LiPo Battery error.

[Napalm]

So i bought a revolt 30 and its done great so far but for some reason last night when i went to plug in my LiPo 4200 mAh 7.4V two cell grim racer battery my Onyx 235 charger was reading voltage error. i tried to bring the charging amps down from the recommended 4.2 but it still wouldn't quit giving me that error. I need help here, the boat is less than three weeks old and i've maybe gotten twenty cycles through it. Anything i can do besides buy a new battery?

[JimClark]

sounds like you ran the battery down too low

[Napalm]

Which i don't understand because as soon as the boat gave me the low power signal i pulled it out of the water cleaned it up and disconnected the batteries within five minutes of being out of the water, im just totally lost as to what happened. and the batteries have always been dry when i pull the boat out so i dont know.

[3b3b]

If you are within 90 days of the purchase of the lipos and you have proof, Hobby Services will replace. Email them at [email protected]. You'll need to take a picture of the lipo and describe what happened. I had a lipo go puffy and they replaced. Good luck.

[sanyijr]

Check teh voltage... You can set the main charger system to NIMH/NICD and check the pack V. If too low, the lipo setep will not activate because of low pack voltage.... You can bring it up to charge SLOWLY, but first check the voltage on the pack and see where you are..... then get back to us....

Revolt 30- does that have an adjustible LVC? What is yours set at?

[3b3b]

I have one of those $5 lipo monitors that plugs into the balance tap. The lowest reading I've seen from a cell came in at 3.3 but I'll usually see 3.4

[eboat]

How much have you been putting back into the lipos when you have been running them till the low power signal ??

[Doug Smock]

From the manual:
Notes about using LiPo batteries in your boat: The Revolt uses
the AquaCraft 60amp motor controller. This controller has a built
in stutter bump system that cycles the power to the motor when
the battery voltage reaches 12V. This is designed to warn you of
impending low battery voltage and subsequent shut down. It also
has a 10.8V battery cut off safety system that shuts the power
down to the motor to avoid damaging the batteries.
Having said this, as a rule of thumb we have found it best in very
high current draw application like an RC boat, to not to use more
than 70% of the rated capacity of the battery pack, per run. We
have also found that when in doubt and using the recommended
propellers you can expect to use about 1000mAh (give or take)
per minute of operation. Using this you can better judge your
runs knowing you’re taking the very best care of your battery
pack investment.
GrimRacer says: It’s best to test this by making a timed
2 min run. Then charge the batteries back up and note the
amount of mAh the pack allowed back in. Do this each and
every time you make a prop change or any other signifi cant
change to your setup. Then adjust your driving time so you don’t
go over the 70% usage mark.
Also keep in mind that RC car packs (hard case) could be used.
But if you get them wet, they can store water, causing the internal
metal parts of the pack to corrode, and in turn causing short pack
life. We highly recommend using dedicated marine LiPo packs
like those in the GrimRacer Line.

My guess is that you have over discharged the battery.
It is never a good idea to try to resurrect a LiPo battery, your charger is doing you a favor. 3b3b gave you some good advice.

[3b3b]

I have the Onyx 235 charger as well. I got the "Bat.Vol Error" once when I set the charger to 3S rather than 4S. You might want to check your charging settings. Also try disconnecting the cords/wire to the charger then replug. Maybe a connection is loose.

Thanks DS :)

[Napalm]

Check teh voltage... You can set the main charger system to NIMH/NICD and check the pack V. If too low, the lipo setep will not activate because of low pack voltage.... You can bring it up to charge SLOWLY, but first check the voltage on the pack and see where you are..... then get back to us....

Revolt 30- does that have an adjustible LVC? What is yours set at?

it does have a LVC and its not adjustable i think its shut down is around 3.2V.

Looks like im going to be making an email to hopefully get a new battery.

Also im looking into buying a bigger battery and running just one instead of the two its set up for now but im not sure what to go with any suggestions?

[sanyijr]

Napalm,

First things first.... Did the charger say "low Vlt Error"? Or volt error? Does the manual specifically confirm that this error is from low voltage? There can be many reasons for a "Voltage error"? (input voltage, a poor connection, etc)

I would still suggest getting or borrowing a voltmeter and just confirming that your packs are low..... And the fact that the pack is low after the LVC hit once? If your pack voltage went so low that the charger is erroring it out, your boat would have been maxing out its speed at like 20% of normal.

Otherwise, you are still not really figuring out the root of the problem. (except that you just may not be able to rely on the LVC at all)

And then, you still have not figured out why the LVC ran it THAT low... Though LVC are not that realiable, they should not run them below the charger threshold.... otherwise, what is teh point!

So if you are going to get new packs, cool. But the underlying issue I don't think is clear. It would suck to buy new packs and then have the same error, that's all. Check the packs and rule then out to being the cause of the error and then don't rely on the LVC again... JMHO


And if LVC is in the ball park of 3.2V/cell.... the charger low volt is like what....2.5?...2.6.... So maybe a new ESC would be warranted as well.

[KartRacer]

I agree with sanyijr
Had a Pack that gave me that error on my 245 and I set charge rate for .8 amp rate for a couple of
Minutes then Reset the charger and it charged properly. Packs checked out at 3.8 storage volts so they were not too low but 245 misread it or something. May be an issue with this brand of charger. I have used it a dozen times and this is the only time it did it. Good luck. Hopefully just a faulty reading and everything will be ok.

[Napalm]

thanks for all the help everyone it looks like i have a lot of looking into things to do ill for sure get a volt meter and check them and the manual does directly say with voltage error that the battery voltages are low ive checked all the settings on my charger and their all set perfectly so im assuming that its the lvc or something else but ill keep looking into it. this boat has been more of a head ache than fun. looks like its back to driving the spartan till all this is straightened out.