damaging your pack or cause fire. For example, a 1C rate of a 2200 mah is 2.2 Amps. It
is advisable to always charge less than one C rate to increase the
Li Po battery efficiency. Check
this Important Safety Instruction and Warning article here for
more information.
Connectors: There are
normally tow wires connectors for a Li Po battery pack. In the
picture above, the longer and bigger wire is for connecting to the
ESC, or for Blade CP or Esky HB CP2, for connecting to the 4 in 1
unit. The smaller and shorter wire is for connecting to the Li Po
battery balancer.
So information
labeled on my APEX Li Po Battery above are 3S, 11.1 volt, 2200mAH,
12C. That is all I need to know for charging and using the pack with
my RC helicopter.
Below are some of the forum
thread discussions related to Li Po battery packs.
Don't want to read or search any
more? Just ask our Tech Support team at Helitown FORUM here.
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