battery query

Equipment Radios & Power
1

I have a zippy 4200mah battery. bought it a few years ago. probably over 10 years , i’m not sure. Its hardly been used tbh probably less than 10 charges total.

I went to check on it and charge it for a potential activation tomorrow. The 4 cells read around 3.3v and one cell was 3.1v.

I have balance charged it on the imax b6 charger. it safety timed out at 70 minutes.

after an hour rest i read the cells again and it says 13.5v, 3.49v, 3.48v, 3.26v, 3.35v

Does this mean its time to buy a new smaller battery as i dont think i had the ft817 when i bought this, i used it on a ft480 for a few activations i think before i managed to purchase a ft817.

safe to use? guess its not as cell 3 has only moved from 3.1v to 3.26v after 70 minutes of the charger trying to balance the cells.

thanks

73

Anthony

2

You don’t say what the cell type is, what charge current you used.

Those voltages tell me it’s not fully charged.

Run some discharge cycles then run some long and slow balanced charges. Lather, rinse, repeat. Probably it will be be good after some gentle exercise.

3

its lifepo battery. 4S. charged at 3.0A

4

Assuming it’s a LiFePo4 after 10 years it’s probably terminal but I would keep using it until it dies.

If it’s a 4S battery you will probably struggle to find a replacement. I haven’t found a supplier in the UK recently but you can get 2S and run them in series.

5

as its only needed these days to run a ft817. a smaller battery is probably for the best anyway.

6

Are you writing it off after only one incomplete charging session?

70mins * 3000mA = 3500mA applied to a 4200mA battery.

It’s not going to have had much time to do much balancing never mind complete charging.

7

no i’m not writing it off yet. will run some discharge cycles and slow balance charges through it see it can be massaged back to health but won’t be bothered too much if it doesnt recover.

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