If you are using a Li-Po battery, you should know that it cannot be stored fully charged. We all know that fully charged or fully depleted batteries will die over time or get damaged. Even if you are thinking not to use it anymore, do not leave it partially charged. Sometimes the battery needs to discharge for storage purposes.
Then how to discharge a Li-Po battery for storage? Is it a tough job to do? Will it cause harm if you try to do it at home?
Well, running a balance discharger will solve the problem. Some other methods can be used to discharge the battery for storage. This article is going to show you some methods which you can apply easily.
How To Discharge A Lipo Battery For Storage?
For discharging the Li-Po battery, you can use several methods. The most famous way is to use a balance discharger. You can also use a bulb discharger, resistor discharger, and reverse charging. A smart discharger is an excellent choice to discharge batteries. We will discuss this broadly in this article, so don’t worry if you are hesitating to try.
3 In 1 Discharger
If you are looking for a cheap device to discharge the battery, perhaps it is the best choice. It is so powerful that it can discharge the RC battery almost in a minute. First of all, you have to connect the battery with the device and let the machine power up.
A bulb is used to notify if the discharge is completed or not. You can discharge the battery completely. Another option is to set a voltage to stop the discharge.
It also keeps the cell balanced during the discharging process. But the 150W powerful device produces so much heat in the bulb that it could melt the wires or burn them.
The DIY Light Bulb Discharger
In DIY projects, most of the bulbs are halogen bulbs which are used in low-powered devices. The device is not expensive, and you can easily make it. It works faster than using resistors which will come at a similar cost.
First, you should make a combination of those bulbs like in series or parallel. Then connect the discharger with the battery, and the bulbs will light up. The charge of the battery will reduce after sob sometime. You can exceed the speed of discharging if you want.
When the connection of bulbs is in parallel, the discharging rate will be triple. Typically, it can discharge 3S batteries because the halogen bulbs are 12V. But when you get the bulbs in series, the discharging power will exceed up to 6S.
The DIY Resistor Discharger
The resistor dischargers are very handy when it comes to discharging the Li-Po batteries. It is also very easy to make, and the components are cheap, which you will find in a nearby electronics shop. When you connect multiple resistors with the batteries, it will reduce the amount of current passing through.
The resistors will not be heated much, but there is a problem with this device. You won’t get notified whether the discharging is completed or not.
Therefore, you have to leave the battery outside for some time while discharging. Then get it back after a while. Check if the battery is fully discharged or not.
Use Reverse Charging
Reverse charging is used in discharging batteries because, in this process, no electricity gets wasted. For this method, you will need a charging board that will provide the charge from the batteries to other sources.
Get your Li-Po battery and connect it as a power source of the circuit. Then take other batteries which you need to charge. You can connect multiple batteries in parallel to charge them. Even the voltage limit can be fixed on the charger.
But there will be a problem if you do not check the cell voltages. That is because the charging board is not balanced to distribute electricity.
Get a Smart Discharger
The smart dischargers are most probably the best option to discharge any Li-Po battery. It allows you to set a limit to the voltage, which will stop the discharging. Then you won’t have to check the discharge rate repeatedly. It has more power than other methods that were discussed in this article. All you need to do is connect the battery to the discharger and set the voltage. After a few minutes, your job is done.
A Balance Discharger
You will need a 100W halogen bulb and short it through a cable connection with the battery. Check the AMPS by an Ammeter. Do not worry because it won’t short the battery. Then connect the battery and bulb with the balance discharger. You will see a function called discharge plus. It allows the discharge rate at 1AMPS. Therefore, there will be no risk of the battery getting damaged.
It converts the electrical energy into heat which will release into the environment. You can increase the AMPS through the device, which will increase the discharging rate. The bulb will indicate whether the discharging is going on or it has stopped.
Tips for Battery Storage
Too low storage voltage will damage the battery. Therefore, you should be cautious when you are fixing the voltage. If the battery is stored for a long time, make sure it is placed at room temperature. Try to avoid the heat that will produce in some methods while discharging.
Conclusion
After reading the article about how to discharge a Li-Po battery for storage, you might have learned to store a battery and save it. A discharged battery can also go to the disposal. We hope you get the point we are trying to make here. Wish you good luck!
