Hi.

I've read the manual about charging the battery. It states "Never leave the battery unattended during charging".
On the internet, I've found that in rare cases LiPo batteries can cause explosions or fires and that monitoring the batteries is recommended.
At first I plugged in the battery in the evening, to wake up in the morning with a fully charged battery (just like my phone), but according to the internet and the manual, this is not the way to go.

To me however, it seems that constantly guarding the battery while it is charging (90 minutes) is not the way to go either. How do you guys do this?

I do what it says in the manual.

LiPo batteries can be very dangerous and there are many stories of charging batteries "venting", catching fire, or exploding. Many of those times involved a damaged battery. If you battery ever swells, gets punctured, or any other damage occurs it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you properly dispose of the battery. Many people use a LiPo bag during charging, which is a bag made of a fireproof material, and charge the battery inside the bag. Yes the battery should be monitored during charging. Do you have to sit in front of it the entire time? No, but I wouldn't leave it unattended either. I charge my batteries in a LiPo bag and check it about every 15 minutes while it's charging. I also charge it near a smoke detector so if it does start smoking it will set off the smoke detector right away. Hope this helps.

I have never had an issue with a LiPo. If there is no damage  that is visible to the battery such s bulging or charring, most likely you will be OK. The unattended is a standard disclaimer. When flying I always  check my battery temp at the beginning and the end of the flight. To be safe there are fire proof  bags available to charge the battery in. Personally, I charge mine in my presence for peace of mind.

"most likely you will be OK."

That is true, but what happens if the less likely actually happens?

A Phantom battery is very different to a phone battery, if the phone bursts into flames then it will probably run out of fuel and extinguish itself before igniting anything else, although you should still be careful of where you charge and ensure that there are no flammable materials near.  However the Phantom battery has maybe 10 times the power stored in it, if it ignites then there is a far higher chance of it burning the house down.

So make sure that you are awake and either in the same room or within hearing range of the smoke alarm that is watching it, and have a suitable fire extinguisher easily accessible.

It is very rare for Phantom batteries to have problems, but drone batteries have been known to burn down houses.

When I charge mine, it is sitting on an aluminium table with nothing flammable nearby.

For safety reasons, you really don't want to leave them for hours on end like that on a constant basis. You never know if there is a sudden power issue from the power source or anything like ton a similar effect that would potentially cause the LiPos to combust. Given that there is some surge protection built into the circuitry of the battery, it will help to keep the LiPos from overcharging so the once in a blue moon situation that you forget about them for a few hours will not be an immediate issue. I wouldn't make it a habit, though, especially for days/weeks on end.

While I don't stand over my batteries myself, I do keep an eye on them as I go about my tasks around the house. It takes 90 minutes for an almost dead battery, you'd most likely have a faster charging period than that if you left a good amount of battery life left on it.

Thank you all for your responses! Just like some of you advised, I've bought a LiPo safe bag! I suppose I can now safely bring them on a plane as well.


So, I think that from now on, I'll charge my batteries like this:

Quick question: doesn't a LiPo bag obstruct the ventilation holes when discharging?

Dronelivier Posted at 2017-5-31 08:23
Thank you all for your responses! Just like some of you advised, I've bought a LiPo safe bag! I suppose I can now safely bring them on a plane as well.
[view_image]

The images don't seem  to be coming through on my end, could you happen to repost them?

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2017-6-5 14:14
The images don't seem  to be coming through on my end, could you happen to repost them?

Sure

Dronelivier Posted at 2017-6-5 13:41
Quick question: doesn't a LiPo bag obstruct the ventilation holes when discharging?

That's my question too. Also, it seems the battery will be a lot warmer when charging. Will this reduce its life over time?
Thanks!

That's my question too. Also, it seems the battery will be a lot warmer when charging. Will this reduce its life over time?
Thanks!

Dronelivier Posted at 2017-6-5 13:41
Quick question: doesn't a LiPo bag obstruct the ventilation holes when discharging?

...and an other question: How hot is the LiPo in the bag when the auto-discharge starts...

Ok, i reply an older post in this thread and dont see the last posts :-)