Lipo Question

[BsudRC]

I've got several lipos that's been in my shop in a fireproof charging bag for a few years. I haven't ran any of my cars in this time. Would these be ok to use and or how do I know that they are ok? Some of them are hardcase so not sure how to tell if cells are puffed. Also the stickers has worn off of some and I'm not sure if they are 2s or 3s batteries. I need some help on this???

 

[tntpoof]

check internal resistance. Check voltage amounts on each cell
I have some lipos 8 years old they have always had higher ir but give me performance of a lipo 2 times the mah
not gonna give ir # out those vary with cell makers.
charge outside first.
if voltages are above 3.66 you should be fine
count the balance wires on balance plug to determine how many cells they are
2 cell is 3 wire
3 cell is 4 wire

 

[bill_delong]

+1 on checking the IR, more info here which goes into IR:

• Which charger is the best?

 

[Greywolf74]

I've got several lipos that's been in my shop in a fireproof charging bag for a few years. I haven't ran any of my cars in this time. Would these be ok to use and or how do I know that they are ok? Some of them are hardcase so not sure how to tell if cells are puffed. Also the stickers has worn off of some and I'm not sure if they are 2s or 3s batteries. I need some help on this???

Hard to say, when you say a few years is that 3-4 years or is that 5-8 years? 3-4 years you might be ok if youve been maintaining and cycling them once every year but if they are older than that or theyve been sitting without maintenance then they are probably bad. As the others mentioned, checking the IRs is key.

 

[BsudRC]

Hard to say, when you say a few years is that 3-4 years or is that 5-8 years? 3-4 years you might be ok if youve been maintaining and cycling them once every year but if they are older than that or theyve been sitting without maintenance then they are probably bad. As the others mentioned, checking the IRs is key.

I've got a couple that's about 2yrs old and maybe been ran about 2 or 3 times. The rest of them are older than that. They've just been sitting in a Lipo bag. I need to just get rid of those and start over I guess but what's best way to dispose of lipos without starting a fire?

 

[bill_delong]

what's best way to dispose of lipos without starting a fire?

discharge the battery as best you can (hook up to a bulb discharger preferred), then toss it in the trash

• How to make a bulb discharger

 

[BsudRC]

discharge the battery as best you can (hook up to a bulb discharger preferred), then toss it in the trash

• How to make a bulb discharger

Not sure if my thunder Charger discharges or not but if not can I toss the old lipos in my car and just run them down till they don't go anymore?

 

[DavidB1126]

Not sure if my thunder Charger discharges or not but if not can I toss the old lipos in my car and just run them down till they don't go anymore?

The discharges in the actual chargers don't fully.discharge, they discharge to about 3v per cell before they stop. Yes running it in the car could work, only if you turn off low voltage detection.
My go to would either be a light bulb, or salt bath. Ooooor at your own risk and in an outside empty spot hammer a nail through the battery (lipo fire) but technically after that it will be dead soo.
I have a few batteries that i have to get rid of, was going to do a salt bath but haven't did it yet.

 

[bill_delong]

I would argue that disabling LVC and run in car until the motor no longer runs, then let car remain on (radio off) until battery is completely dead will be sufficient, it's not best practice but will gitterdone, ha!

 

[BsudRC]

I would argue that disabling LVC and run in car until the motor no longer runs, then let car remain on (radio off) until battery is completely dead will be sufficient, it's not best practice but will gitterdone, ha!

@bill_delong If i have batteries with different type plugs do I need a light bulb with each different type plug on it or can i just use the same light on all batteries?

 

[Greywolf74]

@bill_delong If i have batteries with different type plugs do I need a light bulb with each different type plug on it or can i just use the same light on all batteries?

Just build/buy adapters.

 

[tntpoof]

You do not toss in trash. check with your city many DPW's have recycle bins you can take them to they will dispose of them correctly.

