inspire 2 battery swelling

[dasko]

anyone having bad swelling?
i have about 3 sets out of 5 doing this. It seems wrong to just throw these to a recycler and have to pay a massive amount to replace them. is there a fix or a hack someone has worked out as yet?

 

[slim.slamma]

I’m curious to see a swollen pack. Any photos?
Doubtful if it’s a fix.

 

[The Editor]

anyone having bad swelling?
i have about 3 sets out of 5 doing this. It seems wrong to just throw these to a recycler and have to pay a massive amount to replace them. is there a fix or a hack someone has worked out as yet?

If you have three sets out of five doing this then I would say it is how your are treating/using/storing them rather than having three out of five that are faulty!

Lipos can start to swell is as little as four hours if stored badly.

 

[mmarian]

If you have three sets out of five doing this then I would say it is how your are treating/using/storing them rather than having three out of five that are faulty!

Lipos can start to swell is as little as four hours if stored badly.

Can you define more specifically "stored badly".

 

[dasko]

they are stored verticly with the plug section to the top in a ventilated container. they do sometimes sit in heat approx 30+ Celsius .
i should also mention they are a bit over 2 years old .

 

[The Editor]

they are stored verticly with the plug section to the top in a ventilated container. they do sometimes sit in heat approx 30+ Celsius .
i should also mention they are a bit over 2 years old .

Orientation is irrelevant since Lipos are sealed

State of charge and temperature are the two most common killers of Lithium Polymer packs. (As well as charging when still warm).
If they are stored in temperatures approaching 90 degrees (86F) then they will not last very long and can exhibit swelling

 

[Iceboxvideo]

I have 5 x sets of TB50 batteries, 1x battery was replaced faulty under warranty due to charge dropping off suddenly. I have to say that i have never had a battery swell up including my old TB47/48s that i have owned for 3 years.

I do store them at near enough 50% and discharge / charge to 50% asap any batteries discharged/charged following a job. Sometimes I have to charge a slightly warm battery as to avoid holding up the job. for me personally the batteries perform as new when purchased Dec 2017

 

[RichJ53]

they are stored verticly with the plug section to the top in a ventilated container. they do sometimes sit in heat approx 30+ Celsius .
i should also mention they are a bit over 2 years old .

Hi
Based on your information, you have managed to hit all of the handling scenarios that will cause these LiPo batteries to gas. The 2 largest offenders are charging warm and sitting in the heat fully charged (high energy).
If you jobs are time sensitive, you need more batteries to let the used batteries cool off.
a] One of the tricks is to keep a foam cooler (the top cover has 1" holes with sealed ice packs inside. Keep this cooler in the shade and store your batteries in ziplocked sandwich bags (keeping condensation to a minimum)
b] after using you batteries you should put them in a cool place and allow them to completely cool off. You can put them into the foam cooler but not when they are hot, wait until the temps come down.
c] having more batteries and only running them down to about 50-45% will save them in hot weather conditions.

LiPo batteries are a great energy source but require some basic understanding to their limitations in either extreme hot or cool conditions.

Hope this helps
Rich

 

[312UAV]

If they are early matrice batteries, sometimes sold as I2 batteries. They had a habit of puffing a little bit. Just enough to notice.
The m200 version have a rubber seal over the led's

 

[RichJ53]

Hi
I am not sure about this fact maybe the FW causes issues. But the Inspire 2 battery cells are individually sealed here are some photos

 

[RichJ53]

If the batteries have started swelling, is there anything you can do to save them? or should you just trash them and start over?

unfortunately nothing can be done to fix this condition. The battery has produced gas inside the sealed cell and there is no way to vent the gas out. you will notice that the battery puffs up more in high heat conditions and less in cold conditions. the gas is less dense in the cold.

When these batteries are manufactured, the cells are vacuumed out and sealed against exposure to air. LiPo cells exposed to air will burn up very fast!

Rich

 

[RichJ53]

THANK YOU so much for that quick reply....I have one last question......

When do I have to replace the batteries? Right now, they are working fine....but I do notice the problem getting worst and worst....Do I have to replace when they stop fitting into the drone and charger? OR.....will they burst into flames and all come crashing down one day? What do you think I should do?

Kirk

Kirk
That’s a tricky question and you will get many different answers based on experiences. In my opinion, it’s better to be safe than sorry. If the batteries are puffed they will only get worse and the harder you work them.... they could possibly fail. I know batteries aren’t cheap but the drone is worth much more than the risk (to me). I would retire the batteries and move on

Rich

 

[bourgeaup]

Hi
Based on your information, you have managed to hit all of the handling scenarios that will cause these LiPo batteries to gas. The 2 largest offenders are charging warm and sitting in the heat fully charged (high energy).
If you jobs are time sensitive, you need more batteries to let the used batteries cool off.
a] One of the tricks is to keep a foam cooler (the top cover has 1" holes with sealed ice packs inside. Keep this cooler in the shade and store your batteries in ziplocked sandwich bags (keeping condensation to a minimum)
b] after using you batteries you should put them in a cool place and allow them to completely cool off. You can put them into the foam cooler but not when they are hot, wait until the temps come down.
c] having more batteries and only running them down to about 50-45% will save them in hot weather conditions.

LiPo batteries are a great energy source but require some basic understanding to their limitations in either extreme hot or cool conditions.

Hope this helps
Rich

Only running that percentage would only be 8-9 minutes of run time??

 

[cyeung]

Only running that percentage would only be 8-9 minutes of run time??

I just got an Inspire 2 used, and 8-9 minutes of flight is what I have been getting as well. Stinks coming from a Mavic 2 Pro where I can get 15 minutes easy, but still enough to get the shot.