battery wont charge?

[majin]

so i have a 3s battery that doesn't want to charge.
where do i start checking to decide whats wrong?
I'm learning to diagnose rc issues, but battery issues too now? out of my league. I'm hoping @Greywolf74 will show up to help with my edumacationing.
it just stopped registering. and if this matters its stayed at the same charge level for close to a month. i keep throwing it on charger occasionally to see if it will work, ( AS A FEW OF MY THINGS JUST NEED A BREAK FROM HOW ROUGH I AM. I GET IT THEY DESERVE A BREAK TOO)

 

[Greywolf74]

so i have a 3s battery that doesn't want to charge.
where do i start checking to decide whats wrong?
I'm learning to diagnose rc issues, but battery issues too now? out of my league. I'm hoping @Greywolf74 will show up to help with my edumacationing.
it just stopped registering. and if this matters its stayed at the same charge level for close to a month. i keep throwing it on charger occasionally to see if it will work, ( AS A FEW OF MY THINGS JUST NEED A BREAK FROM HOW ROUGH I AM. I GET IT THEY DESERVE A BREAK TOO)

Get a multimeter and check the voltages of each cell separately, at the balance lead, and then check the voltage at the main leads and report back what you find here.

 

[majin]

Get a multimeter and check the voltages of each cell separately, and then check the voltage at the main leads and report back what you find here.

how do i do this? grabbing a multi from a friend later today, how do i check a cell?

 

[Greywolf74]

Welcome to learn your multimeter 101

Probes: If your probes look like they are all plastic, then they have plastic caps covering the metal probes, and they have to be removed. (They just pull off)

Blue Arrow = AC Voltage
Red Arrow = DC Voltage
Purple Arrow = AC milli-Voltage for low voltage AC
Yellow Arrow = Resistance (Ohms) but do not confuse this with the internal resistance of LiPo cells. They are not measured the same.
White Arrow = Continuity Testing. This would be for testing to make sure a circuit does not have a broken connection. For example, if you put one of the probes of the multimeter on one side of a fuse, and you put the other one on the other side of the fuse, then the multimeter will produce a tone if the fuse is good and the connection is not broken. If the fuse is blown, then there won't be a connection, and therefore you would not get a tone.
Don't worry about the other settings. If you ever need those, I'll explain them later.

If you have a lot more choices than this, then you do not have an auto sensing multimeter. These are typically older or cheaper models, but they work just the same. The whole section that is highlighted in yellow is for reading DC Voltages. The different selections move the decimal point around. For reading voltages between 0 - 4.2 volts you'll want the setting that says 20V if I recall correctly. If I happen to be wrong about that then just set it wherever it puts the decimal point where you need it. The screen should look like this: "0.000"

In this particular case, you want to set the multimeter to DC Voltage (red arrow). Once it's on the DC voltage, you will use the probes to read the voltage. Black probe on negative and red probe on positive. Don't worry if you get them backwards it won't hurt anything, it will just read the voltage and display a negative sign next to it. Reading the voltage of the main power lead should be obvious, but I'll explain the balance plug.

For the balance plug, you're going to measure the voltage of pin 1 and pin 2 for cell 1, pin 2 and pin 3 for cell 2, and pin 3 and pin 4 for cell 3. (See pics below)

For clarification:
Cell 1: Pin 1 & 2
Cell 2: Pin 2 & 3
Cell 3: Pin 3 & 4

Pin 4 should be a red wire.

It's a bit of a tight squeeze to get the probes on the little silver tabs of the balance plug, but they will fit.

Just make sure you don't touch the probes together when you're trying to get your readings.

Lemme know if you have any further questions but that should get ya there.

 

[tntpoof]

you can also check voltages with a lipo checker. Around 12$...Id check batteries ir... You can make a cell charger and charge at up to 10 amps thru a balance wire..But. I think this battery is junk way to high a resistance to get it lower.Good luck

 

[Greywolf74]

you can also check voltages with a lipo checker. Around 12$

Hes already tried that. Thats why were at this stage.

...Id check batteries ir...

How do you propose he checks the IR on a battery that doesn't register on his charger?

You can make a cell charger and charge at up to 10 amps thru a balance wire.

The guy is new to RC and you expect him to build a cell charger that charges through the balance port? Even if he did, 10A is too much for balance leads. I'm not saying you can't, I'm saying you shouldnt.

.But. I think this battery is junk way to high a resistance to get it lower.Good luck

What? Nice grammar and punctuation.

 

[WickedFog]

Furthermore, I don't see where majin said anything about the IR's. How do you check IR's on a battery that won't register on a charger anyway

 

[tntpoof]

I never seen him say it wont register>I did rear him say it stays same voltage for a month's worth of charging... well then if its not showing a voltage on his charger. Has he checked all wires from his connector to foil pack solder joints?If he has tried charging thru balance port .and nothing then battery gave its last run of abuse to majin..time to find a recycler

 

[WickedFog]

I never seen him say it wont register>I did rear him say it stays same voltage for a month's worth of charging... well then if its not showing a voltage on his charger. Has he checked all wires from his connector to foil pack solder joints?If he has tried charging thru balance port .and nothing then battery gave its last run of abuse to majin..time to find a recycler

Or it could simply be a bad balance connector? I bought a brand new battery that wouldn't register, and that's what it was.

