4s Lipo Battery won't charge? Over-discharged?

[Frisbee]

Hi all, I've got a 4s Lipo Battery (Zop Power 14.8 V 45C 1500mAh) that won't charge on my Charsoon DC-4s Charger. I always stop flying when the power seems to drop, and I need to compensate with more throttle. When I check that is usually in the 3.6 range. So I didn't think I had over-discharged my battery, but that is the only thing I can think of to explain that my battery won't charge. I've seen some methods for restoring an over-discharged battery, but I only have a simple charger so that won't work. Could I get your thoughts:

1) Do you think that I over-discharged, or could there be a different problem as to why the battery won't charge?

2) Am I over discharging my batteries if I fly them until I feel the power start to drop? Do I need to stop flying before then? (Reading is around 3.6, but maybe that is inaccurate.)

 

[tevek]

Not familiar with that brand of charger, but a simple check with a multimeter will confirm whether your battery is ok. I usually land when the low battery alarm goes off in the goggles and I land with a voltage no lower than 3.5v. Resting voltage is generally more than that but having cooked a number of batteries until I realised the absolute importance of looking after them is a good lesson. Do you have another battery to confirm whether the charger is still serviceable? Your numbers seem ok, so maybe it’s a charger issue. Maybe look at an imax BC6AC or similar.

 

[Frisbee]

Thanks Tevek.

* Now I recall an error message on the charger: "err5 - Unknown Internal error (potentially: Damaged charger internals)"
* But the charger works, as confirmed with my other battery (blue).
* The battery still powers up the quad's lights, startup tune, and video transmission. (I didn't try to fly it.)
* It was barely warm after my last flight, and definitely not hot.
* It's slightly convex (the red battery), but I can't tell if it's considered swollen or not.
* I've flown these batteries about 20 times, and used them as recommended. (But they are a few years old.)

I've ordered new batteries, but this is also a learning opportunity for me. It's probably time to upgrade my charger as well, since I'm still using an cheap £8 charger.



On the bright side, I'm flying exclusively in acro-mode and can now do figure-8 flying patterns through a football goal, something I thought would take a lot longer for me to learn.

 

[tevek]

Thanks Tevek.

* Now I recall an error message on the charger: "err5 - Unknown Internal error (potentially: Damaged charger internals)"
* But the charger works, as confirmed with my other battery (blue).
* The battery still powers up the quad's lights, startup tune, and video transmission. (I didn't try to fly it.)
* It was barely warm after my last flight, and definitely not hot.
* It's slightly convex (the red battery), but I can't tell if it's considered swollen or not.
* I've flown these batteries about 20 times, and used them as recommended. (But they are a few years old.)

I've ordered new batteries, but this is also a learning opportunity for me. It's probably time to upgrade my charger as well, since I'm still using an cheap £8 charger.
View attachment 4105


On the bright side, I'm flying exclusively in acro-mode and can now do figure-8 flying patterns through a football goal, something I thought would take a lot longer for me to learn.

Yeah, $16 AUD is a cheap charger and probably not the best fit for ensuring your airborne missile comes back in one piece. There are certainly known name brand chargers and indeed batteries that are probably better suited for flying these monsters with their demanding power needs. Tattu, betafpv, GNB are just a couple of batteries that i use and as for the charger the iMax unit I have has been a faithful buddy for a few years. As for flying in acro through the footy posts, keep it up, you’re doing just fine!