Battery Use Strategy

[ranord]

I have half dozen batteries for my Inspire 1 that I use when I'm traveling out in the boondocks. I also fly around town using a battery at a time. So my question is how should I be using these batteries. Should I put 5 in storage state and just use one or cycle thru them so they go thru regular charge discharge cycles?

Thanks

Roger

 

[DodgeP]

I have 5 batteries. I have them numbered and use them in sequence so that all batteries get (roughly) the same amount of usage, both in flight and recharged. Makes life easy to go from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 to 5. I also started logging cell voltages, rebound voltage, deep cycle recharges, etc.

 

[The Editor]

I have half dozen batteries for my Inspire 1 that I use when I'm traveling out in the boondocks. I also fly around town using a battery at a time. So my question is how should I be using these batteries. Should I put 5 in storage state and just use one or cycle thru them so they go thru regular charge discharge cycles?

Thanks

Roger

I have 12 batteries and personally I use them sequentially so as not to clock up too many charge/discharge cycles on one or two particular packs.
These (like all) lipos have a finite life so I try to put an equal use on each one which means if I use Battery #1 it is a longer gap before it comes round to that packs 'turn' again.
Lipos do not need 'exercising' but obviously should be calibrated as per recommendations.

 

[ranord]

Thanks guys, I will follow your lead.

 

[Dr. Ifly Drones]

I echo what others said about sequential use. The one thing I would add is to consider an SPC4500 charger. I have no connection to the company except for being a customer. I've had one for more than a year now and love it. It will concurrently charge up to 4 batteries, 1 RC and a USB device at once and also allows deep cycle charging.

 

[Kevin Cabral]

I'm reaching the 20th charge. Do I drain the battery completely until it shuts off? That's what I've been doing. Hopefully it's not hurting the battery :S When I calibrated the battery I let it hover till I saw 3.33v and landed. Then allowed it to stay idle and waited till it turned off by itself.

 

[Baron1964]

Do you have the long awaited firmware upgrade for the SPC4500?


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[Baron1964]

I'm reaching the 20th charge. Do I drain the battery completely until it shuts off? That's what I've been doing. Hopefully it's not hurting the battery :S When I calibrated the battery I let it hover till I saw 3.33v and landed. Then allowed it to stay idle and waited till it turned off by itself.

No affiliation here: but check out the phantom angel ...


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[Nigpd]

Do you have the long awaited firmware upgrade for the SPC4500?


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I suspect that the ability to update firmware was never really on the cards. It has allegedly been in beta testing for longer than the gestation period of a blue whale

 

[Baron1964]

I was told ' Hump Back ' , but close enough I guess....


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[The Editor]

I suspect that the ability to update firmware was never really on the cards. It has allegedly been in beta testing for longer than the gestation period of a blue whale

I believe @damoncooper was beta testing some new firmware for the SPC4500 a while ago.
He maybe along shortly to add a comment........

 

[Mad_angler1]

I believe @damoncooper was beta testing some new firmware for the SPC4500 a while ago.
He maybe along shortly to add a comment........

That was a while back now as well .

One thing I have found with the inspire packs over the P3 or 4 is they have an almost instant drop in rated capacity after only a few short cycles, this has not happened on my P3 or P4c I got over 100 cycles on one pack and still had 99% where are my Inspire packs all dropped to between 97-98% in under 10 cycles and nothing has brought any of the 6 back regardless of calibration attempts so I personally think the Inspire FW is much more aggressive on the live compared to the others so the long and short is definitely rotate them and treat them like babies.

 

[SanCap]

That was a while back now as well .

One thing I have found with the inspire packs over the P3 or 4 is they have an almost instant drop in rated capacity after only a few short cycles, this has not happened on my P3 or P4c I got over 100 cycles on one pack and still had 99% where are my Inspire packs all dropped to between 97-98% in under 10 cycles and nothing has brought any of the 6 back regardless of calibration attempts so I personally think the Inspire FW is much more aggressive on the live compared to the others so the long and short is definitely rotate them and treat them like babies.

I have been using my Lipo charger to discharge my TB48's. Here is one of my ten and the oldest battery I have.

 

[Mad_angler1]

I have been using my Lipo charger to discharge my TB48's. Here is one of my ten and the oldest battery I have.

View attachment 9042

All of mine have dropped and no matter what I try I can't recover the capacity, calibrations, cover and connector off.

You just discharging via main output or are you tied into cells ?

 

[SanCap]

No need to tie into the cells, the Smart part of the battery does that. I use the lead acid discharge function @ 24 volts and 4 amps from my ICharger 106B. I soldered up XT60 connectors with banana plugs to the 2 prong end of the TB48 charger cable. I do it about every 10-15 Full charges of the battery. I have lots of partial charges in-between. I have never had the cover off of my batteries.

 

[damoncooper]

I believe @damoncooper was beta testing some new firmware for the SPC4500 a while ago.
He maybe along shortly to add a comment........

The beta testers haven't been told anything regarding release date, but as I've been lucky enough to be in the beta, I have been enjoying the storage discharge function. I can't imagine not having it honestly now.

 

[damoncooper]

No need to tie into the cells, the Smart part of the battery does that. I use the lead acid discharge function @ 24 volts and 4 amps from my ICharger 106B. I soldered up XT60 connectors with banana plugs to the 2 prong end of the TB48 charger cable. I do it about every 10-15 Full charges of the battery. I have lots of partial charges in-between. I have never had the cover off of my batteries.

Nice. I may try that with my Thunder Power charger. The SPC discharge is great but a bit slow at 500ma discharge. However, they do claim this is to protect prolong the batteries, so there is likely rationale there I'm not privy to.

 

[Nigpd]

The beta testers haven't been told anything regarding release date, but as I've been lucky enough to be in the beta, I have been enjoying the storage discharge function. I can't imagine not having it honestly now.

Do you have a contact email, so I can give the guys a nudge and ask them when it's coming out of beta, please?

 

[SteveT1]

No need to tie into the cells, the Smart part of the battery does that. I use the lead acid discharge function @ 24 volts and 4 amps from my ICharger 106B. I soldered up XT60 connectors with banana plugs to the 2 prong end of the TB48 charger cable. I do it about every 10-15 Full charges of the battery. I have lots of partial charges in-between. I have never had the cover off of my batteries.

How are you doing 24v? Specs say 18v Max. It will do 24v? What Power supply do you use with the 106B? I am very interested in trying this instead of the DJI charger.
Never mind about the 18v, I read the manual (18v input). Do you use it to charge also?
thanks,
steve t

 

[SanCap]

How are you doing 24v? Specs say 18v Max. It will do 24v? What Power supply do you use with the 106B? I am very interested in trying this instead of the DJI charger.
Never mind about the 18v, I read the manual (18v input). Do you use it to charge also?
thanks,
steve t

I still use the Smart Power Charger SP4500 to charge my batteries. I only use the ICharger 106B for discharging my Inspire bats besides my lipos for my homebuilt crafts. I am using this power supply NES-350-12 - Mean Well - TRC Electronics. It may not seem like this system should work but I have the proof that it does.