The first thing you need to know about the lithium polymer battery is that it’s not like other batteries you may be familiar with. In the event that you drain too much energy out of a LiPo battery or put too much in, you will permanently damage it or potentially cause a fire.
No wonder you should make it the norm to keep an eye on the energy left in your thin battery before flying. In this way, you will know when it is time to land and keep your batteries healthy. Let’s get you started!
Storage Voltage
When you get a new novel LiPo battery, it will already come partially charged. This partial charge is commonly referred to as the Storage Voltage. Storage voltage is where each cell is charged to approximately 3.8 volts. Fret not if you’re unfamiliar with battery cells since you might not be alone.
The reason for this is that a round LiPo battery is most stable at that voltage. Any more or less energy in the cell will cause the battery to slowly degrade and lose efficiency. This is also why it is important to charge or discharge your batteries back to storage voltage shortly after using them.
LiPo Cell Voltage
The usable voltage range for a standard mini LiPo battery cell is 3.2v to 4.2v. Any lower than 3.2v and the battery may be permanently damaged. If this is not enough, any higher than 4.2v and you significantly increase the risk of a battery bursting into flames.
In most cases, you will start with a battery cell that is at storage charge or 3.8v, place it on the charger, let the charger charge the battery to 4.2v, then go fly until the battery cell voltage drops somewhere in the 3.5v to 3.7v range depending on how nice you want to be to your batteries and your comfort level.
In Conclusion
You should make it the norm to monitor the voltage of each cell in your wearable battery from time to time. All LiPo chargers that are capable of charging 2s or greater batteries should show you the voltage of each cell of the battery. In the event that you notice that after you’re done using a battery, one of the cells is significantly lower voltage than the others, you know that it may be time to retire that medical battery.
