Is Your LiPo Safe To Charge | WHEN TO THROW IT OUT

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This might be the most important video I've ever made. Because if you mis-treat your LiPo batteries, they can turn on you, and literally burn your house down. So you have to learn the warning signs of when to throw out a lipo.

Is your LiPo safe to charge? If you watch this video, you'll know the answer.

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This 100-watt, 2 ohm resistor will result in about 6 amps flowing when plugged in to a 4S battery. Great for discharging.

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[apaxman]

"OH NO! That's a 6 cell!!" LMAO!! 🤣😂🤣 Your entertainment value alone is worth the patrion... The extra knowledge is just a bonus!

[crudboy]

I left a 3s plugged in when I was just getting into RC. It was dead as a doorknob the next day. I used NiMh mode to restore it and it seemed to work fine for a little while. (Being used for a hovercraft) I was charging it while watching a youtube video of someone turning a pancake on a lathe and I heard a loud thud and turned over to see several feet of red orange flame coming out of my dresser drawer. I dumped out the contents of the drawer and wrapped them up in a rug to stop the fire, this did not work and the lipo ate it's way through the rug and damaged the floor. (dorm) When it finally stopped burning there was nothing left but some bits of what looked like copper foil, a very destroyed rug, and one unhappy roommate.

[kskmain]

I really want more of these lipo safety contents. I just got into this fascinating hobby but since I started flying quads I can't stop feeling anxious about fire issues.

[XZLRN]

JB: "Don't roll the dice on lipos"
(Rolls dice in closet)

[chasewalker]

Just got into FPV a month or so ago and have learned so much from your videos!!! I knew lipos had a risk of fire so the first thing I bought was a fireproof battery bag. This video also included very informative information and I checking all of my packs tomorrow. Thank you so much!

[GosHawkFPV]

Ok I'm at work and freaking out now "gotta check those lipos"

[LazerLord]

Rolled the dice on a CHL 4S that got discharged when I got stuck in a tree. I recovered it, and it held storage within 50mV over the course of 8 months.

[Stygmah]

OH NO THAT'S A SIX CELL! watching this at 1.5 speed was hilarious, but its the only way to watch JB talking videos.. love you JB <3

[robwaters]

Thanks for the video Josh, this is one of the portions of the hobby that I've always been a bit worried about... and my wife is always pretty freaked out about.

[jameshankssr]

Finally a video that tells you throw it out and not do something stupid like trying to fix it! The price of a battery is not worth a fire period

[XZLRN]

Joshua...please...I can not sleep at night...GET THAT THING OUT OF THAT CLOSET!

[NukeFPV]

Thanks so much for this Joshua, especially for us Newbie's, we need to learn these things. And old pro's need a healthy reminder too :)

[TrentTationnaiseXization]

Just had a 1st hand experience with that thumbnail. Got my first FPV setup and no simulator prepared me for this... The bms lead got sucked into my ducted frame and diced up, broke a wall piece, dinged my prop, and punctured a cell! There was definately a fire. 🔥

[Mediamarked]

I flew a 4s LiPo on the end of its life, down to brownout voltage. Was lucky to make it back to my feet. Picked it off the quad, smelled the insides of the battery on the wrong side. It was HOT, as in, burned a few holes through the shrinkwrap hot. Buried it deep in the sand, with intention of digging it up later in the day when things cooled down.
Actually forgot to pick it up, and after 3 years buried underneath the sand, enduring frost and summers heat, I finally found it with a metal detector.

The battery was cool, flat, and STILL HAD 3.2V IN 3 OF ITS CELLS! The one cell that was completely flat, had vented via a failed seal in the corner. But the surviving cells still holding a charge, nothing short but amazing. Zippy 1600mAh 35c, what were you made off.

[nickmcmahon]

I crashed 2 years ago and broke something in my quad and never got around to fixing it. My 3 tattu 4s battery’s sat for the last 2+ years. Two were plugged into a parallel charging board and one by itself.
I just bought a diatone f5 after seeing JBs review and tried to charge the batteries up. The one sitting solo was fine at 3.7v per cell. The two in the parallel charging board had two cells at 3.7 and 2 cells at 0... I tried to revive one and it was drained the next day. Glad I saw this video today and they will be going to the great battery place in the sky.

[haroldseaman]

I'm a noob and Mr. Bardwell is Outstanding!!!! I've been able to progress with confidence and watching his video makes me want to learn more about the hobby!!!!

[vincentrobinette]

If you are discharging a damaged battery, I would recommend discharging through the voltage balancing terminals. Discharging through that low impedance resistor is dangerous, because the weakest cell can be reverse charged by the stronger cells. That GREATLY increases the chances of a conflagration in that cell, which will light all the rest of them. An individual resistor between each of the balancing leads will guarantee that all the cells fully discharge, without reverse charging the cell(s) that's bad. you want to give each cell its own resistor. some cells will take longer to discharge.
If that's a .5 Ohm resistor, a 4 s battery will put ~28 amps through it. You don't want to use a value that low, if the battery has a weak cell. The cell will have almost that much resistance, and will surely heat up. It would be better to use 5, or even 10 Ohms or more, to discharge over a longer period of time, to avoid heating weak cells. 1 to 2 Ohms would be appropriate, for discharging individual cells, using the balancing leads. That's definitely the safer way to discharge a battery for disposal.

[DoRC]

You missed one of the biggest signs of impending failure which is puffing. In industry offgas detectors are used as an early warning sign of failure and anytime a battery stays puffed its a sign of damage.

[Ubernator]

I was at a fly in last Sunday, there were some lipos being charged under the pavilion. Me and another guy heard several loud ticks (like a spark plug) so I went over to the charging station and had a look. Nothing out of the ordinary so I continued to watch the airplanes. About 30 seconds later a large hissing and a second later a deep woosh as I looked over there was a good foot of flames being shot out of a lipo, nearly scorching a guy who was trying to fetch some hush puppies from the tray. The intense flames lasted about 15-20 seconds, a member of the club used their fire extinguisher, but it was very small and let out a "poof" then quit. A second guy grabbed a larger one to prevent the building catching on fire. Lessons learned:


1) Use a lipo safe charging bag
2) Have a proper fire extinguisher around and know where it is stored.
3) Do not charge lipos near or in buildings
4) Lipos are dangerous, never think yours wont shoot mad flames (they might)

[Lorduss]

back in the first years of lipo I remember how many homes and cars were burning down from them, it was way more common than most now realize, I have been in this hobby a long time.