Do I need to use the salt water method to discharge lipo batteries?

MichaelD33

Flight Enthusiast
Hello All,
I need to discharge a lipo battery, which has had an incident involving being hit with a quadcopter prop. It is safe to discharge, but I don't have anyway of using a discharger because I do not have a balance connector on it anymore... :eek:
(You need the balance connector to discharge right? IDK, I am new to flying!)

I want to use the 12v lightbulb method, but I HATE the idea of the salt water method, for many reasons (which I won't list, since you have probably already seen them all).

Do I need to use the salt water method at the end?

Also- A while ago I saw someone solder the + / - leads together after discharging with a lightbulb, is this recommended?

Thanks,
Michael
 

rcspaceflight

creator of virtual planes
I heard that the salt water method is a horrible idea because it actually eats away at the metal and can potentially leave the battery charged and no way to discharge it because the metal completely erodes with charge left in the pack.

My understanding is that it doesn't matter how you discharge it, just as long as you slowly discharge it. If you think it's safe to fly with, you could even fly it dead. But that is a quick discharge which is why it's potentially unsafe.

I heard that once it's "dead" you want to connect the + and - wires to keep it safe.

So you are correct with everything.


All I've done so far personally was to drain a damaged battery using a 12V lightbulb and then keep it in a metal tool box (with vent holes punched in it, just in case). I haven't done anything else with the battery yet. I just have it safely stored for now.
 

razor02097

Rogue Drone Pilot
The salt water method isn't that great if the pack has a lot of energy. The metal will corrode before all of the energy is discharged.

using a light bulb or a resistor is the safest way to discharge the pack.