Brand new SMC lipo 4th cell dead ?

[Rocketzx1]

I bought 2 SMC 5800mah HCL HP lipos for my Talion EXB, but I haven’t been able to run my rcs much because of work.

I have time this afternoon and I was going to charge up both packs, plugged one in and cells are just fine. Plug the second lipo in and 4th cell doesn’t register.

These are brand new, never been ran. I’ve cycled them twice on my charger, and all 6 cells were balanced. They were both placed in storage charge.

Any ideas what caused a cell to die completely in a brand new lipo at storage charge?

 

[Greengaunja]

Check the balance wires and connector first. It may not have died but the pin can be loose or wired pulled/broken.

 

[Mike'sGN-Kraton]

Is that balance lead all the way in?...Mike

 

[Greengaunja]

And check the balance board too along with the pins in the charger.

Is that balance lead all the way in?...Mike

Nice catch. It is angled a bit. But wouldn't cell 1 cut first?

 

[Steve B in Vegas]

Not sure on that one, but SMC will for sure take care of it if it's a bad pack. Just shoot them an email. Great group over there.

 

[Lennart]

Just measure the voltage on the XT90 with a multimeter. Then divide that by 6.

 

[trunkmonkey1]

I bought 2 SMC 5800mah HCL HP lipos for my Talion EXB, but I haven’t been able to run my rcs much because of work.

I have time this afternoon and I was going to charge up both packs, plugged one in and cells are just fine. Plug the second lipo in and 4th cell doesn’t register.

These are brand new, never been ran. I’ve cycled them twice on my charger, and all 6 cells were balanced. They were both placed in storage charge.

Any ideas what caused a cell to die completely in a brand new lipo at storage charge?

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I had the EXACT same problem. Except mine were the 11300mah. Purchased all 4 at the same time. All were working fine, except for one. I contacted SMC, and there's a guy on here, sorry can't remember the guys name, but he helped me out. He asked for pics, and when they were purchased, purchase order#...etc.

Not to hijack your thread: but the issue I have now is, if you look at the 2nd pic, the one with the blue dot is a brand new battery. I only have one charge on it. It is still solid. Meaning, the other 3, that have been ran once, and stored under storage, are now bubbled. (they feel a tiny bit squishy)

I hope the guy hops on here to help you out.

 

[jkflow]

Swelling like that is normal in any quality lipo. It's part of normal life.
Inferior materials don't have that behavior, i.e. cheaper lipos typically do not out gas due to the materials they are using.

When they look like a balloon it's time to worry.
Most likely, this swelling goes away when you actually cycle your lipo by using them.

 

[slick2500]

I bought 2 SMC 5800mah HCL HP lipos for my Talion EXB, but I haven’t been able to run my rcs much because of work.

I have time this afternoon and I was going to charge up both packs, plugged one in and cells are just fine. Plug the second lipo in and 4th cell doesn’t register.

These are brand new, never been ran. I’ve cycled them twice on my charger, and all 6 cells were balanced. They were both placed in storage charge.

Any ideas what caused a cell to die completely in a brand new lipo at storage charge?

View attachment 318259

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Plug your balance lead on that side in all the way then check it again.

 

[trunkmonkey1]

Swelling like that is normal in any quality lipo. It's part of normal life.
Inferior materials don't have that behavior, i.e. cheaper lipos typically do not out gas due to the materials they are using.

When they look like a balloon it's time to worry.
Most likely, this swelling goes away when you actually cycle your lipo by using them.

I will continue to do what I do, and monitor any 'ballooning'. Thx!

 

[K-BASH]

Take multimeter an check 4th cell to see if it's bad through multimeter....hlc packs are notorious for leads sodored onto tabs coming off..fixed mine many times lol..

Email smc..Danny is always quik to reply

 

[Rocketzx1]

Apologies for late reply

I will double check tomorrow. I have another set of balance boards I can try to make sure it’s not the balance boards. I will check the balance pins and make sure none of them are loose.

I’ll let you all know tomorrow.

 

[ross_jsy]

I'm not saying it can't happen, but I've never had a dead cell at fully zero. I'd imagine it is either the balance connection or a dodgy solder connection on that balance lead.

What happens when you check the IR of that pack?

 

[slick2500]

Apologies for late reply

I will double check tomorrow. I have another set of balance boards I can try to make sure it’s not the balance boards. I will check the balance pins and make sure none of them are loose.

I’ll let you all know tomorrow.

Plug the battery directly into the charger. Throw those balance boards in the trash.

 

[jkflow]

Plug the battery directly into the charger. Throw those balance boards in the trash.

I disagree, eventually you will damage those pins and a charger is expensive to replace.
Get a quality set of balance boards or extension cables and yes they are used as 'connector savers' and will eventually break, that's the idea.

 

[slick2500]

I disagree, eventually you will damage those pins and a charger is expensive to replace.
Get a quality set of balance boards or extension cables and yes they are used as 'connector savers' and will eventually break, that's the idea.

I have been doing it that way for many years and I've never broken or even bent the pins.

 

[SrC]

Just measure the voltage on the XT90 with a multimeter. Then divide that by 6.

+1
If the bal lead is in fact bad or connected wrong, you will know by using a DVM at the Mains connector and dividing the result by 6. I highly doubt the cell is bad. Bal Lead Connection at the Charger is key here.
SMC should make good however. Don't over think it too much.
New Lipos, any brand or price, can crap out when new. Even right out the box. Been there.

 

[Rocketzx1]

Alright fellas, home from work. Checked the balance connector, the pins all look good. Not loose or bent or broken in any way.

I hooked up my cell checker also and it immediately started going off, came to the 4th cell and showed 0.00.

I double checked the balance boards, I even plugged in several different packs and they all showed the correct cells and storage voltages.

So it is indeed a bad lipo

But Mr Sullivan is going to send a replacement as soon as he gets them in stock. Such a swell guy!

I disagree, eventually you will damage those pins and a charger is expensive to replace.
Get a quality set of balance boards or extension cables and yes they are used as 'connector savers' and will eventually break, that's the idea.

What’s a brand of balance boards that you consider good quality. My Hota S6 didn’t come with any balance boards or charge leads, I got them off Amazon

 

[Steve B in Vegas]

Good to hear they got you fixed up. SMC has been excellent to work with in my experience.

s

 

[Xpress..]

I disagree, eventually you will damage those pins and a charger is expensive to replace.
Get a quality set of balance boards or extension cables and yes they are used as 'connector savers' and will eventually break, that's the idea.

I disagree. I have a 15 year old charger I still use hat's been beat since day 1 and the pins connect just fine. The tolerances on the molex pins are good enough for thousands of cycles before any actual wear begins to impart upon them.