Aging batteries

[cloudswimmer]

Hey guys,

I just came across two Lipo batteries I'd bought new for my SCX10 about 4 years ago that I completely forgot about. One is double ziplocked in the garage refrigerator, and the other one has been sitting in its shipping box on a shelf in my So.Cal. (Irvine) garage. Again they have sat unmolested for 4 years now, so do I just write these off, or is it worth trying to charge em up and use em? Are there any fire hazards in using Lipos that have sat for so long in these circumstances?

Thanks

[84yoda]

Depends, what are the volts in each pack?

[cloudswimmer]

Originally Posted by 84yoda

Depends, what are the volts in each pack?

Hey whats up Yoda! Ok each pack is 2S 7.4v, both Gens Ace, both never been run. I bought em then dropped out of the hobby, but of course now I'm back

[mikemcE]

Individual cell voltage, using a balancer


Hang up and Drive

[cloudswimmer]

Originally Posted by mikemcE

Individual cell voltage, using a balancer


Hang up and Drive

Ahh ok, so you mean hook the battery up to the charger and see what each individual cell's current voltage is at? I assume if they are under 3v its time to chuck the battery?

[mikemcE]

Yessir ! You might get lucky, but check. I have an external balancer that I can plug in and see cells

[84yoda]

Originally Posted by cloudswimmer

Ahh ok, so you mean hook the battery up to the charger and see what each individual cell's current voltage is at? I assume if they are under 3v its time to chuck the battery?

Yes, total voltage of each pack. You can use a multimeter to see the overall voltage. Your charger will only read the voltage after it's charging so that may not work if there under 3v.

[cloudswimmer]

Ok roger that. Thanks Mike and Yoda

[thatguy]

Got the same problem. Went lipo. Then lost the time. My issue is when will they burst into flames. Still in og package. Sitting in a box. When I try to charge them it will be in my driveway.

[84yoda]

As long as the voltage is still half charged from factory, and aren't puffy from going under 3v, they should be fine.

[TacoCrawler]

No reason to be afraid... just be safe.

LiPo's do not burst like a bomb... but burst more similar to how a road flare ignites.
Stand back a few feet and keep your face away from that battery just in case it does let go.

Generally LiPo batteries expand, vent gases and then flare or burst.

Doing it on your driveway is a good step to minimizing the chance of a fire hazard.

If it is overly discharged... the charger may not recognize it to start the charge process.
But it can sometimes be recovered, enough, so the charger can recognize it and start the individual charge process.

It requires using another good battery connected parallel to it and charged thru the good battery
so that voltage can flood thru/into the discharged battery.
Similar as to how an overly discharged automotive AGM battery is recovered.

Worth a shot so the charger might recognize the discharged battery individually.

I'd also allow for the frozen LiPo to dry completely and reach ambient air temp prior to charging it.

Tho' clean moisture/water are not normally conductive... the particles suspended in that could create a conductivity.
So be careful when dealing with moisture - condensation and electricity.

[84yoda]

Good call on the frozen lipo, definitely make sure you get it to normal temps before charging. If the voltage is still good of course.

[CoolRunning]

This is just me though I'd probably throw the frozen lipo.

I have some older lipos and to revive them, I plan to do exactly this: connect them to my charger and do an IR test. Check individual cell voltages and go from there.

If anything is like 3.2V in a cell and has been long term I'll throw them away as they'll likely develop a high IR in that cell and it'll drop sooner than later...probably on charge though possibly in a truck.

If the IR is high (say a good battery is 8 per cell and one cell of the old lipo is 27) I'd also throw it for the same reason as above.

Remember a lipo failing on the charger may cause a fire, stink the place out and take our your charger and power supply all at the same time.

I'd trickle charge as like 0.2C if 'safe'. If you connect another lipo in parallel it will try to equalise....possibly too aggressively...

[cloudswimmer]

Originally Posted by CoolRunning

This is just me though I'd probably throw the frozen lipo.

Mines in the fridge not the freezer, so its no where near frozen. I'm sure people who live in the northern latitudes batteries get much colder during the year than in my fridge in which I also keep all my photography film. Where do you guys who live in AZ, NV, etc. store your batteries in the summer? Even here in coastal So.Cal. it gets pretty darn hot in our garages during the summer

[CoolRunning]

4C storage is definitely ok; I've read of guys doing fridge storage. In summer here in Aus it can get to 45C. My lipos get left in the garage in this weather. I often drove lipos in 38C weather.

[thatguy]

What i want to know is? I go buy a lippo, Throw it in my sock drawer. How long till it could start a fire?

[MattySlimz1987]

If your charger has an IR checker, run it. I let a 2s lipo sit fully drained once for a long time and was able to recover it. The charger wouldn't recognize at first because it was so low. After I ran an internal resistance check it was able to charge, not sure why after doing that it charged but, I was happy.

[whitrzac]

Lipos are so incredibly cheap now days that there is absolutely NO reason to risk your truck, house or starting a forest fire.

I've watched too many peoples trucks burn to a melted pile of plastic because they were running some old janky battery because it cost them $texas a few years ago.


Non of the batteries I use are more than 2 years old. I may have 1 or 2 specialty packs that are older(6s/5000mah), but not much.

[xCoolHandLukex]

Originally Posted by whitrzac

Lipos are so incredibly cheap now days that there is absolutely NO reason to risk your truck, house or starting a forest fire.

I've watched too many peoples trucks burn to a melted pile of plastic because they were running some old janky battery because it cost them $texas a few years ago.


Non of the batteries I use are more than 2 years old. I may have 1 or 2 specialty packs that are older(6s/5000mah), but not much.

Man I must have bad luck but I've only ever had new packs fry on me. A gens ace, a small Zippy, brand new Traxxas and a couple Turnigys. I feel like if they make it through the first year of abuse they are going to make it for the long haul lol


I typed this almost auto correctly free

[slowmethinks]

Curious what the chilled and bagged voltages are?

You know, for science!