FYI........... Do So At Your Own Risk

[Ben&Sons]

If you decide to pitch, discharge to 0V. Nothing else needs to be done if you do that.

Ok - so probably dumb ass question coming your way but.....

how do I get it to 0v...?

My charger will only storage up
Or down to safe level / charge / balance charge and Esc has safe level cut off so can’t run it till it’s flat. Hook up a string of lightbulbs till they all go out (joke)...?!?!

 

[jkflow]

Do you have an old lightbulb or motor that can run until its done? You are not going to use your charger for it.

 

[Ben&Sons]

No motor but I have plenty of white plastic pendants and bulbs from home renovation....will give it a go then...! Thanks

 

[jkflow]

You can also change your ESC to Nimh and let it rip. By all means, if you use bulbs etc, let it sit for a couple days to make sure it's discharged.
Ideally, you check with a multimeter or lipo checker. I'm sure you can bring them to an LHS as well.

 

[jondilly1974]

You can also change your ESC to Nimh and let it rip. By all means, if you use bulbs etc, let it sit for a couple days to make sure it's discharged.
Ideally, you check with a multimeter or lipo checker. I'm sure you can bring them to an LHS as well.

You can also twist the leads together when the light goes out and it will handle the rest.

 

[Greywolf74]

I wired up an LED with a resistor and a small 25mm 12v fan together and put a Deans connector on the end of it. I run that on the lipo inside of an ammo can until the fan stops spinning and the LED goes out. Once the LED goes oput the pack will still have 2V or less but at that point I take a Deans connector that has both poles connected so it will short out the pack and the remaining voltage will fall to virtually zero within a half a day or so. Actually even with the pack at 2V theyre safe to throw a way. I tested one once by driving a nail threw it. The pack got barely warm to the touch and did nothin'

 

[Harry62]

Why do this? Again, do it all at your own risk.
You have no control over the charge current when plugging it in parallel, even a good Lipo will be at risk if the cells are significantly different.

Using a charger and a low charge current, while monitoring the cell voltages, is guaranteed to work with minimal to no risk.
Plug it in parallel, and you might end up with 2 bad Lipos.

I hate to say I agree but I do. If I have a cell crash(I've had 2 in 3 years of bashing and they were 2 years old) I will replace it unless it's still in the warranty period. I've only ever bought 3 batteries from Amazon all my others are from my Store. I'd rather take it back and let them dispose of it and buy a fresh, shiny, new one than risk losing a charger or my home. Me talking as always. maybe someday I'll trust Amazon more, maybe.

 

[Spoc85]

I wired up an LED with a resistor and a small 25mm 12v fan together and put a Deans connector on the end of it. I run that on the lipo inside of an ammo can until the fan stops spinning and the LED goes out. Once the LED goes oput the pack will still have 2V or less but at that point I take a Deans connector that has both poles connected so it will short out the pack and the remaining voltage will fall to virtually zero within a half a day or so. Actually even with the pack at 2V theyre safe to throw a way. I tested one once by driving a nail threw it. The pack got barely warm to the touch and did nothin'

Here you are trying to be all high and mighty about safety yet you drove a nail through a Lipo battery. What if your test gear was faulty and the Lipo was still live. What was the point in driving a nail through it?……. That act was just plain stupid.

 

[Greywolf74]

Here you are trying to be all high and mighty about safety yet you drove a nail through a Lipo battery. What if your test gear was faulty and the Lipo was still live. What was the point in driving a nail through it?……. That act was just plain stupid.

The point was to see if 2V was low enough voltage to safely dispose of it or if it needed to be drained further with my looped connector. I drove a nail through it in the middle of my firepit outside so even if there had been some reaction nothing was in danger of getting burned. I guess if being concerned about peoples safety is acting "high and mighty" then Im guilty as charged.

 

[Spoc85]

The point was to see if 2V was low enough voltage to safely dispose of it or if it needed to be drained further with my looped connector. I drove a nail through it in the middle of my firepit outside so even if there had been some reaction nothing was in danger of getting burned. I guess if being concerned about peoples safety is acting "high and mighty" then Im guilty as charged.

Who cares about the surrounding area catching fire…… What about yourself suffering burns. Unless I could do that from a distance, like with a spiking gun I wouldn’t be piercing any Lipo battery. I would discharge the battery to the best of my knowledge, dispose of it accordingly and leave it at that.

 

[jkflow]

At below 2V all you truly care about is the surrounding. You want to prevent it being able to ignite a fire in the garbage truck, but that's about it.
The Lipos are rather inert at that level and going further down.
They would heat up if you'd try charging them and if you do not control that it would be a hazard.
Now keep in mind that is for all cells i.e. @V per cell, not just the one damaged one while the rest is still above 3.5V.

