Spektrum Smart Batteries... not so smart

[gnobes]

I bought into the "Smart" stuff from Spektrum because I wanted to protect my family. However, it seems that the smart system may actually hinder that. Can anyone confirm that I am experiencing what I think I am?



Yesterday we plugged a few LiPos in to charge. After a run, we usually just charge them up fully and put them away in their lipo bags because they automatically put themselves in storage mode. This is one of the reasons I invested in the smart eco-system... getting a 12 year old to put stuff away is hard enough. This makes it simpler.

The primary reason for smart stuff was because I thought I was protecting my family. I kept the Firma electronics in multiple of my vehicles because they all came with IC5's and I don't have to mess around with it. I later purchased an S2200. We have a total of 3 smart chargers and 10x smart lipos. This is so convenient and I love that I don't have to worry about things as much.

When I received my first few LiPo batteries I checked them regularly. When I purchased new ones I used the S2200 to check them out and charge them up. I was actually able to find a bad LiPo out of the box because of this system. The system alerted me that there was a voltage off and after one quick email to Horizon I had a replacement a day or two later. Fast forward and it's been so convenient that we're just plugging in packs and letting them be. They might not be the best LiPos on the market for punch/speed but man does knowing I have this smart system monitoring my packs make me feel so much safer about them. It's a trade off for a less punchy battery but, to me, it's worth it.





UNTIL ..... yesterday.

I plugged in two LiPos and for whatever reason both of them have dropped the center cell! Guess what the smart system did? They realized they were 3S packs and that each cell should only charge to 4.2v and displayed an error.

Ok. That's a lie. That's not what they did. That's what I wish they had done.

They did nothing.

 

[pug]

Discharge that ASAP! That's a fire hazard! Don't keep that in your home, keep it in a fireproof location.

 

[BonerChamp]

4.36v is very high, how did that happen? Dangerous, like pug said. I'm personally on the other side of the fence here, I worry much less after I charge to storage voltage. Don't like the idea of having fully charged LiPo's around, even if they are supposed to discharge automatically. How long does it take before they reach storage voltage if you leave them fully charged?

 

[gnobes]

Discharge that ASAP! That's a fire hazard! Don't keep that in your home, keep it in a fireproof location.

My charger won't discharge it and I don't have anything else that can discharge LiPos. When I try to discharge I get an error "Battery Voltage Too Low" from my S2200. Going to have to just put it in a bag and find somewhere to dispose of it safely.

4.36v is very high, how did that happen? Dangerous, like pug said. I'm personally on the other side of the fence here, I worry much less after I charge to storage voltage. Don't like the idea of having fully charged LiPo's around, even if they are supposed to discharge automatically. How long does it take before they reach storage voltage if you leave them fully charged?

I have it set to discharge after 72hr (default i think)

Not sure how long it takes once it starts.


How did that happen? I don't know. The center cell does not show up. The charger knows its 3S so I think it's trying to charge it to 12.6... not sure how/why it would otherwise think it's okay to charge to 4.36, ever, on any single cell.

 

[BonerChamp]

So it's left fully charged for three days? That does not sound healthy for the batteries. What's the shortest time possible?

Have you checked the batteries on a cell checker or different charger? Just to verify that it's not a problem with the charger.

 

[gnobes]

So it's left fully charged for three days? That does not sound healthy for the batteries. What's the shortest time possible?

Have you checked the batteries on a cell checker or different charger? Just to verify that it's not a problem with the charger.

I have checked other batteries on the same charger. I was using IC3 -> IC5 adapter for charging, because its longer, so I removed that and tried direct as well.

Other batteries function correctly. Out of 10x batteries, 8 show fine. 2 are showing center cell as missing.

I will check and see what the options are.

Edit: 12-240hrs

 

[rjinaz]

I set auto discharge to storage voltage at 24 hours.
Sometimes I'll charge up a few packs, but may not use them all that day.
My 5000 mAh 3S 50c packs will hit storage voltage within 48hours.

 

[RCbuzz]

Oh my gosh, do you have a cell checker to verify that what the charger is showing is true? It sounds like the charger is not working correctly but to over charge the two remaining(readable) cells to 4.36V is very dangerous! If the readings are true horizon needs to see this.

 

[gnobes]

Oh my gosh, do you have a cell checker to verify that what the charger is showing is true? It sounds like the charger is not working correctly but to over charge the two remaining(readable) cells to 4.36V is very dangerous! If the readings are true horizon needs to see this.

I sent an email to them.

