Help question with puffed lipos
#1
As the title stated....
I have trakpower lipos that are 2 cycles old, or should I say new. I bought them new, but the sat for a long time, nearly a year.
I made sure they were balanced, charged and used, then balanced and charged again.
Almost out of no where, with no out of the normal use, they both puffed.
One is enough to notice, and the other if you look at it, you can tell its slightly puffed.
The warantee date is passed, and I cant return them.
I dont care about the money to much, as whats done cant be reversed.
I also dont want to burn one up in my rc and risk loosing the electronics or truck.
Would you use them, anyway, or just toss them (properly) and suck it up and buy new ones.
Again, money not the issue, safety and not wanting to burn up my truck is the true concern.
Thanks
I have trakpower lipos that are 2 cycles old, or should I say new. I bought them new, but the sat for a long time, nearly a year.
I made sure they were balanced, charged and used, then balanced and charged again.
Almost out of no where, with no out of the normal use, they both puffed.
One is enough to notice, and the other if you look at it, you can tell its slightly puffed.
The warantee date is passed, and I cant return them.
I dont care about the money to much, as whats done cant be reversed.
I also dont want to burn one up in my rc and risk loosing the electronics or truck.
Would you use them, anyway, or just toss them (properly) and suck it up and buy new ones.
Again, money not the issue, safety and not wanting to burn up my truck is the true concern.
Thanks
#2
Tech Fanatic
iTrader: (40)
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 767
From: Aurora, CO
If it's just slight then monitor them closely and continue to run them. If you aren't sure it's only slightly puffed dispose of them. The most common cause of puffed cells is storing in a fully charged state. Try to avoid this in the future and you likely won't have this issue again.
#4
Suspended
iTrader: (3)
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 326
I disagree with link.. there are many many reasons for a lipo to swell or puff..when they do they are unsafe.. as the insulating foil now can not contain the cell material..send them back to trak power and see tell them ur story maybe u'll get a New pack..storing at full charge is the last reason a cell will Puff.. it might loose capacity but will not puff thats a misnomer there..I also have a set of trakpower saddle paks that puffed after 2 years of use..1 cell just lost all voltage while charging and the other took full charge to 6 volts and the other has 2.4..opps no balance outlet at the time..
#7
They arrived, UPS, and were put into my office closet. Where they sat till I charged them, before using them. I checked the voltage, charged them, used them, balanced and charged them. They were fine, then puffed.
I emailed trakpower todsye, expecting them to say sorry out or warantee, but well see. I already bought new ones, so if they are replaced - bonus to me.
I emailed trakpower todsye, expecting them to say sorry out or warantee, but well see. I already bought new ones, so if they are replaced - bonus to me.
#10

He stated he threw them in the closet when they arrived, then charged them up before using them, ran them down and THEN charged them again after.
You cannot charge a lipo fully to 4.2V/cell and then let them sit. 3.7-3.8V/cell is what you need to have them at for storage.
#11
Tech Champion

Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 7,341
They arrived, UPS, and were put into my office closet. Where they sat till I charged them, before using them. I checked the voltage, charged them, used them, balanced and charged them. They were fine, then puffed.
I emailed trakpower todsye, expecting them to say sorry out or warantee, but well see. I already bought new ones, so if they are replaced - bonus to me.
I emailed trakpower todsye, expecting them to say sorry out or warantee, but well see. I already bought new ones, so if they are replaced - bonus to me.
I disagree with link.. there are many many reasons for a lipo to swell or puff..when they do they are unsafe.. as the insulating foil now can not contain the cell material..send them back to trak power and see tell them ur story maybe u'll get a New pack..storing at full charge is the last reason a cell will Puff.. it might loose capacity but will not puff thats a misnomer there..I also have a set of trakpower saddle paks that puffed after 2 years of use..1 cell just lost all voltage while charging and the other took full charge to 6 volts and the other has 2.4..opps no balance outlet at the time..
#12
Tech Addict
iTrader: (73)
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 501
The only packs I've ever puffed was from storing charged. I've more than once charged everything up for a race day, then not used all the packs. Week or two later when pull out things to get ready for the weekend, sure enough packs that were left charged puffed. I now make effort to use an old school lightbulb discharger to knock the charge off what doesn't get ran before packing things up. The puffed packs will still work fine, and I use them around the house to play, but they will begin getting out of balance and start hitting lvc early.



