haasjj

Who has done the salt water discharge of a lipo battery???

A short time after I put the pack in the salt water solution the pack was giving off small bubbles, is this normal???

After a couple of hours the water had discolored and had some black ring around the side of the bucket, is this normal???

After 7 or so hours I took the pack out of the solution to look at it so I could see where the discoloration was coming from, there might be some from the label but not all.

The ends of the cut off remaining wires were discolored and slightly black, is this normal???

Thanks for any help.

simmo8

i dont think you are suposed to put the whole lipo in the water just a wire from + and a wire from - the bubbles are normal
i have never done a simular thing but i have done it in science class its something to do with electrolisis {my spelling is realy bad lol}
and i am prety sure it is normal for the wirs to chainge color

simmo

Rodney

Salt water is not the way to retire a LiPo. The salt water does slowly erode any aluminum tabs etc. but does little if anything to make the battery safe to throw in the trash. Now, if the envelope is slashed or broken on each cell first, it will slowly be deactivated if put in salt water and left for a very long time. The better way is to just put a load on the battery such as a light bulb or a resistor (of adequate wattage of course) across the terminals until the voltage has dropped to zero then it is safe to put in the trash. In short, the salt water treatment is pretty much a myth and not an advisable way to get rid of bad LiPo's.

camss69

My Feedback: (46)

That's odd since the documentation provided with Thunder Power batteries states to use the saltwater method for disposing of them.

simmo8

i thaught puting the whole batery under water would be very dandurous since lythium it the moast reactive eliments on the planet and it reacts violentley with water falmes and all so i would never put a lythium batery under water
look on utube fot this^^
simmo

Robbidos

My Feedback: (20)

He's right: http://thunderpowerrc.com/PDF/DISPOS...-BATTERIES.pdf Never would have thought of that.

haasjj

So according to Thunder Power both methods will work. Its just faster to use a load to drop the voltage rather than putting the battery in salt water for two weeks.

Rodney

Also, I have read that tests done on salt water baths were quite ineffective; tabs eroded off before battery was completely discharged. This would not be the first time a distributer errored in their instructions. I'll believe the actual test results.

haasjj

Why did I bother posting my original question's only two of them were kinda answered.

wolf@ma

For a short time that was the recomended way to discharge a lipo to get ride of it, but in order for it to work you have to cut open the pack which is dangerous.so just discharge it on the charger next time.

haasjj

My charger won't fully discharge a lipo pack as far as I know.

richrd

Yea lots of stories about this.
It's best discharge to zero Volts then toss, but if you want to be supppper safe after discharge cut package an salt water it.
But if you can not discharge TP was correct in saying at least try to discharge some in salt water...
then you also get the damaged pack that can ONLY be salt water disacharged.
Rich

reddingrc

I can tell you from personal experience that bubbles are normal as is the black ring. Yes, you submerge the whole battery and each cell must be punctured somehow AFTER it is submerged in SALT water. Exposing holes to the air or forgetting the salt is a bad thing. The size of the whole, the size of the battery and the charge left will determine how long it will take to completely discharge. Anywhere from hours to a couple of weeks.

It is a bad idea to try to discharge a fully charged lipo in this manner as they spark when you puncture them and you usually jump. Potentially yanking the lipo out of the water and exposing the hole to the air. Making for a possible exlosive fire straight at your hand.

Puncturing a hole in a charged battery is so corrosive that it rusts an exacto blade instantly.

Forgetting the salt will cause volatile cold boiling of the water and profuse, acrid, black smoke. I would assume that it is not toxic as the battery is not supposed to be toxic in a landfill but who knows when you aerate it. But you cannot see anything after a couple of minutes in a 20 x 20 room.

My advise is the vaunted 12V lightbulb if you don't have a discharger and the wiring still works.

haasjj

reddingrc


Thanks for the info.

I will discharge the next pack so I don't have to do the salt water thing.

bcovish

My Feedback: (8)

Had to replace one of my Duralites and was advised by Duralite to use the salt water method. Mixed up a bucket of salt water, placed battery in and set it out in the backyard to do it's thing overnight. Next morning the battery was dead as a door nail then just threw the battery away. The water had some kind of crud in it

KrisisFastBash

You should never throw away batteries. Any good hobby shop, and any place that sells automotive batteries are required to take used batteries. Batteries Plus will recycle any batteries also. Throwing them in the trash just adds those bad chemicals to a landfill.

Please recycle your batteries!

Farmington Fast Bash RC Truck Club
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoT...meeG12sM4n1OHQ

08hondacivicsi

I have done it. I put it all in there and let soaking for 3 days. It worked for me.

pilotpete2

How do you know that it really is fully discharged??
Trying to get a voltage reading once a tab has been eaten away by electrolysis, there's no way to tell.
Pete