At 0V you can even cut them open and see how they are made, lots of laminated sheets.

In all cases, wear some PPE like gloves and goggles and do it somewhere safe, not on a carpet floor.

 

[Spoc85]

It sounded like the bloke was more worried about the surrounding area catching fire rather than himself……… That was my point.
Like I said, do what you can to discharge the battery safely………. There’s no need to drive a nail into it. You and your families safety is number one.

 

[Spoc85]

Made a hit with the Lipo in question. 27/46 gearing. No PB as I was only making the pass to put up on this thread but for no body on the car and no traction (you can hear the stones hitting the vehicle) it was only 2 tenths off the times the car was doing before the cell carked it.
There’s many ways to skin a cat…….. this is the way I done it with what I had available to me in the shed.
No doubt the batteries life has decreased but for every hit/bash I get out of the Lipo from the day it dropped a cell…….. I’m winning.

Yep!
2 cells at storage voltage, one at 1.56V.

Let’s see it…….. not hard to post a pic.
Resistances too.

How are those pics going?

 

[Greywolf74]

It sounded like the bloke was more worried about the surrounding area catching fire rather than himself……… That was my point.
Like I said, do what you can to discharge the battery safely………. There’s no need to drive a nail into it. You and your families safety is number one.

I was already 99.9% sure there would be no immediate catastrophic failure of the LiPo as plugging in my Deans connector loop when a pack is at 2V or less barely does anything. I just wanted to see for myself (and for others) if the extra step of draining the remaining >2V was necessary. Based on my experience with LiPos in general and discharging bad batteries I was reasonably sure that if it did anything it might smoke a tiny bit at worst. I didnt smoke though or really do much of anything besides get the slightest bit warm, which it also does when I plug in my loop connector. I don't want to be responsible for starting any garbage truck fires and I don't think anyone else does either so I figured it was a good thing to know. On top of that I did have on eye protection.

Im not sure why youve taken offense at my attempts to warn people about the dangers of using Lipos in ways that was not intended by the manfacturers but I don't appreciate you trying to paint me as some sort of hypocrite because I performed a safety test with something that I already knew was relatively benign.

 

[Spoc85]

I was already 99.9% sure there would be no immediate catastrophic failure of the LiPo as plugging in my Deans connector loop when a pack is at 2V or less barely does anything. I just wanted to see for myself (and for others) if the extra step of draining the remaining >2V was necessary. Based on my experience with LiPos in general and discharging bad batteries I was reasonably sure that if it did anything it might smoke a tiny bit at worst. I didnt smoke though or really do much of anything besides get the slightest bit warm, which it also does when I plug in my loop connector. I don't want to be responsible for starting any garbage truck fires and I don't think anyone else does either so I figured it was a good thing to know. On top of that I did have on eye protection.

Im not sure why youve taken offense at my attempts to warn people about the dangers of using Lipos in ways that was not intended by the manfacturers but I don't appreciate you trying to paint me as some sort of hypocrite because I performed a safety test with something that I already knew was relatively benign.

All good, no offence taken. I definitely understand the risks which is why I stated this threads not for everyone and do this at your own risk. At the same time it may also save you a Lipo battery.
In regards to piercing the Lipo, I hadn’t heard of that method before in relation to discharging. For me the risk is not worth it. There’s a possibility for the Lipo to still have juice in it if not tested correctly or if you own multiple lipos and accidentally grab a charged battery thinking you’ve grabbed the faulty one……. You are now potentially driving a nail through a fully charged Lipo.
Iv yet to dispose of a Lipo but when I do I’ll be taking it down discharged to the local battery shop retailer………….. not dumping it in the trash.

Yep!
2 cells at storage voltage, one at 1.56V.

No pics???….,,,,mustn’t have happened

 

[Greywolf74]

All good, no offence taken. I definitely understand the risks which is why I stated this threads not for everyone and do this at your own risk. At the same time it may also save you a Lipo battery.
In regards to piercing the Lipo, I hadn’t heard of that method before in relation to discharging. For me the risk is not worth it. There’s a possibility for the Lipo to still have juice in it if not tested correctly or if you own multiple lipos and accidentally grab a charged battery thinking you’ve grabbed the faulty one……. You are now potentially driving a nail through a fully charged Lipo.
Iv yet to dispose of a Lipo but when I do I’ll be taking it down discharged to the local battery shop retailer………….. not dumping it in the trash.

Recycling it is better than throwing it in the trash. Im not a very green person but Im old and I grew up during a different time I guess so i don't give a lot of thought to recycling as much as I probably should.

