purple_car

So I was walking on the street yesterday with my mini-t, controller, extra battery and various tools in my leather bag. As I'm waiting to cross the street, right beside me there is a BOOM! It sounded like a motorcylcle had backfired right beside me. I jumped and turned around three times, thinking "that couldn't have been a battery, i don't use LIPO". But the whisps of smoke coming from my bag told me I was wrong.

I realized right away that I'd made two dumb mistakes: first of all, I had no heat shrink on the deans connector on the battery. Second of all: I'd left a steel screwdriver rolling around inside my bag with the battery. Obviously the screwdriver briged the positive and negative and caused the explosion.


Fortunately, the body was on the mini-t and that protected my mamba motor and speed controller, and receiver and stuff from the small explosion. Nothing was damaged aside from the battery, it all just needed a good cleaning (even my bag was ok).


Now I have a question: only one of the cells actually exploded (and it REALLY exploded ha ha). The other five appear to be ok. Can I build a five cell pack out of them, or will they be toast from the heat and shock of the explosion? How can I test them to find out?

(Resized photo for your viewing pleasure...)

×SlappY×

holy **** haha

jdmkyosho

Holy crap!! Thats awesome, I would just get a new pack if I were you.

Viper 15

I did that once, I has a SxS GP3300 battery in a tool box and a loose screwdriver. It melted through a half-inch of plastic.

-Inverted-

Genius......

Anyways, this picture is very informative, it will teach people who shun li-po to realize any battery can explode.

RC_Diablo

lol that looks cool (must suck for you though) lol

crUshed420

oh man, I can't believe you were actually considering still using ANY of those... definitely retire those suckers!!!

jdmkyosho

He asked if he could build a new pack out of the remaining cells. What did you expect me to say ... ... or are you not being sarcastic?

purple_car

Ha ha yeah I'm not upset at all, I just think it's cool and am glad that nothing else was damaged.

Actually, the other 5 cells are not deformed at all (just dirty and with the shrink wrap torn) which is what makes me wonder if they're ok to still use.

Lorduss

Throw away those batterys unless you want more problems from them after this,
ive heard of times one cell in a pack exploding, shortly after another exloded, you dont want it in your hand when it does. Trust me.
that is cool i must admit.
you should take things a little safer. not using heatshrink is asking for trouble, theres a reasion it does exist.
defintly cool, thanks for the shot.

-Inverted-

I didnt see where he talked about building a new pack, the picture was SOOOO big.

jdmkyosho

So next time before trying to be smart, try to understand the point of my post.

DaveG55

The busted shrink wrap on the others is an indication that they have been ruined also. The only reason that they did not explode also is because the first one to explode broke the circut.
Glad you got off with as small an amount of damage as you did.

-Inverted-

I'll take that into consideration....you only act smart 99.9% of your posts.....

purple_car

OK, I definitely will throw away those other cells then!

One more question: the material that came out of the exploded cell was a black dust. Is that stuff harmful to the environment, or to a person? I heard NIMH are not that bad for the environment (obviously don't eat it though).

bwalker25

I wouldn't suggesting eating the black stuff however that is a way cool picture though. I dont think it will harm anything, perhaps you could put it in your recycle bin for pickup with the trash?

jdmkyosho

I act smart because I am in real life
So ... I dont control my posting and blah blah blah. This is my attitude, also my reaction to certain things in person. If you arent too fond about my posting and/or you dont like me then PM me.

zaphod42

My Feedback: (3)

The dust is not harmful in a long term sort of way. One of my favorite things about NIMH cells (other than they have 3X the MAH rating of NiCads) is that they will biodegrade without creating any toxins so you can actually just throw them away and not have to carefully recycle them as hazardous materials.

R/C fan-addict

can you repost the pic? I can't see it.

purple_car

Here's the pic again:

Infinite Gundam

Fortunately not much harm done, it's really cool though. I always store my packs and batteries in those lock&lock containers, they are airtight and keep water and dust out well.

Rare

Thats Crazy!!!!!! Now you know not to just throw your batteries in your bag huh?

Getrdone

Thats stinks man. I have a question along the same lines. My Stampede took a tumble last night and my GP4300 six cell side by side came unglued. I decided to go ahead and reglue and resolder the battery bars. As I was working a small amount of solder fell off my iron and caused an arc between two cells. There was a little spark and some sizzling between the two cells, but it stopped after a couple of seconds. My heart skipped a beat because I knew they might explode. Anyways, is there a way to tell if these cells are no good? If I replace those two cells alone it will cost me $24!

CustomTamiyas4Life

My Feedback: (34)

Looks when i charged my cheap 3000mah batt at 5 amps and 9mv/c

Access

The black dust is probably Potassium Hydroxide or a seperator which burnt up, just don't eat it or let it touch your skin and it should be fine.
I believe radio shack and some other places that sell batteries will take them back for recycling, maybe you could drop them off at a store like that rather than throwing them away. I wouldn't try using the other cells either, it's not worth the danger to yourself, your model, and the surroundings.