Thunderpower 40C 'Pro-Race' Battery Charge Rate

[Marvin]

I just have a quick question for you guys. I have one of the Thunderpower 40C 5000mAh packs, and, whilst the instructions say max 1C charging, I was wondering if anyone's had any success with 2C charging.

I only have the one pack, as it's for 1/10 buggy, which is my secondary class, so I can't sink loads of money into it, and I can't quite fully charge it between runs.

I know this isn't a problem, but 2C charging is just nice.

I'm pretty sure that many people have increased from 1C to 2C on packs that say 1C max, particularly those like Flightpower, Thunderpower (though older cells) etc, but I thought I'd like to double check.

[zeropointbug]

I didn't think they were only rated for 1C, I would have thought min 2C and mroe likely 4C+, as they ARE a 40C pack, very low internal resistance. But maybe the chemistry doesn't allow it safely I guess?

What's with the no replies eh?

[Marvin]

I found the Thunder Power thread on RC-Tech. Thunder Power themselves say that you can charge their cells (successfully) at 2C and 3C, though at 3C there was a significant/noticeable drop in life cycle, and that at those rates the cells must be balanced using a balancer that monitors the cells the whole time.

Not a problem for me, I only need to charge at 2C, and I have a proper balancer.

[SpEEdyBL]

I charge my 4s Zippy 25c batteries at 2c, and only at 2c, no more, no less. When they were new, they took just over 4500 mAh to reach 90%. After three months and about 15 race days with about 2 or 3 charges on each pack per race day, they take just over 4300 mAh. Not bad since they were only $60 each. performane and temps are still the same. internal resistance has gone up from 18-22 to 24-28 mOhms.

[himalaya]

I read somewhere that the new TP 40C and 45C packs are capable of 6C charge. Obviously just to be slightly higher than Hyperion G3.