Safely Charging LiPo Batteries

Updated 3 March 2022 by Mark

LiPo batteries have been in use for many years now in all sorts of devices such as laptops and phones - however it’s not hard to find a horror story online where something has gone wrong. The truth is that with proper care and respect, and a decent LiPo battery charger there really is nothing to worry about. Most of the stories we hear instore involve LiPo’s that have been left to discharge too low and then recharged with an inappropriate charger, or charged using the incorrect mode.

Take your time, respect the equipment and as ever - ask if you have any questions - we are always happy to help!

How do I charge a LiPo Battery?

Firstly you’ll need a LiPo charger. You cannot use an older NiMh charger to charge lipo batteries. There are various options and the instructions will vary depending on your specific charger, but most follow the same sequence of events:

Connect up the battery to the charger. Make sure that both the balance leads and main power leads are connected. Use good quality leads and connectors to ensure no risk of any cables touching each other and shorting out your precious battery!

Navigate to “LiPo Charge” in your charger’s menu. Note this may be listed as “LiPo Balance Charge”

Choose the correct voltage and charge rate (see below)

The charger will sound an audible alarm when charging is completed.

Hit enter (you may need to press and hold for a second). Your charger will do a quick check and may ask you to confirm the settings you just entered.

What voltage do I choose?

LiPo batteries are made up of cells. Each cell has a voltage of 3.7v. So a 2 cell LiPo (commonly called 2S) has a total voltage of 7.4v. A 3 cell LiPo (or 3S) has a voltage of 11.1v, and a 4S LiPo pack measures 14.8v.

When setting up your LiPo charger, make sure to choose the correct voltage for your pack.

What current do I choose?

As a rule of thumb, for every 1000mAH on your battery we charge at 1.0Amp. This is called a “1C charge rate”.

So if you have a 5000mAH battery, we’d set the charge rate to 5.0 amps. If your battery is 5600mah, charge at 5.6 amps. It’s important to note that whilst you could set a lower charge rate if you wanted, we’d not recommend choosing a higher charge rate.

Setting the current as described above will result in a charge time of around 45-60 minutes for a flat battery.

What about a LiPo Safe Charge Sack?

For extra piece of mind, it's always wise to keep your LiPo batteries in a safe charge sack, or you can look at the range of heavy duty battery storage solutions from BatSafe