# LiPo battery charging question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lipo-battery-charging-question/977875>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 8, 2023, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lipo-battery-charging-question/977875 "2023-01-08T14:11:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2023, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lipo-battery-charging-question/977875/1 "2023-01-08T14:11:14Z")

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I just bought something (used) that came with two LiPo batteries and a charger. The batteries are or seem to be completely drained (based on multi-meter). The charger has LEDs to indicate what is going on - Ready to charge, Charging, Complete and Error. The thing is that, when the batteries are connected, it won’t change from Ready to Charging. Is this more likely a battery or charger problem?

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**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2023, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lipo-battery-charging-question/977875/2 "2023-01-08T14:24:54Z")

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How old is it? I’d expect that type of problem after about 10 years or 400-500 charge cycles. The batteries don’t last forever. I use several thousands LiPo batteries at work, and after a while they just stop taking a charge.

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**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2023, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lipo-battery-charging-question/977875/3 "2023-01-08T15:46:13Z")

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Draining LiPo batteries to zero will wreck them.

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**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2023, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lipo-battery-charging-question/977875/4 "2023-01-08T17:04:54Z")

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As always, [BatteryUniversity.com](http://BatteryUniversity.com) is an excellent source of information on batteries:  
[BU-409: Charging Lithium-ion](https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-409-charging-lithium-ion)  
[BU-808: How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries](https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-808-how-to-prolong-lithium-based-batteries)  
[BU-808b: What Causes Li-ion to Die?](https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-808b-what-causes-li-ion-to-die)  
[BU-810: What Everyone Should Know About Aftermarket Batteries](https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-810-what-everyone-should-know-about-aftermarket-batteries)

Stranger