Should I try to charge this Duralite 4k mah pack

[SteveK]

I bought a 4k mah pack new last September to replace a 6 month old one that had been in a couple of crashes and had bad cells (might add that it turned out that the crashes were the result of the bad cell or cells according to Duralite folks in FLorida). Did not use this new pack any at all since receiving it in early October last year. Was fully charged when I received it. Been flying electric since then and decided to get the Raptor out to fly. Pack measures .25 volts with a meter, no load, and will not even show up on the Duralite tester.

Question!!! Should I try to charge this pack and see if it will come back or is it toast????? I don't want cook it if it is shorted.

This will be my last experiment with Duralites if it is toast. I will have spent way too much for these fragile batteries to justify their continued use. I would not have thought this pack would have discharged completely just laying there with no load on it.

[WillJames]

Send it to Duralite, it should have held the charge a lot longer than 6 months with very little self discharge. I just got a 1900 Duralite Pack Shannon has had sitting around for over a year and it was still at about 7 volts.

[SteveK]

By the time I got to calling Duralite, they were already gone for today. I went ahead and put it on the charger a few minutes ago and will see how it looks in a couple of hours. Biggest concern was any possibility of fire or external damage if I tried to charge it while in this low voltage condition.

[DavidH]

Jack and Rachelle are at Duralite from 10 am to 4PM Pacific Time.
That would be 12 noon to 6PM Central Time.

You can try to charge the battery. There is no danger, the Safe Charge circuit will not allow it to be abused. If the light does not go out on the charger in 12 hours. I seriously doubt the battery is going to take a complete charge.
Even if it charges fully after be left in that state of discharge for so long. Be very careful and keep a check on the battery with a voltmeter if you plan to use it. I would think a battery that go as far as it did below 5.5 volts will probably not recover.

David

[SteveK]

Only there half day on Fridays. In this case, the wrong half. I'm sure it's junk but am trying it anyway.

Went ot the LHS and got some NiMh's this morning. Going to stay with them and give up on the Duralites. This is the 3rd battery and all have failed. Have paid for all and need to just cut my losses.

[flyinfool]

FWIW
There was a case of a lipo bat that I saw where it was down to almost 0V.
It had to be recharged very slowly at the lowest setting that a Triton could manage.
It did come back to around 80% capacity after several cycles.
This was a flight pack for an e-plank so lose of capacity was not a big issue.

[SteveK]

I've got it on the charger and will try to charge and see what happens. Then will load it with a light bulb or something and see how it reacts to that and then recharge it possibly for 3 or 4 cycles.

[DavidH]

This is the 3rd battery and all have failed. Have paid for all and need to just cut my losses.


Ok I am curious now. If this is your 3rd battery and all of them have failed. Why did you have to pay for them? The warranty and service from Duralite is superb.
I know Jack and Rachelle go way beyond what most would , to make sure there customers are satisfied and happy.

Are you using a Duralite charger to charge the battery?
I know more than a few pilots that are using Duralites and have been for a couple of years or more without a problem. Would be interested in knowing what is the cause that you have had 3 batteries go bad since May 04.

David

[SteveK]

Sent you PM

[WillJames]

I would be curious as well David. If your packs were/are defective they would have been replaced.