Know more about the Lithium Polymer
1 Lithium What?
Lithium Polymer batteries are used in many electronic devices. Cell Phone, Laptops, Hearing Aids just to name a few. And also lithium polymer batteries are also designed for RC use, we use them in different applications than they were designed for. They can be designed to different type for different rc model. The C-rate can be from 3C to 100C, capacity can be 150mah to 22000mah, which can be provided by AGA Power, and AGA Power 2200mah 25C 3S 11.1V Lipo battery is widely used for many RC models. They are similar to Lithium Ion batteries in that they each have a nominal voltage of 3.7 volts, but dissimilar in that they do not have a hard metal casing but rather a flexible material encloses the chemicals inside. The "normal" lithium polymer batteries are thin rectangle shapes with two tabs on the top one positive one negative. The reason we use Lithium cells is that they are significantly lighter than comparable NiCad or NiMH batteries, which makes our planes fly longer and better.
2 There are some thing that you should know:
2.1. Lithium cells must be charged very differently than NiCad or NiMH. They require a special charger specifically designed to charge lithium cells. In general any charger that can charge lithium ion can charge lithium polymer, assuming that the cell count is correct. You must NEVER charge lithium cells with a NiCad or NiMH only battery charger. This is inappropriate. Charging cells is the most important part of using lithium batteries. EXTREME care must be taken when charging them. It is important to set your charger to the correct voltage or cell count. Failure to do this can cause the battery swelling.
2.2. If you crash with your lithium cells they may be damaged such that they are shorted inside. The cells may look just fine. If you crash in ANY way carefully remove the battery pack from the aircraft and watch it carefully for at least the next 20 min. Several fires have been caused by damaged cells being thrown in the car and then the cells catch fire later and destroys the car completely.
2.3. Dealing with temperature
Lithium batteries like heat, but not too much. In the winter time, try to keep your batteries from the cold as much as possible. Leave them in the car while your flying, or keep them in your cargo pants... etc. At the same time don't let them heat up too much. Try to keep your batteries from reaching 160F after use. This will prolong the life of the cells. A good way to measure temperature is a handheld IR meter, they can be found for around $50.00 at most hobby shops.
Egbert