How long will a lipo last in a tree?

[dannyboy70000]

hi, i got my plane stuck up in a tree and it has been up there for 27 hours and its about to go for its second night, hopefully it doesn't rain.

Anyway, i wanted to know how long the lipo will last?, is it going to catch on fire?, will it still be flyable?( the lipo of coarse) and will the rain affect it?

also another question, i know brush less motors are waterproof but will all my electronics be OK even with the lipo plugged in the whole time?( i know the voltage is going to drop and it probably wont do much, its at the top of a 30m tree and may get fairly wet.

 

[fish]

I laugh.

not at you.

But the people who offered me advice & they did a 180 online on me... so here is a 3-Dayadventure up a 100 foot tree. and I still fly the same battery and plane now & then.

should answer your question 3 ft of snow Oct 31st so yeah it was dry, et ,etc

 

[pressalltheknobs]

hi, i got my plane stuck up in a tree and it has been up there for 27 hours and its about to go for its second night, hopefully it doesn't rain.

Anyway, i wanted to know how long the lipo will last?, is it going to catch on fire?, will it still be flyable?( the lipo of coarse) and will the rain affect it?

also another question, i know brush less motors are waterproof but will all my electronics be OK even with the lipo plugged in the whole time?( i know the voltage is going to drop and it probably wont do much, its at the top of a 30m tree and may get fairly wet.

My 800mAh 2S with probably 90% charge lasted about 4-5 hours with a battery alarm plugged. The alarm was beeping for a least an hour before it died and the battery was drained below my charger's lipo threshhold. I got it out of the tree shortly after that and was able to recover the battery. It seems fine although I'm not sure I would recommend trying to recover the battery because people have had them can catch fire doing that.

It's very unlikely that the lipo will catch fire in the tree. It is possible, if it was, say, previously unbalanced and was damaged in the crash, since lipos do occasionally do that. Personally I would rather the battery drain out than have that risk, small though it is.

With the battery powering them, the electronics are at risk if they get wet. Water can cause shorts sending current where its not designed to go and that can cause fatal damage. Another reason you really want the battery to drain fast when it's in the tree. If you're lucky they will be protected enough that water won't get in the wrong place.

For the future you can make you electronics water resistant with products like CorrosionX. Here is an article about it.
http://www.flitetest.com/articles/waterproofing-electronics

 

[dannyboy70000]

My 800mAh 2S with probably 90% charge lasted about 4-5 hours with a battery alarm plugged. The alarm was beeping for a least an hour before it died and the battery was drained below my charger's lipo threshhold. I got it out of the tree shortly after that and was able to recover the battery. It seems fine although I'm not sure I would recommend trying to recover the battery because people have had them can catch fire doing that.

It's very unlikely that the lipo will catch fire in the tree. It is possible, if it was, say, previously unbalanced and was damaged in the crash, since lipos do occasionally do that. Personally I would rather the battery drain out than have that risk, small though it is.

With the battery powering them, the electronics are at risk if they get wet. Water can cause shorts sending current where its not designed to go and that can cause fatal damage. Another reason you really want the battery to drain fast when it's in the tree. If you're lucky they will be protected enough that water won't get in the wrong place.

For the future you can make you electronics water resistant with products like CorrosionX. Here is an article about it.
http://www.flitetest.com/articles/waterproofing-electronics

Thanks i'll check that out!

 

[ZoomNBoom]

It all depends on what capacity it had to begin with, and what components are still connected. Some lipo alarms consume more than you'd think, I killed a 1300 battery by just leaving the lipo alarm connected for less than a day. A receiver will consume around 20mA (if its not a telemetry receiver, otherwise its more likely around 100). Then there is the ESC, I have no idea about that, but I assume its not much at idle.

Anyway, lets be optimistic, and go with 30mA guess for a non telemetry rx and esc, no lipo alarm. If you had a 1300mAH battery, and it was still 2/3 full when you crashed, you have 29 hours. Better hurry

Just assume the battery is dead. In fact, you should hope its dead before it really begins raining.

 

[quorneng]

dannyboy7000
To be honest the LiPo is the least of your worries as it is easily replaced.
The real issue is whether you get the plane back and it is undamaged and then how much rain there has been.

The LiPo itself is completely sealed although the delicate aluminium cell tabs will corrode but they are normally very well wrapped up, however once fully flattened a LiPo really should be considered faulty (for flying anyway) even if it can be recharged.

The micro circuits in ESCs and radios are much more at risk as just condensation on the circuit board can upset them. You may be lucky and they recover when blown dry.
Even the electrics in servos can suffer from the same thing.

Brushless motors may be electrically water proof but they are not corrosion resistant with many steel parts, particularly the ball bearings, so will suffer over time.

I would be happy just to get the plane back and then take it from there!

 

[razor02097]

hi, i got my plane stuck up in a tree and it has been up there for 27 hours and its about to go for its second night, hopefully it doesn't rain.

Anyway, i wanted to know how long the lipo will last?, is it going to catch on fire?, will it still be flyable?( the lipo of coarse) and will the rain affect it?

also another question, i know brush less motors are waterproof but will all my electronics be OK even with the lipo plugged in the whole time?( i know the voltage is going to drop and it probably wont do much, its at the top of a 30m tree and may get fairly wet.

Chances are the LiPo will not be salvageable. However as long as the battery is undamaged the chances of it catching fire is pretty much zero. As the lipo drops lower and lower in voltage it will chemically start to break down and puff. However there isn't much energy left and the power drain is very small. It will slowly drain until the voltage reaches a point the receiver can no longer stay powered on. It won't hurt your electronics. As long as the elements don't destroy them they will be fine.

If the battery did suffer a massive voltage drain do not charge it! Dispose of it properly.