 

[Adiabatic]

I thought these chargers all monitor individual cell voltage and stop at 4.2V/cell regardless of cell count when balance charging, but it looks like yours has detected a 3S pack and tried to charge it up to the expected total pack voltage even with one cell not taking. Very strange. Perhaps something is misconfigured in the settings but I don't have that particular charger so can't help there. Will be interesting to see what Horizon says about it.

 

[RCbuzz]

If you have a 3in1 programmer (hobbywing or spektrum) they have a built in cell checker as well. Good luck and let us know, that failure scenario is really scary. I would store that battery outside in a brick for now

 

[gnobes]

Plugged one of my SPMX53S50H5 Lipos in to do a storage charge today.

This has now happened to 4 of my 3S packs.

I was able to check the logs on the battery and it does say it was over-discharged a handful of times.

Am I killing these batteries?

 

[Gizmotoy]

I thought these chargers all monitor individual cell voltage and stop at 4.2V/cell regardless of cell count when balance charging, but it looks like yours has detected a 3S pack and tried to charge it up to the expected total pack voltage even with one cell not taking. Very strange. Perhaps something is misconfigured in the settings but I don't have that particular charger so can't help there. Will be interesting to see what Horizon says about it.

It’s hard to know all the cases, but I think they do. I got a defective 3s pack (same model number as OP) right out of the box that was sitting at 1.4V. I carefully trickle charged up to almost 9V as NiMH which massively imbalanced the cells. Back in LiPo mode my S2200 (same charger as OP) first balanced the cells and then kept them balanced up to full. But I’m sure there’s all kinds of edge cases.

OP if you have 2 or 3 like this I’d start suspecting the charger, not the batteries. Given the batteries don’t even have balance leads, it’s not like there’s any user-facing way for you to drain one of the cells to zero while the others are full.

 

[gnobes]

I’m going to switch things up a bit.

I will use the spektrum smart batteries on the following:

Senton 3S w/ stock electronics
Big Rock 3S w/ stock electronics
Kraton 6S w/ stock electronics
Infraction 6S w/ stock electronics
Axial crawlers

I ordered 2x SMC 6S packs. Theae will have QS8 Connectors. They will be run in the following:

Kraton 6S EXB w/ MMX8S 1650kv
Mojave EXB w/ Max 6 1650kv

And QS8 SMC 4S packs for the Kraton 8S w/ castle XLX2 1100kv.

if I ever replace the electronics in the infraction then I’ll swap connectors.

 

[gnobes]

My replacement battery arrived. I plugged it in moments after removing it from the box. Here is the result:

These smart batteries are either garbage or my charger is busted.

I sent this to horizon and they are sending me another replacement.

I have asked for them to replace the charger and every single Lipo that has been charged on it. We’ll see what they say.

 

[Gizmotoy]

Could be some of both. Your overall description reads like a charger problem. That battery at 1.4V right out of the box matches my post above. I think there must have been a bad batch of those. It seems like they didn’t sit at low voltage very long as mine made a full recovery as far as I can tell. I marked it and monitor it more carefully now than the others, though. It has similar runtime and takes the same mAh charging from LVC to full as my other “arrived in normal condition” cells.

Horizon sent a replacement and the replacement batt was fine.

 

[gnobes]

thanks for the reply. They had a sale a bit ago so I assumed they had excess inventory sitting around. Maybe it’s like you said, bad batch.

 

[y noT]

Might not want to fully charge after use. If you do, need to make sure and let batteries cool and rest beforehand. But not a good thing to fully charge. After running the battery if only a few day between runs it's ok to leave them uncharged. (Not dead). You can set the voltage level to 3.9 which is a good healthy level, if charged and then not able to use after 72 hrs do to rain or any other event that would keep you from using them. Then the chip in the batteries starts to discharge to a safe storage level. And it should drop all cells evenly. It's almost like a Traxxas plug and play charger and batteries, just with a chip for the battery to store itself. But it is not good to depend on that as the battery may end up not being so smart and as it's dropping on cell, sending voltage to the other 2. You can take it to local hobby shop to dispose, or put in a gallon of salt water until no bubbles are coming from it anymore then take to your local safety disposal area. I.e. recycle, waist management. Just really not a good idea to keep fully charged batteries in your house. Always charge in bag. Always store in bag or ammo box, tool box. Long as it's not air tight. If one goes and sets the others in a sealed container, you will have an explosion on hand. With a tool box and ammo can, they aren't air tight.
Ya way behind. Hope you got a replacement charger and batteries as it messed those up.