puffy lipo

[stanmondz]

i got a 1000 mah lipo i run in my rc18T. i pulled it out of the truck to charge and its kinda puffy, is it shot?

it was ok when i put it in and ran it, but it only took 500 ma when i charged it

i always shut the truck down as soon as it slows down

[zueslilbuddy]

Puffy is not good time to probably dispose of it properly.
I only know what I've read and puffy is BAD

[E-maxx12T]

Do you balance it? A little puffy is ok but if its alot bigger than it use to be get rid of it.

[bigboots1302]

i think it would be fine if it still holds all of its voltage

[stanmondz]

i dont have a balancer, its just slightly puffy. it will take 12.6 volts but the capacity is only 1/2 its rating

[rccardude04]

When it starts to slow down, it's already too late.

Without a balancer, you're destroying it even faster.

You NEED, not should have, but NEED a balancer and lipo cut off.

-Eric

[SS Pede]

Do you balance it? A little puffy is ok but if its alot bigger than it use to be get rid of it.

A little puffy is OK? I don't know about you but I wouldn't be comfortable with that.

[bigboots1302]

i think its done if it only hold half of its voltage

[rccardude04]

If it gets to where it only holds 80% of its rated capacity, it's done. If it's down to 50%, you're REALLY hosed.

The Align packs that come with the T-Rex 450SE helis will puff if you run it to the cutoff.

LiPos aren't really good down to 3.0/cell it seems, either that or the ESCs aren't fast enough to catch it below 3/cell.

Since you're not using an LVC, it's obvious that it has been overdischarged. Soak in salt water, buy a new battery, get an LVC and a balancer, and you're good to go.

If you can't afford that, you are not ready for LiPos. Simple as that.

-Eric

[stanmondz]

whats the saltwater soak for? brushless esc's dont have lvc in em?

i dont have a balancer or a LVC, so that means i can't afford to run lipos?

[rccardude04]

Saltwater brings the voltage to zero so you can dispose of the battery without it being a fire hazard.

You never said you had a brushless. You just said you shut it off as soon as it slows down, which means to me that you're not running an LVC and are just estimating when the battery is dead.
Since you now apparently have a brushless system, what is the voltage cutoff set at?

And you NEED a balancer. It seems like people try to save the 30 bucks and not get one. Honestly, if you're so tight budgeted or cheap that you can't afford to buy a balancer, you're not ready. :) I'm not saying you aren't, because someone could have mislead you. However, if you can't afford a balancer, you're not ready.

-Eric

[chewie]

slightly puffy is ok. ice it down and see if it goes away.. if not the cell is shot.
if your running 3s or higher a balancer is A MUST but if your running 2s its not as essential.(although you should get one anyways) espically if you not running until cutoff. i ran two 2s packs wired in series in my rc8 for over a season and they almost never needed balancing.

[Vic Nyce]

FWIW
in my stampede, when i run on grueling terrain my 2s packs do get a little puffy. after a cool down, theyre back to normal.

on my touring car, they remain the same size start to finish.

i balance every 3 or 4 charges.

[chewie]

FWIW
in my stampede, when i run on grueling terrain my 2s packs do get a little puffy. after a cool down, theyre back to normal.

on my touring car, they remain the same size start to finish.

i balance every 3 or 4 charges.



what packs are you running? your probabl exceeding their c rating which is a fire waiting to happen.
your packs shouldnt PUFF AT ALL otherwise you need stronger packs.

[backyard-basher]

I used 2 different 2s thunder power packs, one works very well. The other battery puffed up after working well in my trucks so I relegated it to my experiments. I used and recharged it a dozen times, it took less and less charge each time, even after balancing. I don't allow my Lipo's to drop below 3.25v/cell, so my best guess is that the production process is not exactly the same 100% of the time and I got ahold of a bad one.

[terrible-t]

i dont have a balancer, its just slightly puffy. it will take 12.6 volts but the capacity is only 1/2 its rating

I don't know how you charge lipo's w/12.6v!!!! Lipo's @ 7.4v has a limit of 8.4 maximum voltage during charging. Puffing of lipo's may show damage internaly. Charging @ 12.6v may be the problem. Soaking in salt water may help but used directly in disposal of lipo's. I think it's toast! or soon will be., literally!! Hope you're charging them inside a cookie jar.

Purchase a charger that does lipo charging, and read the maintenance of lipo's. They're alot different then NiCd's and NiMh's

[pasan]

I don't even know of any charger which actually charged at 12.6. Thats the voltage my 3S packs hold after a fresh charge but I charge them at 11.1v

[backyard-basher]

Sounds like he's talking bout a 3s. My charger reads 12.5-12.8V when it peaks a 3s, then drops .5V or so.
If its a 2s, 12.6v would surely ignite it, right?

[SS Pede]

Sounds like he's talking bout a 3s. My charger reads 12.5-12.8V when it peaks a 3s, then drops .5V or so.
If its a 2s, 12.6v would surely ignite it, right?
Yeah, there's no way you could charge a 2s pack to that voltage without some "interesting" results.

[stanmondz]

yes, it WAS a 3s, it got killed in a crash couple weeks ago. the hold down strap broke and the lipo found a curb, knocked the corner off one cell

[backyard-basher]

Cost analysis: Throw away a broken $40 battery OR burn your 18T to the ground.

[stanmondz]

i agree, battery went to the trash, and the rc18t found a new home