What charge setting do you use?

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I have been putting it on the 3 setting but after actually reading the little sheet that came with the Tenergy batteries it looks like I should be use 2 or less.

What do y'all do?
 
I've always been under the impression that with any kinds of rechargeable batteries,. the faster you charge, the more it hurts the life-expectancy of the battery. and that slower charging is less harmful.
- so I've been using 2 as well, takes a bit longer, as I have two batteries, but I can wait a few hours between flights!
 
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Makes sense to me. In the unpacking/assembly video I'm pretty sure he put it on 3 so that's what I did but a lower rate is probably easier on the battery and safer.
 
pwright said:
Makes sense to me. In the unpacking/assembly video I'm pretty sure he put it on 3 so that's what I did but a lower rate is probably easier on the battery and safer.

Funny you mention that, as I recall as well that he flips it to 3 and says it's fine to do so

YET, in the Battery and Charger instructions .pdf. it says "3. Select the battery type switch to LiPo and the current switch to 2A."

hmmmm, well think I'll just stick with 2A, and only if I'm anxious to fly i'll do the 3A
 

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The reason Colin said that 3A is okay is because it doesn't really matter. The charger automatically cuts down to 2A anyway once it gets going... so it's the same either way.
 
Sac D said:
The reason Colin said that 3A is okay is because it doesn't really matter. The charger automatically cuts down to 2A anyway once it gets going... so it's the same either way.

Since buying an additional charger, .I've started charging merely at 1A.. (at night, when I'm not flying).
my new charger (Acccucel 6) has a timer and a beeper when it's done.
picked up a parallel charging board, so now I can charge all 5 of my batteries at 1A at the same time :D
 
From my Venom charger manual:

Never charge at over 1C current. C= battery pack mah capacity divided by 1000. Divide the battery mah capacity by 1000 to determine the proper charge rate. Example: 2200mah divided by 1000 = 2.2amps.

My understanding from my local hobby shop is that in a pinch, you can increase the charge rate for a faster charge time. But you do risk lowering the battery life. Some bateries are better than other for this. But I was also told that you don't want to go too high or the battery could explode. So I guess the "2" is the best setting for safety sake and the tradeoff between charge time and battery life.
 
Sac D said:
The reason Colin said that 3A is okay is because it doesn't really matter. The charger automatically cuts down to 2A anyway once it gets going... so it's the same either way.
Well that's interesting. I've just been leaving mine at 2A in any case as I want my batteries to last as long as they can.
 
If you look at the attached Phantom charger instructions.
It explains in a note section that:
If the charger is in Max Output Power condition,the charge current will be decided by 20W.
For example, when 2A or 3A is selected for the 3S battery, the charge current is only 20w/11v=1.8A only.
This is less that 1C for the 2200mAh lipo battery.

Setting the charger to 3A does NOT charge the 2200mAh lipo at 3A!
3A is over 1C, and since we suspect that the Phantom battery is a standard 1C charge rate lipo (2.2A).

Therefore you are percfectly safe at 3A setting. :D
 
I'm an RC on the ground guy so I don't use the stock charger. I'm using a Hyperion EOS0720iNET3 AC/DC Balance Charger. I charge the batteries pretty fast. I think I have it set at 4.2amps which means I'm charging at 2C since the lipos are 2200 mAh. So far no issues and yes, I know it says it hurts the life of the battery. I guess this will be a good test. I will say this much, I fly the Phantom around until I see the "red" light blinking deperately and by then, when I put the battery on my charger it's showing my lipo is at 25-30%%. Yikes.
 
you can change the red batterylight setting in the DJI Naza software.
I have changed mine so now I am on 80% usage when the red light kicks in.
But I also fly with a timer ( my iPhone).
I am changing to a Jeti transmitter and receiver soon, to get a better radio with timer and telemetry.
On my helis and planes I use Spektrum DX8 and DX18QQ, and very soon a Jeti DS-16.
 
telecaster said:
you can change the red batterylight setting in the DJI Naza software.
I have changed mine so now I am on 80% usage when the red light kicks in.
But I also fly with a timer ( my iPhone).
I am changing to a Jeti transmitter and receiver soon, to get a better radio with timer and telemetry.
On my helis and planes I use Spektrum DX8 and DX18QQ, and very soon a Jeti DS-16.

