Stuck LiPo

[Nobbi1977]

A story for you all

One WT-01 out for a run with a LiPo pack the just fits in the slot. A good dusty and damp run later and the car is put on a shelf and forgotten about for a couple of weeks.

Remember car and decide to remove battery to put in storage. Battery will not move. Small partials of dirt have managed to get between battery and chassis and stuck it solid.

I have managed to get the battery out now but it took a lot of effort and the doing of things no LiPo should go through.

Just thought I would let you all know, if it just fits it might not come out easy

[Nitomor]

Has it swollen up inside a bit I wonder?

[ChrisRx718]

For the sake of safety, LiPo's should always be removed and put into safe storage (metal tin, lipo bag) immediately after use anyway. If it had decided to have a really bad day, you could have lost your RC car altogether. A really bad day when nobody's home and you could have lost your house...

[Nobbi1977]

Has it swollen up inside a bit I wonder?

No it looks fine, it was just grit that had dried in the spaces and made it impossible to move without force. Scratched the badword out of the hard case as well.

[Nobbi1977]

For the sake of safety, LiPo's should always be removed and put into safe storage (metal tin, lipo bag) immediately after use anyway. If it had decided to have a really bad day, you could have lost your RC car altogether. A really bad day when nobody's home and you could have lost your house...

I should remember but I have an empty head sometimes

[Backlash]

I get a similar thing happen when I put my Turnigy Nano 4200 LiPo in my WW2.. Its quite a tight fit going in, and when you add the dirt and dust after a run, it is even more difficult to get back out.. It has nothing to do with the LiPo swelling or puffing..

If I remember correctly, there have been reports of similar things happening with larger capacity NiMh batteries in some cars getting stuck in the chassis after a run..

[beefmuffin]

(------\\ BEGIN HORRIBLE JOKE \\------)

I hear that when they get a little puffy like that you just need to jab them with a nail* or shoot them with a bb gun* and then they'll slide right out...

(------\\ END HORRIBLE JOKE \\------)

* NO NO NO, DO NOT DO THIS !!

[Nitomor]

I've been watching a few lipo vdeos recently. They seem to take quite a lot to go off. Ie short circuiting for quite a while, or massive overcharging or as you say stabbing with a nail. Though you also see some going off in cars but I can't help feeling that cheap lipo's with low C and big power and soft packs has added to the fear factor.

A hard pack with soldered solid state Deans connectors and not banana plugs in 2S configurations as used in our kits are surely a much safer beast. I look at my hard round case Lipo's (core rc and HPI) and they look more robust and safer than my nimh batteries and fit better too. Although the battery chemistry means that they have the potential when abused to ignite in a big way, I think there has been so much scaremongering that has permanently affected their reputation.

If you're using a decent balance charger on the correct settings and the cases/wiring are checked for damage they should be safe surely? I have to admit I rarely take mine out of the chassis, I do keep them in the conservatory and supervise them while charging but only use the lipo sack when in storage for long periods.

[werewolf]

I don't mean to scare you Nitomor, but a friend of mine had a Lipo-hardcase just spontaneously blow up in his kitchen during the night. It was not charging and it showed no signs of abuse (was quite new actually). Always balance charged with an Orion charger and no loose wiring (it was a racing hardcase without any wiring at all attached to it). The fire took out part of his kitchen and caused extensive smoke damage to his living room. Thankfully no-one got hurt. But everyone at our club is even more carefull with their lipos now...

[Nitomor]

Thanks for that, it's useful to hear of these real case examples, especially when there are some facts behind it. I'm going to go and put my lipos in their case, it's a good discipline if nothing else.

Cheers

Nito