“Jump start” a lipo

[mass-hole]

I had a lipo that I swear i set to storage voltage last fall. Now when I plug it into my charger, the charger gets angry and gives me an error. My other 3s and 2s batteries charge just fine.

Its showing 2.7V on my multimeter!

Is there any hope.

[MasteroFlego]

Attempting to bring it back is dangerous, and even if you succeeded without burning your house down, the life is greatly reduced. I would cut my losses.

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[Inspector86]

When an automotive lead acid battery is too dead for the charger to recognize it, you can connect a second charged battery to the dead battery to bring it back to a point that the charger can take over. I just did this last week with my wife's car when she left a dome light on and drained the battery dead. However, I doubt this same technique would work with a lipo battery. I have used my charger in nimh mode to boost a lipo up to the point the charger can work in lipo mode. Just take your time and charge slow.

[Panther6834]

If it's still a fairly new battery, and not 'puffy', it's probably not a "total loss"...it IS possible to "bring it back from the dead". Doing so is fairly easy, and fairly safe (as long as you keep a constant eye on it during the first part). I've done this on a few batteries, and have NEVER had any problems. RC Review even uploaded a video to YouTube recently, completely describing how to do it.

In short, you'll want to connect the battery to your charger, but don't connect the balance leads (at least, not yet). Set the charger for NiMh, instead of LiPo, then set the battery's capacity level. Finally, before you start charging, plug the balance leads in...and then you can start the charging.

As soon as the charging starts, switch the charger's display to show the individual cell voltage (which can now be read, thanks to plugging in the balance lead). As soon as all individual cells pass 3.2V (ie. somewhere between 3.22V & 3.25V), stop the charger, and disconnect the battery from the charger. While RC Review doesn't mention it, I'd suggest waiting approx 30-60 seconds before plugging the battery back into the charger. Now, you should be able to set the charger settings properly for charging your LiPo, and it should charge normally.

If this happens a second (meaning, many months later, with the same battery), it should be safe to follow the same procedure...however, if it happens again 1-2 chargings later, then I'd replace the battery, as there's something else going on with it. Additionally, if it happens again many charges later, following this procedure a second time should still be safe...but, I would NOT recommend doing this procedure on the same battery a third time. Normally, "third time's a charm"...but, in this case, a third time could prove anything but.

~ More peace, love, laughter & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

[Devwon]

Use a nimh charger at the lowest rate(.1A )for maybe 3-5 minutes, don't leave unattended. Check voltage to verify it's charged to 3.25 volts per cell. If so proceed to charge with lipo charger at slowest/lowest rate checking again for error messages, swelling, burning, flames, itching, diarrhea(don't leave unattended/follow lipo protocol). Dispose of the battery if the slow nimh charge doesn't work. May take longer than 5 minutes but not more than 20 to jump it.


Guess I was late on the reply and Panther6834 explained it better!

[Panther6834]

Originally Posted by Devwon

Use a nimh charger at the lowest rate(.1A )for maybe 3-5 minutes, don't leave unattended. Guess I was late on the reply and Panther6834 explained it better!

Will, almost...I did forget the "set to lowest rate" part.

~ More peace, love, laughter & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

[ferp420]

Originally Posted by Devwon

Use a nimh charger at the lowest rate(.1A )for maybe 3-5 minutes, don't leave unattended. Check voltage to verify it's charged to 3.25 volts per cell. If so proceed to charge with lipo charger at slowest/lowest rate checking again for error messages, swelling, burning, flames, itching, diarrhea(don't leave unattended/follow lipo protocol). Dispose of the battery if the slow nimh charge doesn't work. May take longer than 5 minutes but not more than 20 to jump it.


Guess I was late on the reply and Panther6834 explained it better!

thats how i do it ive had some come back and some not one time i got 2 brand new batterys completly dead did this and 1 lasted 1 year before it puffed and the mah droped in half and one lasted 2 years before the mah droped to half no puffing

even if the battery looks good and everything seems ok when the mah drop to half of what they were rated for i deposit them in to the lipo safe till i get the chance to do something with them

also if they get hot while charging or running or get a stick poked through 2 of the 3 cells of a brand new high priced lipo they go in the safe

[mass-hole]

Thanks everyone. I ran my charger in NiMH mode at .1A and was checking the pins on the balance plug using my multi-meter. All cells were within .02V of each other and got them up to about 3.27V. I was then able to switch to Lipo mode and plug in the balance connector without it getting pissed and now have it charging in Storage mode at .1A. Gunna let it just sit like that until it gets up to storage voltage.

Thanks again!

[chevy42083]

^Yup. That method is how I've brought them back after being stored for years.
The key is patience. LOW charge setting and checking often. You want to make sure you get the low lipo cell up to the minimum voltage without the 'more full' lipo cell over charging.
I often had to cycle the batteries a couple times to get them back up to full operation (mAh and get the cells balanced to each other).