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So I'm still a relative newbie on the Typhoon H scene.. yes I've had my Typhoon for a little over a year but really I've probably clocked around 50 hours of flight time.

First world problems I suppose...

Anyway, I noticed when I bought my Typhoon H and later another replacement battery that all of the batteries had a slight 'puff' to the plastic surrounding the cells themselves. Not the hard plastic frame.. it's fine.. No other bulge mind you.. just this slight 'air pocket'.. I didn't think much about it at the time.. After that I decided to get a 4th battery.. the aftermarket Powerextra battery with 6500Mah. That one did *not* have that same 'air pocket' as the other but I figured 'different manufacturer, different battery'. All 4 batteries worked great. No problems at all. I have the Venom 4 cell charger and when I was done for the year I put them in 'storage' cycle on the charger and when they completed I put them away.

The other day I pulled the batteries out, and put them in the charger to get them ready to go flying.. and then I thought about the difference in the batteries and that 'pocket' again.. After coming here and reading the threads on this topic it appears my batteries either are or always have been on borrowed time. I wish I had noticed the problem before so I could have opened a ticket with Yuneec to see about replacement. The Powerextra battery still works perfect and no such Symptoms.. unfortunately after emailing Powerextra I found they are not going to make them any more (if I had to guess Yuneec sent them *and* Venom a 'cease and desist' given both have completely disappeared from being listed anywhere - but just a guess).

My next problem is I can't find batteries any place I've looked - Amazon, B&H, no one seems to have them other than secondary sellers who are charging a significant markup for them.

So what do I do with these? Just take them to be e-cycled? Is there really no hope?
 
Several pilots (including myself) have had good results out of these replacement batteries

UltraX Typhoon H Battery

Couple of points... you say you storage charged them when you were done for the year. How long did the batteries sit? They do continue to self discharge, and need to be checked about once a month. If the voltage drops too low this will contribute to the chemical processes that create swelling.

Also do not rely on a e-cycler to know how to properly and safely discharge LiPo batteries. This should be done before taking them to a disposal center. The easiest method, is to soak the battery in a salt water solution in a small bucket (1/4 cup in a gallon)... let sit for 2 - 3 days. Check voltage with a voltmeter to ensure you are at 0.0V
 
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How long did the batteries sit? They do continue to self discharge, and need to be checked about once a month.

Y'know unfortunately I honestly cannot recall. But I probably did *not* check them once a month and run them thru the Venom charger.. Honestly it's been a rough year and drone flying wasn't high on the priority list. :(
 
@Eagle's Eye Video - I was just reading up on LiPo storage.. let me see if I understand this at a high level.. it seems that for best results I should:
  • Put batteries back to 'storage mode' after every run.
  • Charge them back up before you are going to go out.
  • Do not leave them fully charged
  • Do not let them fully discharge either.

So.. if I have them in storage mode after a month what should I do.. cycle them in the Venom charger and put them back in storage mode?

Thanks in advance.
 
@Eagle's Eye Video - I was just reading up on LiPo storage.. let me see if I understand this at a high level.. it seems that for best results I should:
  • Put batteries back to 'storage mode' after every run.
  • Charge them back up before you are going to go out.
  • Do not leave them fully charged
  • Do not let them fully discharge either.

So.. if I have them in storage mode after a month what should I do.. cycle them in the Venom charger and put them back in storage mode?

Thanks in advance.

Depending on how often you expect to fly... in general I would not leave the batteries in a fully charged state for more than 48 hours at a time. These chemical processes are something that is dynamic in nature... and as you noted, life can intervene. Leaving them longer may not effect them on a one or two time basis... but in my case, too often 2 days became 4 days, or a week, or more.

2 years ago I was the complete newb, no RC experience, just jumped right in with the big boys. Even with the vast knowledge base on this board, (and specifically @PatR , this boards resident LiPo expert) I still managed to end up seeing 3 of these batteries show swelling, and ultimately disposed of. At certain point, not paying closer attention to LiPo care becomes financially undesirable, even if the safety dangers are not considered.

I do not think you need to go through a full charge/storage discharge cycle monthly. Storage mode on the charger will charge up if voltage is below 3.85V per cell as well as discharge if above that level. If you are storing for several months at a time, I'd go through a full charge/storage discharge cycle every 2 months.
 
As Eagle’sEye mentions, life does have a habit of “getting in the way” and battery monitoring is often one of the first things interrupted. Casual experience indicates H batteries, and quite a few others will self discharge at a rate of “around” 1/20v to 1/10v at a full charge state per week depending on the conditions they are stored in. That rate can get a lot higher if it’s hot or cold. Don’t take that to the bank and use it to build a spread sheet, those are only basic observations with my batteries, not observations from a broad based study. It’s not a bad idea for people to check their storage level batteries once a week to determine how much their batteries self discharge over different time periods to use the discharge rate data to develop their own time tables and establish a personal inspection cycle.

