The Cycle Life of Lipo Batteries

What is Battery Cycle Life

The cycle life is the number of complete charge/discharge cycles that the battery is able to support before that its capacity falls under 80% of it's original capacity. So if the battery is discharged to 60 % and then charged to 80% it isn't a complete cycle.

The cycle life will also vary based on the conditions the battery is in. Factors such as temperature, movement, how frequently it is used, etc. For example, lithium polymer batteries function best in moderate temperatures because that is when the gel is at the optimum density to be fluid and still retain its conductivity. But heat it up too much, it becomes less dense, swelling up and reducing how conductive the it is, and how long it retains a charge. The advertised cycle life is how the battery perform under ideal conditions only, which any kind of battery rarely sees.

I believe that 3.5 years is quite a good life for a LiPo, but I wouldn't replace them until I notice a reduction in power and/or flight time, or you feel they're hotter than normal when you land. I've got a pair of 4-year-old 3s lipo batteries packs with about 50 flights on them which I use in series in my heli, and I've recently had to reduce my timed flights from 8 minutes to 7 minutes with them. But, apart from that, they're still adequate for my practice, and show no signs of distress, so I'll continue to use them.

We have a few people at my field that have tried the 5000 mah 2s lipo batteries configurations with poor results. Usually the packs will puff within 25 cycles. They continue to work for a few more cycles then generally a cell or two will develope much higher IR which just makes the puffing worse. We typically pull about 70A max during a flight and use about 80% of the available capacity. One nice thing is our sequences generally have the same use profile so it is a good way to compare batteries in the same environment flight after flight. Some of my cheaper 1300mAh batteries (I paid about $4 each) have been looked after just as well. ! is going strong, one is dead and the other 4 are beginning to show signs of tiredness after about 80 cycles.

Gens Ace Lipo battery Cycle Life

Compared to the usual high rate R/C lipo cell, the new lightweight, low discharge, Li-po has a shorter life span. You can expect to see drop in capacity after 50 + charge/discharge cycles, whereas a standard Li-po will usually last 75-100 cycles before aging and losing some of its’ capacity. Actually, we have seen some standard Li-po’s go bad (puff) even before 50 cycles.

Gens Ace Lipo batteries are used to break records and were specially designed for commercial & military applications. For a hobbyist, 50 charge cycles is equivalent to flying a long range endurance flight every weekend, for one year straight. You are more likely to crash or lose your airplane before aging its' battery. Also, consider that battery technology is always advancing , and that in one year , there will be better cells available.

Compared the the usual high rate R/C cell, the Gens ace Li-po generally has a longer life span. The cells are made by Grepower , and are recognized world wide for being very high quality. Grepower makes cells for brands like Gens Ace. You can expect at least 200 charge/discharge cycles with the RV Power batteries. If you need top of the line batteries for your DJI S800 / S1000, then RV Power is definitely your first choice!

Have any questions about your lipo batteries or myths you've heard? Ask away and we'll get them answered.