LiPo Battery Burst Current Calculator
Find your LiPo battery maximum burst and continuous discharge current.
Enter capacity and C-rating to avoid motor burnout or ESC damage.
A LiPo battery C-rating tells you the maximum safe discharge rate as a multiple of capacity. The formula is:
Max current (amps) = capacity (Ah) × C-rating
A 2200 mAh (2.2 Ah) battery with a 30C burst rating can discharge at up to 2.2 × 30 = 66 amps peak. Run it beyond that and you generate heat that swells the pack, reduces cycle life, and in extreme cases causes thermal runaway.
Most LiPo packs list two C-ratings: continuous (sustained safe limit) and burst (absolute maximum for a few seconds). Both matter for different reasons.
Continuous = capacity_Ah × continuous_C Burst peak = capacity_Ah × burst_C
When selecting a battery, your burst current must exceed your motor’s maximum amp draw. If your ESC is rated 60A and your motor can pull 55A at full throttle, a 2200 mAh 25C battery (55A continuous) is marginal. A 35C pack (77A) gives comfortable headroom.
Cell count affects power, not current. A 3S (11.1V) and 4S (14.8V) battery of the same mAh and C-rating both deliver the same maximum amps. But the 4S delivers more watts (watts = amps × volts), so a 4S motor at the same current produces significantly more power.
Quick health check: after a hard flight, touch the battery. Warm is normal. Too hot to hold comfortably (above roughly 45°C) means you are regularly exceeding the pack rating, running a degraded cell, or both. Retire the pack before it fails mid-flight.