 

[bill_delong]

Tons of options to explore here which include tossing the battery into the trash after it's been discharged:
https://www.wikihow.com/Dispose-of-Lipo-Batteries

 

[BsudRC]

Tons of options to explore here which include tossing the battery into the trash after it's been discharged:
https://www.wikihow.com/Dispose-of-Lipo-Batteries

Yeah I think the easiest way gonna do is like that video showed soldering some alligator clips to a 1157 Sylvania light bulb. That the simplest and probably safest way to do. Then once discharged they can be tossed

 

[BsudRC]

I checked the cell voltage of all my batteries. Most of them on 2 of batteries were in the 3.6 to 3.8 range. My other 2 newest batteries were probably not ran and the cells on those were around 4.0. These batteries have been sitting I know since last year. I didn't see any signs of puffing on those 4 batteries.

Now I had one that looked puffed and I could mash on it a little bit. That battery is probably 4yrs old.

Then I had one that 2 cells were 3.4 and one of the cells were like 1.9 That battery is probably bad as well. I need to discharge these two and dispose.

So it looks like I have 4 batteries that's probably good. Two 2s and two 3s. But I'm gonna buy two 4s for my desert buggy and use the 2 and 3s for my crawler and MT.

 

[bill_delong]

Reading voltage is the equivalent to checking the air pressure on your automobile tires, in order to check the wear of your tires you use a tread depth gauge where the equivalent to that is an IR meter for our batteries.

If your charger doesn't have an IR meter then now is a good time invest in a quality charger so you can reasonably measure the IR of each battery to know which one's are still worth keeping, this will save you money in the long run both in knowing when to retire a battery before it becomes volatile potentially causing damage elsewhere as well as knowing that you can sustain usage of an aged battery provided it's still yielding acceptable IR readings

 

[Lukedavis]

Reading voltage is the equivalent to checking the air pressure on your automobile tires, in order to check the wear of your tires you use a tread depth gauge where the equivalent to that is an IR meter for our batteries.

If your charger doesn't have an IR meter then now is a good time invest in a quality charger so you can reasonably measure the IR of each battery to know which one's are still worth keeping, this will save you money in the long run both in knowing when to retire a battery before it becomes volatile potentially causing damage elsewhere as well as knowing that you can sustain usage of an aged battery provided it's still yielding acceptable IR readings

do you know of any chargers that can do that?

 

[bill_delong]

do you know of any chargers that can do that?

I posted a link to a wide range of chargers above on post #3

For a balance between budget and quality I would recommend the X6:
https://www.amainhobbies.com/junsi-...attery-charger-6s-30a-800w-jun-x6amn/p1147362

It needs an PS where you can buy one already converted:
https://www.amainhobbies.com/motiv-power-brick-power-supply-12v-60a-720w-mov3360/p791878

Or you can convert one yourself:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/sho...vert-HP-Power-Supply&perpage=100#post43199655

I am also open to providing a service of $25 labor + parts/shipping to convert a PS as well

 

[BsudRC]

Another question I have is a lot of stuff I've seen says NOT to over discharge because of the danger of it. But discharging a battery one all way down is over discharging. Maybe I'm just looking at it all wrong and worrying too much about one exploding.

Anyway I got me a light bulb fixed up like @bill_delong said and I've got it on one of my puffed batteries and it's outside in a Lipo bag. How long will it take to completely discharge?

 

[bill_delong]

a fully discharged lipo is 3.0V/cell, though most folks try to set their LVC around 3.4V/cell to play it safe, more info here about the dangers of shunts forming on cells that have been over drained:
https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-304a-safety-concerns-with-li-ion

Using Watts Law:
Watts = Volts x Amps

Following example for a 2S-5000mAh battery = 8.4V x 5Ah = 42Wh

If you used a 42W bulb it would take 1 hour to drain a fully charged 42Wh battery.

So plug in the variables for your battery and bulb to get the estimated time to drain your battery