Will Lipo Swell Go Away?

[trailduster79]

I have a 5000mah 2S lipo that I run in my slash. I haven't run it in a while, and it is stored outside in my shop. I brought it in the house today (was in the upper 20's last night) to get the slash running. I noticed that the pack had some slight swell, not too much.

I am currently in the process of balancing the pack.

My question is this. Will the swell go away? I don't know of any damange that has been done to the battery as I always balance charge the pack.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[ultimate_monkey]

once they swell they are basically junk... depending on how they balance / charge u can still run em. but is it really worth it?

[Ktbone]

I have a bunch of packs for my Heli that have puffed and they still charge and balance fine after 50+ cycles. I just make sure I charge and store them someplace safe.

[slow42]

Originally Posted by trailduster79

Will the swell go away?

Put the pack into the freezer... that will help.

Peter

[trailduster79]

May try that tomorrow.

It is definitely going outside on the concrete driveway tonight before I got to bed. That way if it does go poof overnight it won't hurt anything.

[AlmstEvil665]

If it was outside in the shop and 20 degrees how would it help putting it in the freezer? I'm just curious not trying to bash. I have some cheap lipos that are "bigger" than they were when they were new. Nothing major just gained some weight lol. I bought some Maxamps packs and I think I read somewhere that JRH said quality lipo's shoudln't swell?

[morg59jeep]

I have a 2s and a 3s both from thunderpower swolen up. Balanced on every charge too. Thunderpower is supposed to be a quality brand so I think that theory about good brands is bogus.

[indiana mudcat]

if your asking for more amps than the pack can give any battery is gonna have a issue reguardless of quality. couldn't count how many nicads i blew back in the day when 1500 and 1800 were popular and 2000 was the biggest out.

[trailduster79]

I had the same thought.

Originally Posted by AlmstEvil665

If it was outside in the shop and 20 degrees how would it help putting it in the freezer?

It wasn't as cold outside last night, but being outside in the colder temps defintely made the swell go down some. I am going to finish balancing the pack and then charge it slow and see what happens.

It's a shame, I bought this pack about 6 months ago and haven't used it but maybe twice due to the sidewinder being out for repairs when I got the battery, and then the 5700 motor broke the motor shaft on the 2nd run with this pack, and now it looks like the pack is going south.

[jhtoy]

I would like to hear a few more opinions on this as I have a few packs that have swollen as well.I was running my sc8e yesterday with 2 smc 5200 packs and after the lvc cut in and I removed the packs they were quite warm,about 100 degrees,and slightly swollen.After they cooled they went back to normal size.I cant see throwing away $120 worth of batteries just yet so I guess I will just have to keep a close eye on them.:?

[kasper]

Buy a lipo sack and charge them in that if they do pop at least your house wont burn down.

[rcjunky3]

i have some lipos that puffed up within days of getting them from one of this sites vendors one of them was even a little puffy in its original package and they have always worked fine. i had a thunder power 2100 2s that suddenly puffed up one day so as an experiment i used a 20 amp discharge unit to draw it down quickly and the puff went away and to this day it still works fine.

[indiana mudcat]

Originally Posted by jhtoy

I would like to hear a few more opinions on this as I have a few packs that have swollen as well.I was running my sc8e yesterday with 2 smc 5200 packs and after the lvc cut in and I removed the packs they were quite warm,about 100 degrees,and slightly swollen.After they cooled they went back to normal size.I cant see throwing away $120 worth of batteries just yet so I guess I will just have to keep a close eye on them.:?

you need to gear down or buy bigger batts, you're asking for to many amps.

[Sharkey]

when you charge it, have a steel bucket full of sand close by. if the thing does decide to pop, just dump he sand on it and put the bucket over it, thats about the only way to put it out (as i doubt you have a class D fire extingeisher handy).

[jhtoy]

Originally Posted by indiana mudcat

you need to gear down or buy bigger batts, you're asking for to many amps.

Yeah this was the first time I ran it all out for the entire pack,guess it was a little too much for it.Those 4s packs are so expensive though!Would changing the setup on the Mamba monster help any?

[indiana mudcat]

probably not, but a tooth or two smaller on the pinion will.

[Jimeh]

Originally Posted by AlmstEvil665

If it was outside in the shop and 20 degrees how would it help putting it in the freezer? I'm just curious not trying to bash. I have some cheap lipos that are "bigger" than they were when they were new. Nothing major just gained some weight lol. I bought some Maxamps packs and I think I read somewhere that JRH said quality lipo's shoudln't swell?

Sure, they shouldn't swell, but that doesn't mean that they won't. A $500,000 Ferarri will break down just the same as a $1000 car will.

If you damage a battery physically or draw too much current from it, then swelling can occur.

Personally, I wouldn't use a swollen battery any more. You don't know what is going on in there and it just isn't worth it. The battery may work fine for another 300 cycles, then again, it might not.

The swelling can be caused by gasses building up inside the battery. Putting it in the freezer might shrink the gas down for a while, but you are not fixing the problem. The battery still has a fault.