Understanding Batteries 101

[balsa basher]

problems with fully charged batter

Thanks for that helpful info! I have a problem with a fully charged 2200 3cell battery I am using with the c pack set up. After taking the battery off of the balance charger and hooking everything up I am only getting limited power - not close enough to get the plane in the air - based on the info you shared can you share some opinions/knowledge of what is wrong? The battery is not new, but not that old either - probably charged only 4 times
Thanks!
Dennis

 

[Maxstudio]

battery question from Noob

OK.......

I have a 3 cell 850 mah Hyperion battery, new...or well flew with it once. pretty sure i recharged it after first flight and had some build setbacks (bought a new Harley Davidson, LOL) anyway it sat a month....went to fly, no juice....set it to charge on my B6AC Pro charger, but it won't charge, ran a battery test on it, says Low Voltage! Does this mean my new battery is done already?

 

[jtuttle11]

Great info, I try to follow all of these procedures, but seem to come up a little short frequently. Will a proper storage charge prevent ballooning or puffing of the packs? And, is there 'Anything' that can be done to recover a pack once it has puffed?(Probably Not) In which case I have a lot of batteries to dispose.

 

[Hai-Lee]

Great info, I try to follow all of these procedures, but seem to come up a little short frequently. Will a proper storage charge prevent ballooning or puffing of the packs? And, is there 'Anything' that can be done to recover a pack once it has puffed?(Probably Not) In which case I have a lot of batteries to dispose.

The "Puffing" of battery packs is a result of gassing due to overheating.
Temperature management is a must to extend battery life.
Never charge or store batteries in a hot or very warm place.
To allow your batteries to have a long life try to keep the flight temperatures down by using good ventilation in the plane, keep the battery away from the ESC and allow the battery to cool before placing in your battery bag or box.
Never allow your battery to get too cold as this can reduce life due to non-uniform heating and. one cell overheating whilst the outer 2 cells remain at reasonable temperature.
Never charge a very warm or hot battery
Never over discharge a cell as this increases the cell's internal resistance as does overheating a cell. The internal resistance is the primary cause of the heat batteries generate in use and whilst being charged.

As for my own batteries, I have batteries that I still use that are well over 2 years old!
I follow all of my own rules as well as those listed in this thread with a minor exemption/addition.
My batteries are chilled to 4 degrees Celsius before charging, (which is always a balance charge at 1C or less).
As I fly a fair bit I do not worry about storage charge but rather store my batteries at 4 degrees Celsius after charging.
The use or refrigeration has reduced the "puffing" of my batteries to a very very slow process. Also the refrigeration lessens the internal gas pressure prior to charging or flight.

As the internal resistance of a battery pack increases I try to earmark them for a lower discharge plane if possible and buy a new battery for the high discharge usage. My last battery order was placed over a year ago now.

The climate here is blistering and so my temperature regime may not suit everyone but the management of the battery temperatures will definitely extend their life considerably.

What works for me!
Have fun!

 

[Matthewdupreez]

just wondering..... has anyone here use X-Power batteries? and what do you think of them?

 

[Matthewdupreez]

@SquirrelTail @The Hangar @JasonK @Monte.C would i be right in thinking that if this battery drops down from 12.26v to 9.89v when under load of a PPF.(approx 15amps)
then it is a dead or very weak battery.

 

[JasonK]

@SquirrelTail @The Hangar @JasonK @Monte.C would i be right in thinking that if this battery drops down from 12.26v to 9.89v when under load of a PPF.(approx 15amps)
then it is a dead or very weak battery.
View attachment 202020

Does it bounce back when you remove the load? If so, you have a really high internal resistance, which means it might still be useful for a low draw load, but find it near/past EOL for most use cases. I don't know if there is any way to revitalize it. I haven't got big into batteries just yet.

 

[Matthewdupreez]

Does it bounce back when you remove the load? If so, you have a really high internal resistance, which means it might still be useful for a low draw load, but find it near/past EOL for most use cases. I don't know if there is any way to revitalize it. I haven't got big into batteries just yet.

ok cool thanks

 

[Matthewdupreez]

Does it bounce back when you remove the load? If so, you have a really high internal resistance, which means it might still be useful for a low draw load, but find it near/past EOL for most use cases. I don't know if there is any way to revitalize it. I haven't got big into batteries just yet.

it is like around 7 years old..... so i probably should replace it

 

[JasonK]

it is like around 7 years old..... so i probably should replace it

yah... almost a given at that age.

 

[Matthewdupreez]

yah... almost a given at that age.

ok

 

[JasonK]

ok

if you cycled it 1x a week over 7 years it would have gone through 52*7 -> 364 cycles. there is just general aging effect to the durability of the battery.