How long do you expect to be able to fly at 80% depletion on a 2200MaH Lipo? Just curious.

I've found the software actually does a pretty good job of saving my *** with the setting its at. I haven't looked at the default setting, but now I'm curious. Im guessing I MAYBE had an extra minute or 90 seconds of flying time when the red light flashes. I would be nervous about flying FPV, find my craft was 500 feet away and only had 30 seconds to touch down...
 
Glockindahaus said:
How long do you expect to be able to fly at 80% depletion on a 2200MaH Lipo? Just curious.

I've found the software actually does a pretty good job of saving my *** with the setting its at. I haven't looked at the default setting, but now I'm curious. Im guessing I MAYBE had an extra minute or 90 seconds of flying time when the red light flashes. I would be nervous about flying FPV, find my craft was 500 feet away and only had 30 seconds to touch down...

I never mess with my battery settings and keep it at default.
better safe than sorry. especially when flying FPV when you can't see the red lights blinking.
 
Gizmo3000 said:
Glockindahaus said:
How long do you expect to be able to fly at 80% depletion on a 2200MaH Lipo? Just curious.

I've found the software actually does a pretty good job of saving my *** with the setting its at. I haven't looked at the default setting, but now I'm curious. Im guessing I MAYBE had an extra minute or 90 seconds of flying time when the red light flashes. I would be nervous about flying FPV, find my craft was 500 feet away and only had 30 seconds to touch down...

I never mess with my battery settings and keep it at default.
better safe than sorry. especially when flying FPV when you can't see the red lights blinking.

I think so too.. Err on the side of caution with $1500 flying around...
 
I just wanted to ask something, I used to use a quick charger for my airsoft guns which used those 2500mah batteries in a row like on radio control cars. It had a little digital display and could charge different types of batteries quickly. (Would take like 15-20mins to charge as opposed to 4 hours trickle charging if I recall correctly)

Will that work on these batteries (I dont want the thing bursting into flames) :?
 
I have an Imax B6 quattro that charges up to 4 batteries at a time (and different configurations/sizes) I set the defaults at 2 amps because I figure a Lipo is similar to a deep cycle battery and they take & hold a charge longer w/slow charge. Fast charging tends to just surface charge batteries.
Also as Tanasit mentioned most of these chargers will have some sort of default mode. My B6 can be set to 4amps but as it gets closer to max battery charge it automatically lowers progressively down - I've seen it a .02amps before auto shutoff.
 
Moo, these LiPo's are limited in the amount of current you can safely pump to them while charging, for the stock Phantom batteries you'll probably want to keep it 2.2Amps (aka "1C" rate for those 2200mAh batts). As such, you're not going to be able to get 20 min charge times, but you will be able to charge several at once in parallel if your charger is up to it.

You'll also want to use a charger with connections for the balance tap (the little 4-wire lead) to make sure the charge is distributed evenly. The one EMCSQUAR mentions is a great unit built just for charging multiple batts, it's basically 4 single chargers in one chassis.
 
Oh I see, Im getting a Phantom1 at the end of the month and am getting my ducks in a row first...whats the name of the charger I should get and roughly how much are they?
Also when you say I can charge 4 batteries at once, how many come with a standard battery pack? I was going to buy one extra battery with the drone
 
Moo said:
Oh I see, Im getting a Phantom1 at the end of the month and am getting my ducks in a row first...whats the name of the charger I should get and roughly how much are they?
Also when you say I can charge 4 batteries at once, how many come with a standard battery pack? I was going to buy one extra battery with the drone

A "standard battery pack" = 1 battery (there's several cells packed inside)

The Tenergy Accucel-6 and the IMAX B6 are good chargers for less than $50. The quad-charging model EMCSQUAR referenced is usually close to $150.
 

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