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Sometimes when my Li-Po batteries are getting charged I have to leave home for some unforeseen task. I never leave Li-Po batteries unattended while they are being charged. In such situations I am always in a fix whether to delay the task until the battery is completely charged or if it is fine to turn the charger off and resume when I am back?

Obviously I will not be using any such partially charged battery on the R/C aircraft and there will be no discharge event before I come back and restart the charge process.

Is this harmful for battery?

Charging Mode: Balance

Battery Type : Li-Po

Charger: It would be great if the answer applies generally to smart balancing chargers.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Evidence has shown LiPo battery life is doubled ( in cumulative Ah) when kept between 50~75% all the time and are usually shipped with 66~75% SoC for this reason. But unbalanced cells can accelerate aging if one cell dips below 3.3V while others are 3.6 and still used. \$\endgroup\$
    – Tony Stewart EE75
    Oct 17, 2016 at 17:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ Which would indicate that it should be fine to leave them partially charged and resume when you can? Those batteries won't be used until they are fully charged so the balance part shouldn't be a problem. And all of my chargers keep them at closely matched voltage levels even during the early stages of the process \$\endgroup\$
    – Hanky Panky
    Oct 17, 2016 at 17:18
  • \$\begingroup\$ correct... that is fine.. new good cells are balanced within 2% \$\endgroup\$
    – Tony Stewart EE75
    Oct 17, 2016 at 17:18
  • \$\begingroup\$ Right now i have one battery on charge which has reached 3.71 on each of the 3 cells and I've got to go. I will take your advice and will assume its safe to stop the charger now and resume when I'm back \$\endgroup\$
    – Hanky Panky
    Oct 17, 2016 at 17:23
  • \$\begingroup\$ Reaching 3.71V 'on charge' suggests they were below 3.7V before charging. For best lifespan you should not let the resting voltage go below 3.7V, as this represents 90% discharge. You should cut your flight time back or (if possible) raise the low voltage cutoff point until the battery still has at least 3.7V per cell after flying. The danger of not fully charging is shorter flight time and therefore greater chance of over-discharging the battery. \$\endgroup\$
    – Bruce Abbott
    Oct 17, 2016 at 17:42

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