Ideally, we would perform a full charge cycle to balance the cells before discharging for storage, but that’s not always possible due to time constraints. We can partially charge a battery to elevate voltage above storage level but when doing so we want to assure the partially charged battery’s cell voltages are within 1/10v (0.10) of each other after a partial charge. Closer is better. So a partial re-charge demands we check individual cell voltages for compliance and if they don’t meet the 1/10v standard we’ll have to perform a full charge and storage cycle to even out the cells.

If we have a multi port charger we can get a couple batteries fully cycled in 2 hours or less, and for those with lots of batteries it’s not a bad idea to have a couple multi port chargers. Having more than one helps out the time needed for charging a bunch of batteries when we have flights looking us in the eye. That’s a decision for each to make on their own.
 
I have been using the Ultramax 6300mah batteries with no issues. I have three of them bought off of amazon. My yuneec battery also has that slight puff others have talked about. It works just fine. Just worries me a little.
 
As lipo’s age they all “out gas” a little. When brand new the wrappers always lay flat and tight on the cell stack, unless they were very poorly made. In a way the wrappers provide us with an indication of a battery’s age. Tight and flat wrappers would be new manufacture, a slight puff would indicate older manufacture. As we don’t often know when a battery was made or how long they sat on a shelf before being shipped out, and allowing for a month or so to get loaded into a shipping container for ocean transport, we know they aren’t brand, spanking new but the state of the wrapper is a reasonable means at guessing “how new” what we receive is.

If the cells are well balanced and IR is low a mildly inflated wrapper is normal with aging. A lot of inflation is of concern so any new battery that is considerably puffed is cause for rejection and replacement. Having the ability to definitively state cell balance and IR when dealing with a customer service department adds a lot of credibility to a battery warranty claim. Used batteries that suddenly puff up is usually due to misuse or poor care and cause for immediate concern, and 99% of the time can’t be charged off to a manufacturer. Developing a battery tracking sheet is really helpful in predicting if or when our batteries are going south as we get to track cell balance, IR, charge time, and mA input performance. But doing that requires, time, attention and diligence in obtaining and listing each battery’s performance. A commercial operator should always do this as if anything ever happens that info will be at the top of the information requested from a liability carrier or FAA had a reportable incident occurred. Not having the information might provide cause to initiate a negligence investigation.
 
My yuneec battery is less than 2 months old. My h is less than 2 months old. I honestly don’t know if it had the slight puff right out of the or not. I have dealt with lipo batteries for several years and know how to take care of them. I honestly didn’t even notice the puff until I read about it in posts on here.
 
I have been using the Ultramax 6300mah batteries with no issues. I have three of them bought off of amazon. My yuneec battery also has that slight puff others have talked about. It works just fine. Just worries me a little.

Redneck,

If the name plate is all that is “deformed” a little...

As stated earlier and elsewhere... if the nameplate has give, likely just deformed due to heat and cooling. If bowed, solid, and no give... then pay attention.

Monitoring cell voltages (balanced) is key. If degradation observed, act accordingly.

Physical storage techniques also can provide calm. Many choose to store in steel ammo cases. I have four. Just be sure to drill some vent holes! Another prominent poster has already explained what can happen if gases, should they decide to escape from the battery pack(s), are pressurized inside said ammo box!

Hope this helps ease worries, though each of us is responsible for our own care and feeding, and proper handling.
 
Redneck,
.
Physical storage techniques also can provide calm. Many choose to store in steel ammo cases. I have four. Just be sure to drill some vent holes! Another prominent poster has already explained what can happen if gases, should they decide to escape from the battery pack(s), are pressurized inside said ammo box!
.

Yep, same basic principle as the construction of a hand grenade. Rapidly expanding gasses inside a non vented steel container. It's what creates lethal shrapnel.
 
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Couple of things: I've read that lithium batteries (both ion and polymer) are just fine to charge and discharge as you need them. They are not reputed to develop a memory. The only discussion I see about storage levels for batteries that won't be used for a while seems to be drone chat forums LOL.

LiPos supposedly have an absolute minimum cell voltage of 3V per cell and causitons are all over the place to NEVER let it get that low, hence advice to recharge when it gets to 3.8 v/cell. I fly almost every weekend at the moment, but sometimes won't get to it for a whole month. I check and make sure they are fully charged on the day before I go fly and then I charge them back up when I get home.

Now, I have two batteries and the SC 4000 balancing charger that came with the TH. It supposedly does the balancing, but there is no indication how to put the batteries into storage mode. How would I do that?

Also, there is a USB port on the side of the charger. What is that used for?
 
The USB port is for charging the ST-16...

As far as being able to monitor your batteries' voltage and do storage discharging, you will need a 3rd party charger that has those capabilities, such as:

EV-Peak DY3

The charger linked above has such capability... it can also be found under the MorPilot brand name... identical charger. There are others out there as well.
 
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I use a demon pro 3 , works great . Thinking of getting a dual charger to be able to charge 2 batteries at once.
 

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