Are my batteries swollen?

[FrittTheBandit]

Hi,

Today I charged two of my 880 mah batteries with 1 amp, for the first time. Now the two batteries look slightly swollen: Notice the sticker on the two batteries from the left.

Are the batteries swollen? What should I do next, is there anyway to fix this?

Thanks,
Fritt

[TowPilot]

There isn't a method I am aware of to reverse swelling.

The best you can do is monitor them in use and in charging.

I'd be less aggressive in charging if these packs are swelling at the current rate.

Or, maybe they were stressed in discharging too far?

Mike

[RedOctobyr]

They do look puffed. But 1A on a 0.88A pack is not aggressive at all, only 1.1C.

As TowPilot said, I'd be more inclined to suspect other contributors. Discharging too far, too aggressively, etc.

Treating them gently will help. Don't discharge too far, etc. What voltage are they at after flying, after they have rested at least 5-10 minutes?

Sent using Tapatalk.

[FrittTheBandit]

Thanks, guys. The voltage of one of them was 3,77 yesterday, which I agree is too low. I'm timing my flight with a counter, and use flighttime of maximum 5:30 minutes, too keep the consumption under 880 mah, at regular flight. This has worked fine for the last apprx. 20 flights, and yesterdays flying was nothing unusual.

Still, I will try timing the flights for max 5:00 minutes, from now on, and eventually buy new batteries.

[FrittTheBandit]

Thanks, guys. The voltage of one of them was 3,77 yesterday, which I agree is too low. I'm timing my flight with a counter, and use flighttime of maximum 5:30 minutes, too keep the consumption under 880 mah, at regular flight. This has worked fine for the last apprx. 20 flights, and yesterdays flying was nothing unusual.

Still, I will try timing the flights for max 5:00 minutes, from now on, and eventually buy new batteries.

[Russell Harding]

3.77 is fine. I'd say 3.6 is marginal, and 3.5 is Usually a flight to LVC.

One flight to 3.77 will not puff a battery unless there is another problem.

[RedOctobyr]

Originally Posted by Code3Medic

3.77 is fine. I'd say 3.6 is marginal, and 3.5 is Usually a flight to LVC.

One flight to 3.77 will not puff a battery unless there is another problem.

+1. I hope that 3.77V is per-cell, and not the total pack voltage

I fly to around 3.78-3.8V. I have (good-quality) packs with almost 200 flights on them, which are still holding up well. For my packs, this voltage typically equates to around 55% of the pack's capacity being used, which counts as treating them pretty gently.

But you said you're trying to keep your consumption under 880mAh. This may point to the problem. Their capacity is rated at 880mAh.

The guideline is to not use more than 80% of the rated capacity. In your case, don't use more than 700mAh. With how I treat mine, ~55%, I'd be using about 485mAh.

You need to shorten your flights. You shouldn't be putting back more than 700mAh. Depending on the cost of batteries and your priorities, shortening your flights even further (maybe using 600mah, for around 70%, etc) should help the overall lifespan of the packs (the number of cycles before they're no good). Or fly them to 700mAh and replace them when they fail, if they're cheap.

I've personally never heard of this brand. I would suggest considering packs from a better-known, high-quality brand. Glacier, Pulse, Gens Ace, Haiyin, maybe Dinogy.

[FrittTheBandit]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. These batteries are quite cheap, and I just orderet a couple of new ones.

Also opened one of the batteries today, this is what it looked like:



The upper cell looks quite puffed. There also seem to be some damage to it (in the red circle). I guess that's whats caused it to swell.