Bot Battery Basics & LiPo Care/Safety

Combat Robotics Battery Basics

We highly recommend you read this:   https://rogershobbycenter.com/lipoguide/

TLDR: Lithium Polymer batteries (henceforth referred to as “LiPo” batteries). A LiPo cell has a nominal voltage of 3.7V. For the 7.4V battery above, that means that there are two cells in series (which means the voltage gets added together). This is sometimes why you will hear people talk about a “2S” battery pack – it means that there are 2 cells in Series. So a two-cell (2S) pack is 7.4V, a three-cell (3S) pack is 11.1V, and so on.

What Lipo Numbers/Markings Mean

Proper Care & Treatment: Charging

Use a LiPo compatible charger for LiPos. Ensure it uses balanced charge using a system called CC/CV charging. It stands for Constant Current / Constant Voltage.

Due to the potential for fire when using LiPo batteries, AWALYS charge the LiPo in a fire-resistant LiPo bag. They are super cheap and will prevent you burning down the house. You can also use these to safely store your batteries. Theres a big selection available here – https://www.banggood.com/search/lipo-bag.html 

Lipo Charge Safe Bag

Buying LiPo’s

We will be stocking a selection of well tested batteries for the various weight classes common in NZ, however if you wish to source batteries yourself or you are after something a bit more "custom", then here are some general tips to find batteries online:

Due to the dangerous nature of Lipo batteries, they pose a shipping risk. Unfortunately this means that many overseas shops just will not ship or have very expensive shipping. This means they can be expensive to source for NZ.

A few good places to get them:

More to come once we review a few. If you can recommend any others, please get in touch here – Contact Us

Other:

  • Absolutely do not Parallel charge your LiPo batteries it can be very dangerous. Think explosions!
  • LiPo batteries are capable of catching fire if not used or stored properly.
  • Store at a nominal charge, not full and not empty and always in a LiPo bag.
  • Puffy batteries mean they are close to explosion. Expose of them safely ASAP.
  • Never Cut Your Positive and Negative Wires at the Same Time: It will explode or catch fire.
  • Be careful to always wire batteries in the correct polarity. Incorrect wiring will burn components and or the battery.