Lipo batteries are a great thing, as long as you know how to properly use them. If you don't then they become a hazard to you, your property and anyone around. Their tends to some confusion around lipo (lithium polymer) batteries especially with new people. That's why I decided to make this fairly basic guide.
RATINGS AND WHAT THEY MEAN-
First off comes the S rating or number of cells, ex. 1s is 1 cell, 2s is 2 cells, 3s is 3 cells and so on. This directly corresponds with the voltage of the battery, each cell is 3.7v so all you have to do to find the voltage is multiply 3.7 by how ever many cells there are. 2 cells is 7.4v, 3 cells is 11.1v ect. It works the other way around also, If you have the voltage you can divide it by 3.7 to find the number of cells. 7.4 divided by 3.7 is 2, 11.1 divided by 3.7 is 3. So you can always find the voltage and number of cells even if you only have one of them.
Next comes MAH or "milliampere hour". This affects how long a battery will last, the higher the mah the longer the battery will last but the larger and heavier that the battery is. If a battery is 1000mah that means the battery will put out 1000 milliamps for 1 hour, or 1 amp for 1 hour because a milliamp is 1/1000 of an amp. So that means in 1 amp there are 1000 milliamps, 2 amps there are 2000 milliamps and so on. It's rather easy to find the amperage of a battery, if a battery has 1,350mah that means it's 1.35 amps, get it? This will come into play later on.
Now onto the C rating, what this means is the maximum constant amps your battery can put out. This typically isn't much of a concern with airsoft guns but I'm already writing all this so It may a well be complete. To find the maximum constant amps a lipo can put out, you have to convert the milliamp rating of the battery into amps like we did earlier. You then take the amp rating you just got and multiply it by the c rating. ex. a 1000 mah (or milliamp) battery converted to amps is 1 amp, say the C rating is 10, now multiply 1 amp by 10 and that's the maximum constant amps your battery can put out. Ill give another example. Say I have a 2300mah 30c battery, 2300 milliamps is 2.3 amps, 2.3 times 30 is 69 (coincidence) so my battery can put out a maximum of 69 amps constantly. Like I said this isn't much of a concern with airsoft guns unless it's a really low C battery.
CHARGING AND BALANCING
It's very important for a lipo battery to be properly charged and balanced.Using a charger that's made for lipos, a healthy lipo cell will come to 4.20 volts when fully charged and sometimes very slightly more. I lipo cell should never go any lower than about 3.20 volts. If you accidentally drained it a little lower than that once or twice don't worry it's probably alright but don't let it happen again. Your battery should say the maximum charge rating (also in C) if it doesn't then 2c should be your max although some can charge up to 5c. To get your maximum charge rating is similar to getting your maximum discharge rating. All you have to do is multiply the mah of the battery by the max charge rating. If you have a 1000mah battery, that's 1 amp and say the max charge rating is 2c, then you multiply 1 amp by 2c and your max charge rate it 2 amps. The principle stays the same no matter the ratings, you should be able to figure it out pretty easily.
On to balancing, obviously this only applies to lipo's with more than one cell. Some people like to balance every charge and some people get away with every 2 or 3 charges. I like to be safe as possible when it comes to lipo's and balance every charge. When balancing I like to keep the cells within .03 volts of each other. They don't HAVE to be exactly the same but they need to be very close.
STORAGE
When storing a lipo, the cells should be between 3.7 an 3.8 volts each for a safe level and to help with battery life. They also need to be stored in a safe place, don't leave them plugged up in your gun sitting in the corner unless you enjoy house fires. I keep some of mine in an old military ammo can and some in a "lipo safe" bag.
Now I can go on but I think that's about all a new lipo owner really needs to know. If I left something important out or got something wrong please let me know. Hope this helps someone!
RATINGS AND WHAT THEY MEAN-
First off comes the S rating or number of cells, ex. 1s is 1 cell, 2s is 2 cells, 3s is 3 cells and so on. This directly corresponds with the voltage of the battery, each cell is 3.7v so all you have to do to find the voltage is multiply 3.7 by how ever many cells there are. 2 cells is 7.4v, 3 cells is 11.1v ect. It works the other way around also, If you have the voltage you can divide it by 3.7 to find the number of cells. 7.4 divided by 3.7 is 2, 11.1 divided by 3.7 is 3. So you can always find the voltage and number of cells even if you only have one of them.
Next comes MAH or "milliampere hour". This affects how long a battery will last, the higher the mah the longer the battery will last but the larger and heavier that the battery is. If a battery is 1000mah that means the battery will put out 1000 milliamps for 1 hour, or 1 amp for 1 hour because a milliamp is 1/1000 of an amp. So that means in 1 amp there are 1000 milliamps, 2 amps there are 2000 milliamps and so on. It's rather easy to find the amperage of a battery, if a battery has 1,350mah that means it's 1.35 amps, get it? This will come into play later on.
Now onto the C rating, what this means is the maximum constant amps your battery can put out. This typically isn't much of a concern with airsoft guns but I'm already writing all this so It may a well be complete. To find the maximum constant amps a lipo can put out, you have to convert the milliamp rating of the battery into amps like we did earlier. You then take the amp rating you just got and multiply it by the c rating. ex. a 1000 mah (or milliamp) battery converted to amps is 1 amp, say the C rating is 10, now multiply 1 amp by 10 and that's the maximum constant amps your battery can put out. Ill give another example. Say I have a 2300mah 30c battery, 2300 milliamps is 2.3 amps, 2.3 times 30 is 69 (coincidence) so my battery can put out a maximum of 69 amps constantly. Like I said this isn't much of a concern with airsoft guns unless it's a really low C battery.
CHARGING AND BALANCING
It's very important for a lipo battery to be properly charged and balanced.Using a charger that's made for lipos, a healthy lipo cell will come to 4.20 volts when fully charged and sometimes very slightly more. I lipo cell should never go any lower than about 3.20 volts. If you accidentally drained it a little lower than that once or twice don't worry it's probably alright but don't let it happen again. Your battery should say the maximum charge rating (also in C) if it doesn't then 2c should be your max although some can charge up to 5c. To get your maximum charge rating is similar to getting your maximum discharge rating. All you have to do is multiply the mah of the battery by the max charge rating. If you have a 1000mah battery, that's 1 amp and say the max charge rating is 2c, then you multiply 1 amp by 2c and your max charge rate it 2 amps. The principle stays the same no matter the ratings, you should be able to figure it out pretty easily.
On to balancing, obviously this only applies to lipo's with more than one cell. Some people like to balance every charge and some people get away with every 2 or 3 charges. I like to be safe as possible when it comes to lipo's and balance every charge. When balancing I like to keep the cells within .03 volts of each other. They don't HAVE to be exactly the same but they need to be very close.
STORAGE
When storing a lipo, the cells should be between 3.7 an 3.8 volts each for a safe level and to help with battery life. They also need to be stored in a safe place, don't leave them plugged up in your gun sitting in the corner unless you enjoy house fires. I keep some of mine in an old military ammo can and some in a "lipo safe" bag.
Now I can go on but I think that's about all a new lipo owner really needs to know. If I left something important out or got something wrong please let me know. Hope this helps someone!