LiPo Battery Cell Count Charge Supports

There are maximum and minimum LiPo cell count, the battery charger can handle. For instance some battery charger supports up to 6S Lipo, some even up to 8S Lipo, but they might not be able to charging 1S LiPo. Ensure you understand what cell count the charger supports.

Charge Current Rate

Choosing the correct charge current is also critical when charging RC LiPo battery packs. The golden rule here is "never charge a LiPo or Li-Ion pack more than 1 times its capacity (1C)" . For instance a 2000mAh pack could be charged at a maximum charge current of 2000 mA or 2.0 amps.

But things are changing and many battery manufacturers allow higher charging °C current. Most LiPo experts feel that you can safely charge at a 2C or even 3C rate on quality packs that have a discharge rating with a minimum of 20C or more, with little effect on the overall lifetime of the pack, so long as you have a good charger with a good balancing system.

For instance a 2000 mAh pack, could be charged at a maximum charge current of 2000 mA or 2.0 amps. Never higher or the life of the pack would be greatly reduced. When you purchase a charge rate significantly higher than the 1C value, the battery will heat up and could swell, vent, or catch fire.

Remember, the three main things that shorten LiPo battery life are:

• Heat
• Over Discharging
• Inadequate Balancing

Maximum Charge Voltage and Current

A 3.7 volt LiPo cell is 100% charged when it reaches 4.2 volts. Charging past that voltage will destroy the cell, and possibly cause it to catch fire. This is really important to note and keep in mind all the time. A computerized charger will stop the charge process when the battery reaches 4.2V per cell.  A balancing computerized charger will do this for each individual cell.

It is critical that you use a charger specified for Li-Po batteries and select the correct voltage or cell count when charging your LiPo batteries if you are using a computerized charger. If you have a 2 cell (2S) pack you must select 7.4 volts or 2 cells on your charger. If you selected 3s 11.1v lipo battery by mistake and attempted to charge your 2S pack, the pack would be destroyed and most likely catch fire.

LiPo batteries are often recommended to be charged at 1C current rate for various reasons, although some more expensive LiPo batteries these days are advertised as fast charging, which can be charged at 2C or even higher. The key reason for charging at lower current is safety, and to avoid the battery gets too hot, which can cause the battery to go puff and shorter battery life.

Basically, to charge at 1C, it means if you have a 3s 2200mah LiPo battery, your charge current would be 1 x 2200mA = 2A; But to charge at 2C, the charge current is 2 x 2000mA = 4A.

When selecting a battery charger, The manual should specify what the maximum charge current is. If a low charge rate charger is used, charging will take longer. It's completely fine if you don?ˉt mind spending more time waiting.

Sometimes the charger might say the max charge current is 6A, and your battery is also fine to be charged at 6A, but it doesn?ˉt necessary means you are able to charge at this rate. It also depends on your charger power and the cell count of your LiPo battery. In the next chapter we can find out about why and how to choose charger power wattage.