It is so dazzling that there are numerous types of
RC lipo battery
on the market today. However, the quality of lithium polymer battery is
a major worry for aeromodeller, and therefore, we today make popular
scientific education about how to evaluate the quality of lithium
polymer battery.
Most of current lithium polymer batteries and all the
UAV batteries
are the battery pack with composition of the connection in series and
in parallel, including connection in series presenting as "S" and
connection in parallel presenting as "P". For example, 3S battery means 3
chips connected in series, and 6S2P means 12 chips of battery core with
6 chips connected in series and 2 chips connected in parallel.
Why it does need to be connected in series or in parallel?
It is determined by the lithium polymer battery. It is connected in
series for increasing voltage, while as connected in parallel for
increasing capacity. The C rate of battery will never change with the
connection in series or in parallel. The battery with high C rate is
used in the low-power equipment, such as remote control and receiving of
image transmission, which has no effect on the equipment as long as the
voltage does not exceed to damage the equipment.
How to evaluate the quality of single-chip battery core and battery packs?
Performance valuation of single-chip battery core
1.Target rate of C: is the discharge rate can reach the identified rate value of the battery
In accordance with the industry standard, the C rate of a battery is
evaluated by discharging with X rate of battery capacity, and the
battery discharge is not lower than 3.50V and the discharge curve is
smooth around 3.50V. The C rate of the battery is the maximum value of
X, which is evaluated by various indicators, including pressure drop,
holding capacity of pole piece, temperature, flatulence or not, safety,
etc.
2.Target rate of capacity: The capacity can reach the identified capacity value of the battery
In general, high-quality battery core shall be designed with 3%-5%
higher than the design capacity, which is used in the high-quality
battery chip of China's major plants, with a single capacity around
5200MAH.
3.Cycling life
There is no standard outlining how long is the cycling life of
lithium polymer battery in the current industry, due to the cycling life
has a close link with battery production process. Through analyzing the
current test data, it indicates that the capacity of the battery is
decreased in various degrees by each process of charging and
discharging.
Performance valuation of lithium polymer battery packs
High-quality single battery core may not produce a high-quality
lithium polymer battery pack, but high-quality polymer battery pack must
be composed of high-quality battery cores, which is related to the
matching problems. Matching is a very complicated technique with high
requirements for the equipment, which requires a battery pack composed
of battery cores consistent with all capacity, the C rate and
attenuation rate. Life of the battery pack is shortened by a large
difference in any one of the three indicators, while as the similar
values of the three indicators indicate improved performance of the
battery pack to ensure flight safety.
To give an illustration
For example, 30C 3S
5000mAh lipo battery.
The battery match with the capacity of three batteries are 5120MAH,
5120MAH and 5320MAH respectively, and all three batteries are charged to
4.20 V. After discharging 5000MAH on the model airplane, the remaining
capacity of the three batteries are 120MAH, 120MAH and 320MAH
respectively, which causes voltage unbalance in the battery pack by high
voltage in the 320MAH battery and low voltage in the other two
batteries, as certain relationship between capacity and voltage. In the
case of discharging to 5150MAH, two batteries may actually change into
reverse charging situation, and it may be wrongly assumed that the
battery pack still has power as one battery has voltage, which will
definitely affect the life of the battery pack.
This is caused only by the unbalance in the capacity. If there is a
large difference in the C rate, it may cause unbalance during the
charging process and ultimately affects the battery pack's life, even
with the same capacity, which is for the reason that the more
discharging rate with a high C rate, and the less power consumption.
Therefore, it is a simple way to evaluate a battery is whether a high-quality lithium polymer battery or not.
Method:
Step 1: full of electricity, and make sure every single battery in the same pack with the voltage of 4.20V;
Step 2: install the battery pack on a aircraft and wait for each single battery's voltage around 3.66 V;
Step 3: separate testing the voltage difference on each single
battery, and the qualified high-quality battery has the voltage
difference in 0.01V.
In addition, single measuring voltage of the high accuracy digital
multimeter shall be prevail, and it is better to measure by a digital
mutimeter in thousands.