 

[Matthewdupreez]

if you cycled it 1x a week over 7 years it would have gone through 52*7 -> 364 cycles. there is just general aging effect to the durability of the battery.

hehehe it's been in storage for 7 years was my cousins but then he moved to holland, and left it with his parents, then they moved to holland and gave them to me

 

[boogieloo]

Thank you. Very good information I needed. 2S 1p 650 mAmp/hours 7.4 volts. 2 series and 1 parallel. The batteries are connected this way. Very nice to know. That is the battery I have. But I was wondering if the radio RF misfired on the receiver. xt 30 connector on a Pack C edition engine. Twin.

Mines is Flysky transmitter. I don't think Flysky is dumb. They're top gun engineers and I vouch for Flysky because the company is world wide and heard of and smart. But Just curious too about how they fire the ESC engines upon contact. So that's the part I'm at now. Good information to know and thanks.

Thank you again. I had a A in my college Algebra class. I needed that class for some requirement. It covers volts and amps and resistance.

 

[Quinnyperks]

Thank you. Very good information I needed. 2S 1p 650 mAmp/hours 7.4 volts. 2 series and 1 parallel. The batteries are connected this way. Very nice to know. That is the battery I have. But I was wondering if the radio RF misfired on the receiver. xt 30 connector on a Pack C edition engine. Twin.

Mines is Flysky transmitter. I don't think Flysky is dumb. They're top gun engineers and I vouch for Flysky because the company is world wide and heard of and smart. But Just curious too about how they fire the ESC engines upon contact. So that's the part I'm at now. Good information to know and thanks.

Thank you again. I had a A in my college Algebra class. I needed that class for some requirement. It covers volts and amps and resistance.

you're going to need a bigger battery I think.

 

[flying newb]

Thanks to all you folks. Great information. I need to read b4 I type.

 

[Santa Cruz]

Lithium battery explosion: risks, causes, prevention and response - TYCORUN

This article will explore the causes and potential risks of lithium battery explosion in depth, and provide prevention and response measures to improve public safety awareness.

batteryswapstation.com

Onset hobby shop fire likely caused by lithium-ion batteries, officials say

About 135 fires last year were caused by lithium-ion batteries, State Fire Marshal Jon Davine said in a statement.

www.boston.com

 

[Mr NCT]

We all want a safe hobby and I appreciate your concerns. Not trying to fan the flames here (pun intended), but it's good to keep things in perspective. We daily use all kinds of things that start fires: natural gas, gasoline and electricity in the home to name three. Do we stop using them or learn to use and store them safely?

Structure Fires Involving Flammable Gases

www.nfpa.org

NFPA Research | Industrial & Chemical Hazards

Structure Fires Involving Flammable Gases​

By Tucker McGree 24-Oct-2024
Key Findings

• During 2018–2022, there was an estimated annual average of 15,941 reported structure fires where the material in the item first ignited was a flammable gas. These fires caused an estimated 191 civilian deaths, 747 civilian injuries, and $402 million in property damage each year. An estimated 10,774 fires occurred in homes and 5,166 occurred in non-home structures each year
• The number of structure fires involving a flammable gas as the material of the item first ignited has increased over the past decade. The raw number of incidents as well as the percentage of these fires have increased compared to all structure fires.
• A large majority of home structure fires involving flammable gases were related to cooking.

Vehicle fires report | NFPA Research

This report provides an overview of the vehicle fire problem with the focus on highway vehicles (cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles and recreational vehicles).

www.nfpa.org

NFPA Research | U.S. Fire Problem

Vehicle fires​

By Tucker McGree 01-Nov-2024
Key findings

• Vehicle fires in the US accounted for approximately 16 percent of the total reported fire incidents from 2018–2022. These fires are estimated to have caused more civilian deaths than nonresidential structure fires and residential apartment fires. Only structure fire incidents in one- and two-family homes had higher death rates per fire than vehicle fires. Data from 2022 shows an estimated 200,876 highway vehicle fires which caused an estimated 650 civilian deaths, 857 civilian injuries, and $2.1 billion in direct property damage.

Residential building electrical malfunction fire trends (2014-2023)

Basic data on residential building fires, losses and trends where the fire cause was reported as electrical.

www.usfa.fema.gov

Residential Building Electrical Malfunction Fire Trends (2014-2023)​

National estimates​

The 2023 national estimates for residential building electrical malfunction fires and losses show that there were:

• 23,700 fires.
• 305 deaths.
• 800 injuries.
• $1,501,600,000 in dollar loss.

 

[bisco]

we seem to have a one man crusader amongst us

 

[Piotrsko]

If a person bean counts properly, it seems