I knew the lipo was safe in terms of it being a discharged battery because I have a special ammo can for discharging lipos that is on my back porch and as long as its not raining i set it in my firepit or if it is raining I set in inside my grill. Plus if I pick it up and its got my home made discharging apparatus attached to it then the LED not being lit tells me the lipo at 2v or less cuz the LED wont operate at all on less an about 2-2.5v. Also if the pack wasnt already swollen it will be after you discharge it down that far so thats another telltale sign.

As for doing things at your own risk Im all for people throwing caution to the wind if thats what they want to choose to do. I just want to try and let people know how dangerous these things can be. I used to be all cocky about my lipos 12-14 years ago, or whatever it was I started using them, but after having a 6S lipo fire inside my house I take them way more serious. Lipo fires, if you have one, are terrifying. Especially if you have a family in the house with you. Its all good though. I didnt mean to come off like a LiPo nazi or anything. I just want people to understand the gravity of what theyre doing when it comes to lipos.

 

[Velodromed]

I bet, the opinion on this forum is that hardcase is not recommended at all, but don't want to speak for everyone.
In my opinion, hardcase is actually worse for bashing etc. very unforgiving and the wires get damaged at point of exit. I have 2 hardcase and swapped to all soft case ever since and never looked back. Add some duct tape on the outside to prevent scratching etc. but that's about it.
Stay with cheaper Lipos for bashing, check the Lipo thread.

So…hardcase causes issues. Can’t view inside and case can damage wires
Does this (going soft shell) mess with the overall durability or life of the battery in jumping and hard bashing?

I was already 99.9% sure there would be no immediate catastrophic failure of the LiPo as plugging in my Deans connector loop when a pack is at 2V or less barely does anything. I just wanted to see for myself (and for others) if the extra step of draining the remaining >2V was necessary. Based on my experience with LiPos in general and discharging bad batteries I was reasonably sure that if it did anything it might smoke a tiny bit at worst. I didnt smoke though or really do much of anything besides get the slightest bit warm, which it also does when I plug in my loop connector. I don't want to be responsible for starting any garbage truck fires and I don't think anyone else does either so I figured it was a good thing to know. On top of that I did have on eye protection.

Im not sure why youve taken offense at my attempts to warn people about the dangers of using Lipos in ways that was not intended by the manfacturers but I don't appreciate you trying to paint me as some sort of hypocrite because I performed a safety test with something that I already knew was relatively benign.

Some people need attention and must find an argument somewhere if someone’s getting to much attention. The need to insult also follows suit. This is typically in order to divert attention back to themselves. I see the mindset alot in kids.
Best thing to do is simply not respond.

 

[jkflow]

So…hardcase causes issues. Can’t view inside and case can damage wires
Does this (going soft shell) mess with the overall durability or life of the battery in jumping and hard bashing?

No durability issues. I believe someone mentioned potential punctures when high speed impacts occur or hitting another RC with some odd circumstances. I place those in the 'remote possibility' category like being sucked up by a Tornado while driving backwards. Odds are about as high but not impossible. Might happen more frequently during racing events, but for bashing not so much. I compare them to the known issue of wire damage, which could be fixed with tape and no real benefit, and move on from there.
I'd go with lower cost and better variety any day. Using 2 hardcase and 6 soft packs. I'd go softcase any day and yes they have left the RC on a bad landing.
I do have a layer of duct tape to minimize any rubbing damage.

 

[Greywolf74]

No durability issues. I believe someone mentioned potential punctures when high speed impacts occur or hitting another RC with some odd circumstances. I place those in the 'remote possibility' category like being sucked up by a Tornado while driving backwards. Odds are about as high but not impossible. Might happen more frequently during racing events, but for bashing not so much. I compare them to the known issue of wire damage, which could be fixed with tape and no real benefit, and move on from there.
I'd go with lower cost and better variety any day. Using 2 hardcase and 6 soft packs. I'd go softcase any day and yes they have left the RC on a bad landing.
I do have a layer of duct tape to minimize any rubbing damage.

I don't have any real bias one way or the other hardcase vs softcase other than if I do need to repair say a balance lead that has disconnected from the pack internally or something of that nature its a mf to get the hardcases apart without damaging the cells inside

 

[Spoc85]

So…hardcase causes issues. Can’t view inside and case can damage wires
Does this (going soft shell) mess with the overall durability or life of the battery in jumping and hard bashing?

Some people need attention and must find an argument somewhere if someone’s getting to much attention. The need to insult also follows suit. This is typically in order to divert attention back to themselves. I see the mindset alot in kids.
Best thing to do is simply not respond.

If you’re going to post on the thread, stick to the topic at hand or jog on.
You can keep your psychological jargon to yourself……….. no need for it on an RC car forum.