Lipo Battery...

[Chuck1906]

So I was charging my son's "Reaction" 20C, 5000mah 3C charge rate 2S 7.4 Lipo Battery over the weekend when I noticed the battery swelling! I quickly removed the battery from the charger and took it outside fearing something may happen. I think its time to get another battery anyway as his Ruckus has been running slower than normal. What causes the battery to swell like that? It wasn't left on the charger after it was charged. Technically the charge wasn't completed when I noticed its abnormal shape. He doesn't have a brushless motor in his truck. What battery are you all running in your Ruckus trucks?

 

[kruzracing169]

Does your charger show each cell what they are at?

Otherwise invest in an digital battery checker. Here is mine.....



You have an bad cell, and you need to figure it out. Also, you should be balance charging your batteries always. Some chargers give you the option to change how you charge batteries.

I don't like 3S for this reason. Even numbers are less likely to give problems.......though I am not here to tell you to not use 3S either.

 

[Ghost1313]

Is your charger a balanced charger ? Or are there any signs of damage ?

 

[weave]

Chuck, how old is your battery? Did you charge it as a LiPo balance battery. Also, i have seen users mistakenly charge their LiPo's on the NimH setting on their chargers which will swell them in no time. Always check to see if you are on the LiPo Balance charge setting on the charger. The most common mistake made when charging LiPo's is charging them when they are hot or warm which will cause swelling after set number of charges, always wait till they cool down. The battery will also last much longer. It's always a good practice to have an extra charged battery on hand as when the first one is depleted you have a back-up and the depleted one has time to cool down. Two or three back-ups are better if your budget will handle it. Its cheaper going that route then having to rebuild your residence cause of fire due to an exploding battery, and I have seen this happen.
I power all my RC's with Gen Ace 3S 7000mAh hard-case batteries and always have 3 backups on hand for quick changing and safety reasons.
All this information I've just stated is from LiPo manufactures and the fire department. Happy and Safe RC'ing.