Opinion on puffed Turnigy LiPo needed

[Heli.Maniac]

Hello everybody,

I have a Turnigy nanotech 3S 2200mah 35C lipo (It's the only Turnigy Battery I ve ever owned) and from the first 10 cycles, it seems to be permanently puffed and I am sure they weren't when I got them out of the package. Basically, this was bought last summer when I quit the hobby so I storaged charged it and would check it for correct voltage every 2-3 weeks and was always at 3.8V all across the cells just like I left it. Now that I am back I got the Blade 450X which has significantly more energy needs than the Blade 400 that I used this pack on before I quit and it seems like every 20 flights now the permanent puffness is getting slightly bigger. Also, after landing doing tic tocs rainbows, it puffs even more, but it calms down after a few minutes. So I went ahead and cut carefully a piece of the heatshrink on the side of the LiPo and watched not to hurt any cells. The pics show what the cells look like. The IR on this pack is 4 - 5 - 5, so it's not tired at all and I always charge it at 1C, mostly 2C. The question I have is, should I continue using it and pull 20-30 more flights from it, or just retire it? Any specific tests I can do to see if its capable? Are the turnigys known to puff after so few cycles? I figure the more experienced here can help a little. If you need more info, I can provide it!

Regards,
Andrew

[CAP21]

You should see mine. Looks like an egg...

[jimmyhorns]

These are cheap cells in general.

I wouldnt take the risk of either running it or even worse charging it.

Throw it away (after discharging it safely), and buy some new packs.

[garfield2412]

hi,

i have some 2s 2200 25C Turnigy Nano-Tec and they are similar puffed like your pack.
Those Nano-Tec are known to puff very fast. The blue Turnigy Cells are fine, but nanos aren't.

I use them sometimes (i.e. every 4 weeks), when i like to fly my small heli.
But i allway's have an very bad feeling when i'm charging those balloon packs. . So it's your choice/risk .

maybee it's better to put them into the waste.

[Mike A.]

I consistently hear about the Nano-tech's puffing. I have quite a few regular Turnigy packs, 3000mah 30c 6s. I haven't puffed a single one and after tons of flights all but one still has really good IR. I have one that has a single cell reading 16, all the rest still have an IR of 2-3 per cell, a couple with 4.

If it's slightly puffed after flying I wouldn't worry too much about it but if it's puffed long after flying I would dispose of it.

[MpVpRb]

When my batteries puffed, I posted a similar question

Got lots of opinions, few facts

So, I looked for articles. Again, lots of opinions, few facts

Battery company lawyers say "dispose of them at the slightest sign of swelling"

Budget conscious pilots say "I fly em when they look like footballs"

My own working assumption is...

Puffing is caused by gasses that are the result of chemical decomposition

If the pressure gets too high, they rupture and can catch fire

Puffing indicates something is wrong

Puffing increases the odds of catastrophic failure by some unknown amount

I trash my puffies when my vague sense of discomfort crosses the fuzzy line into genuine concern

[Mike A.]

Bobby Watts says to stick a puffed lipo up to your face and smell it...If you smell a sweet smell it's not good...throw it away.

Personally I won't stick a puffed lipo up to my face...

[kavic5150]

I think all the reports of nano tech packs puffing comes from pushing those 35C packs waaay too hard.

I've also heard that their 65C packs dont have this problem.

[spykez]

Originally Posted by Mike A.

Bobby Watts says to stick a puffed lipo up to your face and smell it...If you smell a sweet smell it's not good...throw it away.

Personally I won't stick a puffed lipo up to my face...

The smell - is quite distinct. I've had some really bad mSR ones die after 10 cycles. As you might guess the QC on these tiny lipos is not the real best. One of them actually ruptured spontaneously but did not ignite.

My point being - these tiny lipos don't contain a lot of energy - and would possibly be the safest ones to experiment on if you wanted to get a whiff of what they smell like when they die, but do naturally take appropriate precautions.

[Heli.Maniac]

I saw that about Bobby Watts, it has a weird smell - kind of like the electronics smell but different cant really explain what it smells like ,but the same smell but a little less noticable goes for one Voltz I have which is working perfectly and has no puffness or never puffs after flying. I have a little discomfort with it, I always run it last after I have no more fresh batteries left. So, those Nanotechs are a no no if i got it correctly. Also, how come my Voltz 35Cs never puff in-flight but this one puffs, even though it says 35C-70C burst?

[Cra-Z-1]

Almost every single Turnigy I've ever bought, and that is many, has puffed like hell. I'm running the 2200 25-35C, and I'm not even a stick banger, and they puff. Not such a Turnigy fan anymore because of this, although I've only had a couple actually die on me in the last couple of years. The puffed ones seem to still produce capable current though, and fly til the timer runs out.

The Sky Lipos I bought actually are the ones that scare the crap out of me. They NEVER puff or give any indication of giving up, until your flying, then they just up and run out of power in a matter of 2 or 3 seconds...Weird...

[HFMan]

I've got some 6s 3300 Nano-Puffs for my 600. I have no idea why they would even consider puffing, as I've never pushed them below 20%, never drawn more than 25C (and that's momentary burst, average is more like 18C.) They are always just slightly warm after landing. Four packs are 35-70C, two packs are 45-90C. Pisses me off that they puff so easily.

Fellow plank fliers are using 6s 5000 blue Turnigy packs, and no signs of puffing at all. I think these NanoTechs are decent performers, but their tendency to puff early could spell trouble. I'm concerned they won't survive 50 flights.

[Heli.Maniac]

Originally Posted by HFMan

I've got some 6s 3300 Nano-Puffs for my 600. I have no idea why they would even consider puffing, as I've never pushed them below 20%, never drawn more than 25C (and that's momentary burst, average is more like 18C.) They are always just slightly warm after landing. Four packs are 35-70C, two packs are 45-90C. Pisses me off that they puff so easily.

Fellow plank fliers are using 6s 5000 blue Turnigy packs, and no signs of puffing at all. I think these NanoTechs are decent performers, but their tendency to puff early could spell trouble. I'm concerned they won't survive 50 flights.

Yep, a walk from the hobby shop which sells Nanotechs and everywhere you looked, you could see puffed nanotechs (from those that were used on helis, the new ones they were selling were flat). So never again, I may try Gens Ace, I have to wait for stock, but at least I know they will perform as promised.

[runesb]

cheap packs- expencive packs.... well..... my flightpower rx packs puffed out of box.... the 6s flightpower packs puffed after 3 cycles..(non crash)...

have some cheap 4s packs, that has taken a lot of smacks, a lot of cycles--- still going strong.
my kong power 3s packs only one puffed, a lot of cycles on them....