4 Ways LiPo Batteries can Damage Your Projects…

4 Ways LiPo Batteries can Damage Your Projects…

Before Starting. I want to give little LiPo battery terminology

C: Battery Capacity, for instance if battery capacity is 5000Mah and if I say 1C it means 5000Mah. “C” technical term is used for giving battery capacity information. For sumo robots, we always use higher C current capability batteries.

Mah, Ah: Milliampere/hour or Ampere/hour. It is unit of battery can give continuously at 1 hour before finishing capacity.

S & P: S means series connected. If we see 3S battery, that means 3 cell series connected (Nominal 11.1V, full charge 12,6V) And P means cells are parallel connected.

Using Thin Wires

Sumo Robots can draw very high currents than thin wires can stand very well. In that cases that wires can melt and can create short circuits.

We suggest minimum 4mm^2 wire diameter cable for current conductions or more thicker. If we talk with AWG unit. Your wires must be between 10-16 AWG. And wires should be stranded multi-wire.

Wrong Connection Plugs

You must use proper connectors. We suggest XT60 or Dean’s T-Plug connectors for batteries. They are very common for lots of lipo batteries. The right thing at that connectors they have polarity marks and shape. You can not connect at opposite polarity. And for motor connections, I can suggest Phoenix contact sockets.

Wrong Charging Currents

LiPo batteries are very sensitive to high charging currents. Usually, they say batteries can be charged at high C rates (as the right example), but I never suggest. My opinion you should charge a battery at 1C or less. (If your battery is 3000 mah, charge it less than 3000mah).

And one tip more. Never leave alone your battery while charging. Always be at same room for rapid interventions.

Unsecured Placing

You should place your battery at secure, safe place of the robot. For sumo robots, usually, we put them at back places. And if your back panels are thin, opponent robot’s wedge can tear panel and can go inside battery’s sleeve.

About the First Photos at Article

That photos are belong to our one Customer. He was not careful enough for charging batteries. He tried charging the battery with very high current and also left the place alone. And this is the pity result…

You may want to read this article too:

http://www.dronetrest.com/t/lipo-batteries-a-guide-to-using-and-looking-after-your-batteries/1278

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