LiFe Batteries

[andrew wallace]

does anyone use LiFe batteries
i bought a couple of 6.6v 1600Mah LiFe batteries for a new thermal model and even bought a charger to make sure i was charging them right as i know nothing about them. my problem or my worry is how fast do these batteries charge??
I had a bit of a senior moment at the start with them and the battery checker but got that sorted i used the battery to set up the controls of the model and was surprised at how much just setting up the controls had taken out of the battery but when i went to charge it again it only took just over 2 minutes for the charger to say it was fully charged and  that was only at 0.5amps i don't like charging any higher than that
The batteries are designed for thin fuselages and made for servo's that need or like 6v

As it stands i have no faith in the batteries so i hope someone out there can shed a bit of light on the matter 

[johnfireball]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nx3-Lq1jW0

Hi andrew,
               Battery should be charged @ 1.6 amp at 6.6volt and should at this setting take one hour from discharged state to fully charge.


John.
 

[rogallo]

Andrew,
     senior moment, we are all having them these days. On your battery checker is there an option for checking LiFe cells, the capacity reading will be different to a LiPo or NiCd. LiFe are grand but like all batteries they need the correct looking after.

Sometime I have found I need to give the batteries a tickle before checking the capacity, I don't know why but it works.

See you in a few weeks
Ralph

[andrew wallace]

Hi Ralph
That was my senior moment I was checking it under lipo until someone pointed out my mistake.
Even charging the battery to storage only took just over a minute again at 0.5 amps and to me that's not right

I've ordered two new 7.4v 1800mah lipo's for piece of mind

[rogallo]

Last resort, always a good one, try cycling them with the charger. The numbers won't lie

[selleri]

Even charging the battery to storage only took just over a minute again at 0.5 amps and to me that's not right

What charger did you get? This sounds very much like lion or lipo program trying to charge life batteries.

[Happy Days]

Hey Andy,.......long time no hear from you up there in the north of nowhere! (I'm only joking,....you know me! )

I've used Lithium Ferrite batteries in powered models......However I don't have 'Senior' moments any more. I have 'Craft' moments. (Can't Remember A F****** Thing )

"Ferrite's" are wonderful batteries in my view. Electrically they are far more robust than their Li-Po cousins. They can be discharged down to 2 volts per cell without any problems, and indeed I've discharged mine to almost zero volts (by mistake) and they still recharge okay, ( totally unlike li-Po's) and they can be stored at any voltage without harming their overall capacity. I have some 9 year old Ferrite batteries that still have 90% of their original charge capacity, plus,.......they don't burst into flames when damaged like lithium polymer batteries can. Further,......... they can be charged / discharged more then 2000 times.

You said that during your senior moment at the start you were surprised at how much current just setting up the controls had taken out of the batteries,...............but were later surprised at how little time it took to recharge those batteries.
I'm wondering if, during your moments of "geriatric logic" you had become confused and misunderstood the amount that the battery had been discharged while you set up the controls, and that in fact the battery hadn't discharged anywhere near as much as you thought. That would explain why it only took a little while for them to re-charged again.

Ferrite batteries are normally rated to be charged at 4C (or possibly higher with newer batteries). So if your battery has a capacity of 1600mAh, you could charge it at 6.4amps for around 15 minutes. If you don't feel comfortable doing that,........charge them at a lower rate. Like I said, they are very robust batteries, and wont catch fire like Li-Po's have a reputation for doing.

If I were you Andy, (which of course I'm not,...............unfortunately, because you're a lot younger than me) I'd stick with the ferrite batteries. They are very robust and can take far more abuse than li-po's. The hand power tool company "DeWelt" use Ferrite batteries in  their 36v battery packs, and some electric car manufacturers prefer them to Li-ion batteries.

Keith