Hello guys, I am new to the forum and a RC newbie. My name is Dani.

Ive had my traxxas e-revo brushless for 3 years now but i havent used it for 2 years. I decided to play with it again, I bought 2 ZOP power 2s 8000mah lipos (pretty cheap, and I hope theyre not the problem) and Ive used my rc for 3 times now. 2 questions:
1- I noticed that one of the batteries puffed up and now im scared to charge it, because ive heard of lipos blowing up. it didnt puff up like crazy, but you can tell it puffed up. I can provide pics. Should I stop using this battery or discard or is it okay?

2- my second question is about the storage mode. I am a imax b6ac charger, and i read online that I should put the lipos in storage mode if I will not be using them. but storage mode is so slow on my charger, its max of 1A, so it takes sooo long to charge on storage mode after Im done playing with the car. Can I charge the lipos on balance mode on 5A until it reaches 7.6V and stop there? or do I have to do it on storage mode?

I hope someone can help me answer these questions.

Thank you,
Dani