I am wondering is it necessary to discharge a battery to a certain amount before recharging? Also my controller is at about 50%. Is it ok to recharge it fully now or fly until it's about 20%?

Hey, I don't remember the exact answers to your questions, but have a look at this YouTube video explainer. This guy talks for 50 minutes, but you'll walk away with all the answers you'll possibly need with regards to battery care and charging tips:

As I understand it,  our batteries are "smart"-- i.e.  they have smart electronics embedded within them.

These smarts make it possible to recharge without damage, a battery that is not fully discharged.

As for the RC controller -- I always recharge when it gets to about 50%.     I've only had my Spark for about a month -- so can't comment on any negative effects there.   However, I have been flying a P3S for more than 2 years -- and I have always recharged the controller when it gets near 50%.   No harm seen yet -- no degradation in duration of use before recharging seen.

Sid

sidtx Posted at 2018-3-9 14:59
As I understand it,  our batteries are "smart"-- i.e.  they have smart electronics embedded within them.

These smarts make it possible to recharge without damage, a battery that is not fully discharged.

You're right that the aircraft batteries have quite a bit of built-in intelligence, for example, to be able to accurately calculate remaining flight time and manage the rate of discharge, but the aircraft battery and RC battery are chemically different.

As I understand it, the aircraft uses lithium polymer batteries while the battery inside the RC is a lithium-ion type, similar to what you'd find in your mobile phone. It's the aircraft batteries in particular that you need to treat with care, because you can significantly reduce their lifetime by for example leaving them stashed inside of a hot car, or draining them completely. I recommend spending some time watching the video I posted earlier in this thread - the guy maybe comes across as a bit paranoid, but it's an excellent explainer.

I think you don't have to discharge the battery every time. The Spark intelligent battery chip will update the battery's capacity anytime. But it is recommended to charge the battery fully once every three months to maintain the battery's activity. Thanks for your attention.

My spark controller stopped charging. Controller working fine but unable to charge it vua usb