larlee

Hi,

While charging my IB3800 side by side battery, I heard some bubbling sound and went to check. It came from 1 of the cell, it became very hot as compared to the other 5 cell. How do I tell whether the cell is spoil? I use a multi-meter to check and that cell reads 1.3v while the rest is 1.4v. Will it hurt the rest or must I replaced it?

Please advice.

Thanks.

tbeardmore

iTrader: (3)

the sound you heard was the cell "venting". It should be ok to run but, if it feels like it doesn't have the punch it used to... or after 2-3 minutes it feels like it's "soft" then the cell is probably toast.

Best thing to check it with would be a Much-More CTX-D or a Spintech ICC. You can get exact numbers from each of your cells to tell you when one needs to be replaced.

hpipro321

if something came out of it its toast

swopemike

iTrader: (6)

If you got it from a good matching company I would call them and ask what to do. They probably would check it out and replace the bad cell if necessary (even if they charge you it's worth it if the rest of the cells are 100% ok - they should be able to tell you by running the cells on their equipment). For instance I have bought 2 packs from ProMatchRacing before and they treated me really well when I had an issue with a hot cell (which in my case I didn't know what happened but I think somehow got shorted on my carbon fiber chassis because after they checked it out and didn't find a problem, next time I ran it it was fine, no hot cell). You see if you over-discharge or under-discharge one cell versus the others it gets hotter. The heat builds pressure from vaporizing battery guts and thus the "psssshhhhhhhhhhhh" or POP.

If you don't have someone to go back to, you need to be really careful when using that pack and discharging and recharging it until you determine if the problem still remains. If you charge nice and slow (very low amps like 1-2) you might get a cell that was accidently shorted to re-equalize. I have had that happen where only 1 run or 1 charge cycle I get a hot cell... I watch it carefully and the next run/charge it is fine, and the pack is still ok but I have also had cheap sport packs get a hot cell that won't come back. If you discharge the pack (run it hard, or discharge at 20-30 amps) and it still keeps getting hot, the pack is no good for racing and might be unsafe to use. The venting is to relieve pressure, but there is always a small risk it might not vent properly and go boom I have known folks have batteries to blow up on them so be careful it really can and does happen. Hope this explaination helps some.

larlee

Thanks for the advices guys.

I will try to drain the battery and recharge it to see if the same thing happens again. It didn't become very soft but very hot thou. I was charging it at 5 amp maybe after this draining I will try 3 amps to see if it happens again.

EAMotorsports

iTrader: (79)

Usually when one cell gets hotter than the rest it means that it is bad or going bad. After you discharge the pack let it sit for 4-5 days and then check the voltage of each cell. Usually the bad cell will be less than 1volt. The rest will be normal. If you replace that cell before running the pack to many times like that the pack will become the best pack in your box!! Its strange but Ive seen this everytime I replace a cell in one of my packs or for my customers.

Hope this helps.

EA

larlee

Thanks for the advice.
Should I discharge to 0.9v then leave it for 4-5 days?