Chargers puffed lipos

wolfman76

Well-Known Member
What is the best to dispose of a puffed lipo i and should you put them in store charge if not using themm for awhile???
 

coolgabsi

Super Mod & DEAL KING!
If a LiPo is puffed it's bad and .... Not just bad it's bad news to be stored... The best way to store a good LiPo is definitely storage charge...

People also store LiPo batteries in storage charge inside the fridge.... I have never done it... Lol but I definitely recommend a LiPo bag and storage charge ... Hopefully in a place outside the house :) if storing for long. :)

Fly safe!! :) have fun!
 

wolfman76

Well-Known Member
so i should cut the deans plug of then put in saltwater for how long then just throw away??? it was on my exi 450 when it puffed been there awhile just decided to check it out saw it was puffed have since removed all lipos and put in lipo bags... will put all my others on charger and put in storage mode
 

murankar

Staff member
Its in this forum somewhere the directions on how to dispose of them. If I remember I think its 4 days in the water then they are safe to throw in the land fill.
 

Tony

Staff member
Yes, always put a 3.8v storage charge on them if you are not going to use them for over a week.

To dispose of them, I drain them as far as the ESC will let me. YOu can hook up a standard car light to them (brake light, not head light) and drain them all the way down. Put 1 cup of salt in a gallon of water and dissolve it. Put the battery in the water for a couple days to a couple weeks (just stick it in the garage and forget about it for a while) then it's safe to toss in the trash.
 

Lee

Well-Known Member
When you put it in the salt water, you will see bubbles coming from the contacts. Once this stops, the battery is completely dead. A few days should do the trick.
 

taizi

Member
hi, on this subject
how does a lipo bulge, is it that its just had its life or is it something to do with charging or use, as a couple of mine have bulged, my 250 batts have bulged but im not using them however they have charge in them , the other is my 7.4v from my v120 which im still using as it charges and flies ok
am i risking an explosion, and is there anything i can do to stop them bulging in the first place i.e not leaving them charged as i have a habit of after use , charging the batts and then using them the next day or maybe 2-4 days after charging (my knowledge of batteries is woeful)
 

pvolcko

Well-Known Member
Over time they will puff out no matter what you do. It is caused by the electrolyte in the battery cells releasing gasses. The harder you discharge the battery (either rate or depth of discharge) the more gas release that will happen. Proper charging can cause some of this gas to be reabsorbed, but when you get to the point of actually being able to see or feel puffing then it will not reabsorb enough to eliminiate the puffiness. If you aggressively charge a battery (over voltage, over current, overheating) it will also puff out, but this is usually the result of a mistaken setting on the charger. Most puffing in typical use comes from the discharge cycle.

Slight puffing is normal after a while and not a cause for concern, at least until you notice that they aren't delivering power as they once did, at which point it is probably time to get some new batteries.

You can help avoid it (or put it off as long as possible) by:

  • Charging at 1C or less. .7C is considered optimal based on my reading.
  • Avoid over discharging. If they are coming out of the heli/plane/whatever hot to the touch then you are drawing them down too fast and you either need to get higher discharge rated batteries or consider upgrading to a higher voltage power train so you can use lower discharge rated batteries. No matter what LiPo you're using, do not discharge them more than 80% (if you're using a 5000mAh battery, then it should take no more than 4000mAh to recharge it). If you want to extend the life of your batteries decrease this discharge limit to 60% (5000mAh battery takes no more than 3000mAh to recharge).
  • Let the batteries cool before charging them or using them after charging.
  • Store them in a cool place out of direct sunlight. Avoid leaving them in cars in the summer. Excessive heating is the enemy of LiPos (or any battery technology).

Storing them charged shouldn't cause puffing. However, it is recommended that if you're going to store them for a week or more that you put a "storage" charge on them of only 40%-50% of capacity.
 

taizi

Member
great thankyou for that
nuts and bolt things i know well but have never been able to grasp batteries, it looks like im doing things as right as possible but i may be discharging too much as i tend to use them untill they lose power
at present with a new battery i fly and time until i notice power drop, i.e with my V120 my big batt will go for about 12 mins so i then set my timer for 10 mins

i try to be careful with the batts because ive seen what can happen if things go wrong, i will use the storage charge part of the charger from now on as well, from what you have said it fits totally with what has happened to my 25c 900mah batts, they are abit puffed but have lost all power especially when i try and take off, im ordering new ones and will bin the olds

thanks for the help
paul
 

pvolcko

Well-Known Member
Yeah, when trying to figure out what timer to set, I'd approach it the opposite way. Go with a short flight to start (3-4 minutes seems like a good starting point). Charge the battery and see what it takes. Assuming it took a light charge, increase timer by a minute and try again.

