critterhunter

Here's a word of warning and advice for people with a pack that gets really hot while charging or doesn't produce the power it used to. If a total drain an a very slow (like 110ma for a 1100ma pack, etc,...takes about ten hours) charge doesn't revive it then you've either got a bad cell or something else going on. That "something else" may be this...Cut off the shrink wrap (BE CAREFUL...A SHORT WILL MELT/BLOW THINGS UP!) and pull the cells away from each other while still leaving them soldered together. This is possible with many pack configurations such as 6 and 7 cell packs used on the Challenger, Stryker, etc. Again, be real careful because if something shorts you'll get instant heat and maybe something worse. It may take a little force or gentle prying with a screwdriver but the cells will seperate from each other and form a "circle from end to end where they are still soldered. I like to stretch them out as much as possible to avoid a short and then touch each cell with my hand to make sure it isn't warm and thus shorting. Now look at each cell. The whole body except for the button on the positive end is the ground. In other words, if the individual shrink wrap on a cell is rubbed or melted away (from vibration during flight, heat from charging it too fast, etc) then the cells could short together. If they do, this could lead to a cell being bypassed in the series circuit, etc. Get some cell shrink wrap and re-wrap each cell. I don't know if it's safe, but I just used electrical tape to re-wrap mine and then re-shrinked the pack. I've heard you can use tape to wrap the pack as well but be safe and do it the right way with shrink wrap if you can. One 6 cell pack that had went into shrink wrap melt down during a charge had cell shorts in it causing this. I pulled apart a bad Venom 7 cell pack that I thought had a bad cell and sure enough it had shorts in the cell wrap. Just be careful. These things are not your typical batteries.