What amp should i charge my battery at?

[scooba_285]

Hi all, this is still all new to me so go easy lol, just got a scx10 and got a gens ace 5000mah 2c lipo and the balance charger has 1-5a selection and just curious the difference in the 5 settings is? And also should be balance charged every time etc?
Cheers

[KC_crawler]

Ok ill try to help say you had a 1300mah 25c 2s you would charge at 1.3 amps at 7.4 volts for a 1c charge rate, your 5000mah batteries should be charged at a 5amp charge rate at 7.4 volts, or 1c... I balence my batteries every time i charge, its not necessary but it helps with the life of the batteries..

hope this helps

[sidehiller]

Originally Posted by KC_crawler

Ok ill try to help say you had a 1300mah 25c 2s you would charge at 1.3 amps at 7.4 volts for a 1c charge rate, your 5000mah batteries should be charged at a 5amp charge rate at 7.4 volts, or 1c... I balence my batteries every time i charge, its not necessary but it helps with the life of the batteries..

hope this helps

You nailed it KC. For best results charge at 1C and balance.

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[johnnyh66]

I used to balance every time I charged a lipo... now I never do.
I just buy cheaper batteries: Value Hobby R/C Hobby Store (Bensenville, Illinois): Batteries - Power

[happymachinist]

Originally Posted by scooba_285

Hi all, this is still all new to me so go easy lol, just got a scx10 and got a gens ace 5000mah 2c lipo and the balance charger has 1-5a selection and just curious the difference in the 5 settings is? And also should be balance charged every time etc?
Cheers

For "best" battery care they should be balanced every time. Absolutely necisarily? No, but if not parallel charging why not? The older the pack, the more internal resistance can vary cell to cell, effecting how the cells take a charge compared to each other. Cells with higher resistance take a charge slower than those with lower resistance. Hence the need for balancing.

For charge rate basically take your mAh divide by 1000 to get amp hours and that is your 1C charge rate.(5000/1000=5.0amps)

Some batteries can be charged at faster rates. (2, 3, 4, 5C ect.) (Although 1C is better for your packs) But in your case you can't charge any faster than 1C with your charger and given battery so 5 amps it is.


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[Trubble]

I use an external charge-through balancer, and charge at 2C through the balance tap. Been working fine on my 3S/1300mAh packs.

If I was charging larger packs like the OP, I'd probably do a more conventional 1C charge through the main power leads, though.
Balancing? I don't know that it's absolutely critical every time, but I do it anyway.

[KC_crawler]

Originally Posted by sidehiller

You nailed it KC. For best results charge at 1C and balance.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Haha thanks! I just made the switch to lipo about 2 months ago so its all kinda new to me too, although I did a TON of research it can be confusing at first, I would like to think I have the basics figured out lol

[Devil Inc]

I personally balance everytime, I know you can charge slightly faster by not balance charging. The time difference in trivial to me, if I raced and had to charge between heats, them I might consider skipping a balance charge from time to time.

As far as OP's question, take the mah of your battery and divide by 1000, that'll give you the charge rate. Some are capapble of higher ratings, but doing so at 1C is pretty much the safest way.

[fj40jay]

best to balance every time I think also.