 

[Greywolf74]

I never seen him say it wont register>I did rear him say it stays same voltage for a month's worth of charging... well then if its not showing a voltage on his charger. Has he checked all wires from his connector to foil pack solder joints?If he has tried charging thru balance port .and nothing then battery gave its last run of abuse to majin..time to find a recycler

It helps if you actually read the whole OP...

 

[RustyUs]

you can also check voltages with a lipo checker. Around 12$...Id check batteries ir... You can make a cell charger and charge at up to 10 amps thru a balance wire..But. I think this battery is junk way to high a resistance to get it lower.Good luck

Those LiPo alarm/testers are always nice to have in RC toolbox.


Do you mean putting 10 amps through something like this with 22AWG wires?

I don't know that I'd go to that 10 amp extreme on 22AWG wires. Maybe I'd do it if I was standing right there and staring at the wires burning off their coating. And, yes, I know about the Radiolink charger.

 

[tntpoof]

LOL

well old 1 your voltmeter description isnt going to give him any info, since you said he has tried ti charge thru balance cable( I never read he had tried that just think its more of you attacking me).. this is just a waste.rusty I draw way more than 10 amps thru a few servos on my rc....

 

[Greywolf74]

LOL

well old 1 your voltmeter description isnt going to give him any info, since you said he has tried ti charge thru balance cable

Dude, you have to read for comprehension. You said he should try checking the lipo on a lipo checker. I said he already tried that. I never said he tried checking it with a DMM.

( I never read he had tried that

Yeah, I know you didnt read that he tried that. That was my whole point. He said it in the first post but you didnt bother to read it so you came in spouting off barely readable non sense that wasn't helpful to the OP at all. As usual.

just think its more of you attacking me)..

If by attacking you, you mean that I try to get you to be helpful instead of snarky, and legible instead of unreadable, then you're absolutely right. I'm attacking you. As long as you remain rude to people, unhelpful, and typing out sentence fragments with almost no correct punctuation, you can expect it to continue. If you werent on this forum, the forum wouldnt lose anything imo.

I draw way more than 10 amps thru a few servos on my rc....

Peak amp draw sure upwards of 10-12A from a powerful servo. Thats a far cry from 10A continuous while charging. 22AWG wire is not rated for 10A. Can you do it? Sure. Should you recommend that new people push their balance connector wires close to their max? Absolutely not.

 

[tntpoof]

I have a charger that only charges thru balance plug..It goes yp to 10 amps and has 8 banks...I never charger more than c on that charger...

 

[nino]

Lol now I remembered why I blocked tntpoof's posts

 

[WickedFog]

Lol now I remembered why I blocked tntpoof's posts

You sure you don't want to learn how to charger through the balance cable? If so, don't charger more than c.

 

[majin]

you can also check voltages with a lipo checker. Around 12$...Id check batteries ir... You can make a cell charger and charge at up to 10 amps thru a balance wire..But. I think this battery is junk way to high a resistance to get it lower.Good luck

the battery itself is el cheapo yea junky af, but it worked for a few months, enough to get me into the hobby anyways lol, now I'm grabbing better quality batteries for sure. my checker lets me check cells and my charger just plugs in no other options to it, waiting on this dota to get here.
was more curious how to determine WHY it stopped charging.

 

[WickedFog]

the battery itself is el cheapo yea junky af, but it worked for a few months, enough to get me into the hobby anyways lol, now I'm grabbing better quality batteries for sure. my checker lets me check cells and my charger just plugs in no other options to it, waiting on this dota to get here.
was more curious how to determine WHY it stopped charging.

Check the balance cinnector for pins that may have pushed out. It may be an internal problem, but the connector would be the fitst place to look.

 

[majin]

I never seen him say it wont register>I did rear him say it stays same voltage for a month's worth of charging... well then if its not showing a voltage on his charger. Has he checked all wires from his connector to foil pack solder joints?If he has tried charging thru balance port .and nothing then battery gave its last run of abuse to majin..time to find a recycler

no not yet, this is new to me messing with batteries. so i should peel the cover off it and check the wire connections? ill try that tonight after work thanks
also as for abuse??>........ yeah i abused the ever loving crap out of it, not gonna lie, it got drug behind a cdar as it bounced free, multiple times, its starting to swell and other abuse as well lol.
i am not 100% sure what a balance port is, 99% sure as I've seen em and read about em but I've not used one yet.

 

[WickedFog]

no not yet, this is new to me messing with batteries. so i should peel the cover off it and check the wire connections? ill try that tonight after work thanks
also as for abuse??>........ yeah i abused the ever loving crap out of it, not gonna lie, it got drug behind a cdar as it bounced free, multiple times, its starting to swell and other abuse as well lol.
i am not 100% sure what a balance port is, 99% sure as I've seen em and read about em but I've not used one yet.

If it's puffing, you need to get rid of it before it burns your house down. Not a good sign. As LiPo batteries degrade, the risk of them having a butnout goes up. And swelling is the first sign it's close to happening.

You need to discharge it before disposing of it. The closer you can get it to zero the better.

Or, using it as target practice will make for a great light show