New batteries for my Gremlin Guardian == magic smoke?

[dansteeby]

Hi all,

Having only the one battery that came with my Gremlin Guardian, I figured it was time to buy more, so I picked up a pair of 2S 650mwh batteries. They seem technically identical to the battery that came with the Gremlin, except they are rated at 80C/160C rather than 75C, which is the rating of the battery that came with the Gremlin.

As soon as I plugged in one of the new batteries I heard an ominous 'crackle' and saw smoke. I immediately disconnected the battery and presumed my board was fried as I smelled burning electronics, something I'm familiar with from other electronics-related hobbies. Amazingly, plugging in the original battery proved me wrong, the Gremlin continues to fly.

So I'm wondering what's up with these batteries, or if there is more that I need to learn about LiPo's before I know enough to purchase the correct ones. My initial research on the "C" rating seems to indicate that you can use a higher rating C without problems, and that's the only number on the battery that differs from the one that works great. Thanks for any wisdom shared on this topic.

 

[Merv]

...My initial research on the "C" rating seems to indicate that you can use a higher rating C without problems...

Your research is correct, it's perfectly fine to use a battery with a higher C rating.

I'm not sure what the problem is but the C rating is not the problem. Maybe post some pictures.

 

[Bricks]

Are the connectors you ae using the same polarization? About the only thing that would cause what happened. Maybe double check that the new batteries were labeled wrong and there 3S or something stupid like that.

 

[RossFPV]

Hi all,

Having only the one battery that came with my Gremlin Guardian, I figured it was time to buy more, so I picked up a pair of 2S 650mwh batteries. They seem technically identical to the battery that came with the Gremlin, except they are rated at 80C/160C rather than 75C, which is the rating of the battery that came with the Gremlin.

As soon as I plugged in one of the new batteries I heard an ominous 'crackle' and saw smoke. I immediately disconnected the battery and presumed my board was fried as I smelled burning electronics, something I'm familiar with from other electronics-related hobbies. Amazingly, plugging in the original battery proved me wrong, the Gremlin continues to fly.

So I'm wondering what's up with these batteries, or if there is more that I need to learn about LiPo's before I know enough to purchase the correct ones. My initial research on the "C" rating seems to indicate that you can use a higher rating C without problems, and that's the only number on the battery that differs from the one that works great. Thanks for any wisdom shared on this topic.

This might sound crazy, but on some really cheap no-brand batteries i have heard of the positive and negative being swapped on the plug. Its not likely but its worth looking.

 

[Tench745]

What others have said, check the plug to make sure polarity is correct, and make sure you bought the right cell-count battery. If you bought a higher voltage battery by mistake it can let the magic smoke out.
C-rating only tells you the battery's ability to deliver amperage, going with a higher c-rating won't hurt anything.

 

[dansteeby]

This might sound crazy, but on some really cheap no-brand batteries i have heard of the positive and negative being swapped on the plug. Its not likely but its worth looking.

I busted out the multimeter and checked things out. All 3 batteries in my posession are reading ~7.88V, and the polarity is the same on all 3 of them.

I plugged in the 2nd of the 2 batteries into my flight controller as BRIEFLY as I could manage to see if I saw any LEDs light up or if it would begin to play its startup tune. Both of the batteries seem to be doing the same thing-- even with it being plugged in for a split second, the power lead cables had already begun to get warm! Testing with the "good" battery shows my flight controller still isn't burned out (yay)!

Here are pics from my meter, the first two pics (the sideways ones) are the "bad" batteries and the third photo (the not sideways one) is the "good" battery. The final photo is the labels of the batteries, with the "good" battery at left (Tattu brand) and a representative "bad" battery at right.

 

[Tench745]

That is very bizarre....

 

[Bricks]

Dumb question when plugged into your charger do they charge OK?

Another dumb question did you check polarity where you soldered the battery leads to the ESC?

Another dumb question are all positives leads going to the square side of the XT60?

It has to be something so stupid just not seeing it.

Have you got another plane or something to try all batteries with?