Why has my lipo blown?????

[gav79tt]

Can anyone explain why my orca infinite 5000 50c has blown? It has been a great lipo and have had no problems with charging at all over the 5 months I have owned it.I always balance charge it at 5amps.the only thing that I can think of is that I haven't been racing for 3 weeks and the lipo has been left (what I remember fully charged)?
Any help would be much appreciated as you know lipos are not cheap.
Thanks

[styleone]

Originally Posted by gav79tt

Can anyone explain why my orca infinite 5000 50c has blown? It has been a great lipo and have had no problems with charging at all over the 5 months I have owned it.I always balance charge it at 5amps.the only thing that I can think of is that I haven't been racing for 3 weeks and the lipo has been left (what I remember fully charged)?
Any help would be much appreciated as you know lipos are not cheap.
Thanks

Phew, right Gav, there could be a couple of reasons mate. If a Lipo drops below its recommended minimum voltage per cell it can pop or 'break down'. Or if you have charged it at a amperage over its 'c' rating it can pop. If you have banged the case or cells and split the covering, mixing it with fresh air WILL make it pop. A shorted wire can pop your cells also. Storing the Lipo fully charged (although not recommended by the manufacturers) in my humble experience should not make the battery fragile...unless again it looses voltage until it drops below its recommended minimum voltage per cell (at full charge this would take a few months if the battery is already in good working order) My cells usually drop approx .1 of a volt per 7 days from fully charged if left alone.

Invest in a volt checker (plugs into balance leads) this will help you spot test the cell voltage at any point, even after it appears to have ceased working.

Hope this helps a little mate...when you finish using your batteries, check all connections before charging, ripped cable or nicked shrink tube can allow positive and negative tabs to short out...this equals popped battery 9 times out of 10

good luck mate

[bzb]

incorrect,


NEVER leave youre lipo batteries fully charged, thats why they get bigger/moushy

leave them at 3.6/3.7 volt per cell for storing

my lipo's never drop 0.1 volt in monts

[leeleefocus]

The new generation of lipo is far less tolerant of being left fully charged than the older gen lipo. A good rule with these new lipo's is 3 hours fully charged and then you need to think about using them or taking down to storage voltage. Wherever possible charge and use them immediately.

[RogerM]

Lee ... that is interesting, not heard that before! I normally charge my packs the night before a meeting as I struggle with the amount of charging I can do trackside (teeny tiny & old battery on the Mrs Polo I am currently using for transport).

Might have to look at getting another lesiure battery if this is indeed the case!

[stoff]

I've never had a problem leaving them fully charged overnight before a race meeting but always put them on a storage charge/discharge if they are being left for longer.