Also, if you do this process with normal (non-idle-up) flight mode, keep in mind that when you use idle-up it will cut into your battery time significantly. On my 300X I can get 6.5 minutes of normal flight without issue. 6 minutes of idle up puts it dangerously close to full discharge. Would be nice if the Tx companies would put a throttle variable timer in there. Set a 60% throttle time and a 90% throttle time and have it do a linear interpolation and track it during flight more precisely.

Of course could also go with telemetry to track battery voltage and warn on low threshold. :)

Or one of those buzzers that wires up inline and triggers on low voltage.
 

taizi

Member
ok great i will try that, i have a devo 8 radio that has telemetry but i havent found out how it works yet, think i need something to plug into the rx

in the meantime i will just follow your advice

thanks again
 
I also have a puffed lipo but i didnt find put till i opened it up after receiving an error and my charger only showing voltage for 2 cells. My question is that its not a bad brand and it was 3s 50-70c & like Isaid only 1 out of the 3 cells are bad so does anyone know where i could find a 1 cell raw lipo 750 mah to possibly see if i could fix it for a lower price than buying an entire new one for? I have looked everywhere it seems including hobbyking & maxamps & ebay but no luck thus far?

Thanks tom
 

breeze400

Spagetti Pilot
You can't fix lipos by replacing the cells. You can't buy them. It's way too dangerous o rip them apart! You may be able to jump start the bad cells. There is a few posts on here on how to do that. I think Westy has one. But if you try to take them apart the is a strong possibility that they will explode! So don't do it!

You probublly ran the voltage down to far and killed it. I know that I just Had to throw one of mine away too cause it had a dead cell. It was a $100.00 plus lipo too! It was just stored for a year and went dead!
 
You must have missed the part where isaid that ive already taken it apart. That is how i know it is just one one cell ive even unsoldered it then resoldered it together. You do not needto cut the factory foil apart plus mine was just squeezeable then felt like a bunch of sand insidenot really puffed to much and iask if anyone knows of where to get a single raw cell of 850 mah at 50-70c is because they do make them otherwise this battery wouldnt of existed & yes are sold too cuz oh ive bought some before beleive it or not to make another battery its not that hard if u just read alittle wiki & a few other site to learn plus it usually nless money aswell.i just am having a difficult time finding this exact one.

Do u realize at one time to be able to start a company it starts with an idea that 1 lone person has for example making lipo batteries better andand more cost effecient. So that one person at some point has to take raw products alot of times right just atfter the items come onto the market could possess danger that is um known otherwise we would never have new helis or parts or transmitters or anything else we have fun with. Do not just say it is not possible because oflack of knowledge thanks tom

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You must have missed the part where isaid that ive already taken it apart. That is how i know it is just one one cell ive even unsoldered it then resoldered it together. You do not needto cut the factory foil apart plus mine was just squeezeable then felt like a bunch of sand insidenot really puffed to much and iask if anyone knows of where to get a single raw cell of 850 mah at 50-70c is because they do make them otherwise this battery wouldnt of existed & yes are sold too cuz oh ive bought some before beleive it or not to make another battery its not that hard if u just read alittle wiki & a few other site to learn plus it usually nless money aswell.i just am having a difficult time finding this exact one.

Do u realize at one time to be able to start a company it starts with an idea that 1 lone person has for example making lipo batteries better andand more cost effecient. So that one person at some point has to take raw products alot of times right just atfter the items come onto the market could possess danger that is um known otherwise we would never have new helis or parts or transmitters or anything else we have fun with. Do not just say it is not possible because oflack of knowledge thanks tom
 

wolfman76

Well-Known Member
I think Sam is like most of us on here just worried about another fellow rc'er something happening causing injury our damage to property and as Tony always says do art your own risk but if you already you're them apart just please be very careful and you do this at your own risk being as lipos ate still so unpredictable... In the end you are going to do what you want to do just please be careful doing my friend me myself i would sooner soaked it in saltwater and throw away but that is because i have 4 kids under the she of 11 that would probably panic in the event of a fire and a fiancée that is disable that cannot traverse a flight of stairs quickly in the event of a fire to save herself which is why i would sooner just buy a new lipo and i really cannot afford one easily...
 

taizi

Member
erm??? ok so you can buy separate cells, not sure how much money your going to save
if you cant buy one off the shelf then there is probably a very good reason
try alibaba.com but you will need an electronics trading licence and minimum order as this is the worlds trade and manufacturing market

best advice is to just buy a new battery, thats what im doing they only cost me 40-100rmb/cny (7-20 dollars)
 
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