I am a novice RC'er and have made the switch from NIMH to LIPO batteries.  I went to RC Pro Racing the other day and Roger gave me a deal on 2-5000Mah LIPO batteries and I also bought a Venom Pro Charger.  I got home, read the procharger manual, and it did not make much sense to me.

I tried to charge the LIPO using the balancing plug, but I got a connection break message.  The procharger also has a discharge, fast charge, balance, charge, but I am not sure which setting to use.  I mainly use the batteries to power Traxxas Stampedes, and my boats, a Traxxas Blast and a SuperVee 27 Brushless.  The pro charger also has a temperature probe, but no mention on how to use it.  It also says that it can save 10 different settings, but am not sure how to program it.  It finally has a USB connection and software, but I do not know how to utilize the software.

I would like some rules of thumb on charging LIPO's, like if it better to charge at a lower or higher amperage, how to charge a LIPO using the balancing port, should the LIPO"S be discharged.

It would also be nice to have some rules of thumb for the NIMH batteries I have for backup.  I have the pro charger, and two Piranha Digital Chargers, and have a LOSI LIPO converter to charge the LIPO's with the Piranha Charger.

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

Don't discharge your li-po's ..

Don't run them dead in your R/C's either, they can be ruined if discharged below 3 volts per cell, (6volts on a 2S 7.4Volt pack.)

If you have plans to keep the pack inactive for more than a month or long period storage, keep them at about 60% of their capacity.This can be done by not recharging them fully, or a controlled discharge.