The cold snap we experienced this week (November 2019) reminded me that LiPo packs do not respond well when the temperatures dip below freezing or anywhere close to 32 degrees. If you are storing your packs in a cold space or are racing in temps below 50 degrees, then a few extra steps to make sure your packs are race ready:
-
If your are storing your packs in a cold storage area, bring them up to normal room temps 24 hours before your race day.
-
On race day, two or more hours prior to the race, charge the packs you will use to their max capacity and then discharge them at about 2C (twice their rated capacity in mAH divided by 1000 = discharge amps. Example: 6000mAH pack would be discharged at 12 amps).
-
Recharge and then discharge again as above in Step 2. What we are doing is raising the internal temperature to allow the pack to have normal capacity and good voltage for race day.
Follow the steps above to get your LiPo packs ready for race time in cold weather. In the summer we watch for maximum temp. In the winter we want the temp up enough so we will have enough run time to complete our race!