RC Model Reviews

Hi,

I'm a bit at sea with the various Lithium battery types. The Trustfire 18650 cells recommended here are described as Lithium Ion. With my Accucel charger would these be "LiFe" charged to 3.6V, or "Lilo" charged to 4.1V?

Thanks, Tony S

While the Trustfire 18650 cells are not technically LiPo but LiIon, most 18650 cells including the Trustfire ones, should be charged to 4.2V max per cell which is the LiPo setting on most hobby chargers. The LiIo setting on the hobby chargers refer, I believe, to older LiIo technology... My iCharger allows me to tweak the final voltage but I just use the LiPo setting... no chance of bunging it up that way. Using the LiIo setting on your hobby charger would result in a slightly lower charge (4.1V max per cell) but it would also be kinder to the cells and they would likely last longer. Lithium cells prefer to be charged light and often, rather than going through full discharge/charge cycles. And it doesn't hurt to mention that Lithium batteries do not benefit from cycling... they will just wear out faster if you do without gaining any capacity.

Regards

Christian

I agree with kaptain_zero.
Charge LiIon on the LiPo setting
The full name for LiPo is LithiumIonPolymer.
They ARE constructed differently but they share the same charge voltages.
They best kept to a 1C maximum charge rate though.

Thanks. Looking at the document for my charger, its impossible to tell whether the third letter in "Lilo" is supposed to be a capital "I" which could mean "Li"thium "Io"n .. or whether its a lower case "L". It doesn't help that the term LILO (or Lilo) seems to only be used by charger manufacturers, not batteries. And the Trustfire references all seem to assume you're going to be using their own brand charger.

If it's a LiLo I suspect you'd need a pump not a charger.
I hope you didn't pay an Inflated price for it.




Sorry, couldn't resist.