Lipos: IR or puffiness?

[SchrodingersCar]

I know it's kinda hard to get a consensus on this but:

I have a bunch of Lipos that are awfully puffy looking. I got them used, so I unfortunately don't know their history. However, all the cells are balanced, and when I do an IR measurement using my icharger 406, they read no more than 5 milli ohms per cell. So... to fly or not to fly? What's the TRUE test of a lipo's reliablilty?

 

[Carapau]

Puffing means they have degenerated and that they are not very safe. I would not use these or if you do make sure you charge in a very good fire proof location.

 

[cootertwo]

ehhh, I've got a few that I flew too long, and they got hot and puffy. They are never the same again. Mine will take a charge, show good readings, but they seem to drop off rather quickly. LiPo's are somewhat delicate compared to the old ni-cads.

 

[dazzab]

I have a lot of batteries from Hobbyking of all types Nano, Compacts, Zippies etc. 3 cell, 4 cell and 6 cell from 2A to 8A. Interestingly enough most of them are now becoming puffy. It doesn't appear to have any relation to how often they have been used but rather the age of the battery. At around 10-11 months old they seem to start puffing. Needless to say I'm not to happy about it as it's well over $1000 of batteries.

 

[SchrodingersCar]

Thanks for the thoughts. That's what I figured. I'll call them too risky to fly. I'm expecting to have a lot of $$ in the air. Does RadioShack still take Lipos for recycling? Does RadioShack even exist anymore? Are there other places people take batts to be safely disposed of? I'd rather skip the whole "put it in salt water for a week" thing with 10 bad lipos if possible...

 

[Old Man]

Some Radio Shacks are staying in business. Many local land fills have battery drop offs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk