how low...

[sly the dogman]

If I charge at 4.20 and I store at 3.85
how low can I fly without damaging the batterie.

[dallasflyfisher]

I never to allow voltage to go below 3.7v per cell.  I have seen some people go down to 3.2 volts per cell, but that is not advisable.  Many lipo's don't recognize lipo cells once they go below 3 volts.  With that said I have actually pulled a bonehead move and left a battery connected to an ESC and it went down below 2volts on the 2nd cell.  I simply used the Nicad cycle and charged the pack at .1 amp (it was a 2200mah pack) long enough to bring the voltage up enough for the charger to recognize it as a lipo cell then changed over to Lipo Balance Cycle.  I have seen no negative effects of allowing this to happen, however I believe the reason there was not significant damage was the battery was discharged at a VERY low rate for a period of 2 days before I realized what I had done.  If the same thing happened at a high rate of discharge I am 100% certain that cell would have puffed or fried

[FireballXL5]

Nice job savin that battery, hope I never have to try that myself, my bird actually loses lift just below 3.6, so I usually end up ending my flights around 3.7. It takes a good flight to get them there, so having extra batts on hand is a great way to keep the bird flyin and keep you learning. I usually wait 5-10 mins between flights, and all is well. 

[Rebel318]

I never to allow voltage to go below 3.7v per cell.  I have seen some people go down to 3.2 volts per cell, but that is not advisable.  Many lipo's don't recognize lipo cells once they go below 3 volts.  With that said I have actually pulled a bonehead move and left a battery connected to an ESC and it went down below 2volts on the 2nd cell.  I simply used the Nicad cycle and charged the pack at .1 amp (it was a 2200mah pack) long enough to bring the voltage up enough for the charger to recognize it as a lipo cell then changed over to Lipo Balance Cycle.  I have seen no negative effects of allowing this to happen, however I believe the reason there was not significant damage was the battery was discharged at a VERY low rate for a period of 2 days before I realized what I had done.  If the same thing happened at a high rate of discharge I am 100% certain that cell would have puffed or fried

Well when they are made new they have to charge them some way. You might to be on something with that. Its a fact that if you have a dead car bat you always use the slow charge first.

[chris.7935]

Flyfisher - I hope you charged that outside with a a big bucket of water near by. 

NEVER charge a lipo battery that has gone below 3v in the cells. There is more likely than not internal damage and it might catch fire and burn your house down. Clip the ends one at a time and put it in a salt water solution for at least 2 weeks, then toss it in the trash. (3 gallons of water - 2 1/4 cups of salt) Buy a new battery, they are not that much.
The chargers are designed that way for a reason!!

As for how low you can go.
anything below 3.0 can/will damage the internal components of the battery
anything below 3.3 might cause problems with the total number of cycles you will get on that battery.
Anything above 3.3 is ok. The trick is once a lipo cell drops below 3.6 a cell the curve falls off a cliff. The difference between a 3.6 battery and a 3.3 battery might be as little as 15 seconds of flight. This is why most people stop at 3.7 and all LVC circuits start the warning at 3.7.