3S Zippy K 4300 cell

[Raze ST Truggy]

One of the cells on my zippy pack puffed on me and I was wondering if someone could give me a couple tips on taking the bad cell out of the pack. Or if I have any other options. the voltage hasn't dropped but the one cell is definatly puffed. Funny thing is that it happed while the pack was just sitting in a box on my dinning room table. thanks Is it worth trying to charge it/ discharge it a few times to try and get it to un-swell?

-Brian

[tc3_racer_001]

how old is it? i know the lipos from HC ALL have a 30day no puff warranty and the -r's have a 3 month warranty - part of the reason i got them over the -h. not sure about the K cells.

could you also tell us what it was used it on and how many cycles etc. (just generally interested in the life cycle of these cheaper packs.)

[Raze ST Truggy]

I have onlt used the pack in a rustler with the FLM chassis (so a bit heavier than stock) with a mm 5700 combo. I've had the pack for about 6 months or so, but it has sat for most of the summer and has maybe 15 cycles on it. I use the I-max 8 charger from HC also and it is ballance charged every time. But the thing this pack has done most is sit. I've got three other packs 2 2S 4300 and 1 3S 4300 all zippy packs the others haven't been used yet. I'll keep everyone updated as to how long they last.

-Brian

i like to balance my packs if they sit for longer than a week, hey brian, how is the revo for ya?

[Raze ST Truggy]

The revo is good, I recently got a radio/ receciver setup for it. But still haven't put it all togeather. All it needs now is for me to sit down and have some sotter time. I've got to do the deans on the 2 2S packs and the 3S pack as well as all the connectors on the MMM. I'm also going to put the same motor connectors on a MM that I have so I can use that if I have to.

When you say ballance them every week they are not in use do you mean do a full ballance charge cycle, or have a separate ballancer to put on the pack to just ballance the cells? thanks

-Brian

no you should never have to discharge lipos, unless in the truck, i have the seperate lba10 balancer. i just hook em up to that

[tc3_racer_001]

the mimax chargers ARE INNACCURATE and can most likely do more damage than good. the imax b5 was the only good one. there is a mod you can do to make it accurate but you have to be damn good at soldering and have lots of patience (replacing ALL The resistors in it... fun :))

anyway id suggest selling it and buying a hyperion - the 250W one would be good if youve got a revo u can charge 6s @ 10A which is pretty impressive... (the imax could only do 2 or so amps)

anyway, this is one of the things which may have contributed to it failing...

[Raze ST Truggy]

I've reead the reviews on the HC chargers, and so I use a multimeter to check the individual cells regularly also. Here is the charger that I have:

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=5606

and it's specs:

Spec.
Operating voltage range: 10.0~18.0Volt
Circuit power: max. 150W
Charge current range: 0.1~7.0A
Discharge current range: 0.1~5.0A
Current drain for balancing Li-Po: 300mAh/cell
NiCd/NiMH battery cell count: 1~27 cells
Lithium bettery cell count: 1~8 Series
Pb battery voltage: 2 to 36V
Weight: 574g
Dimensions: 170X110X35mm

Can it not even put out the 150W that it is rated for? I should also note that when ballance charging the pack the charger would always charge the cells to 4.25v each. I do like the hyperion chargers, so maybe I'll look into one of those at some point.

-Brian

[tc3_racer_001]

personally, ive gone for an expensive high (er) quality charger and saved money on the lipos. the charger will last a lifetime (hopefully) but expensive lipos could only last as long as 10 cycles if it over charges them and inaccurately balances them.

why not in the future just stop the charger a bit early. you will only lose a few mah and it will increase the lifespan of the pack by a long shot. i was going to get the 106 from there but they arent stocking it any more!! (similar specs to the hyperions, with discharge and super accurate balancing + pc logging for $90 less than i spent. anyway, good luck!