Near Disaster - Chinese battery

[CornelP]

Jim, would this be them?

http://www.etti.com.hk/index.php?language=en

Yes, that's the website. In Europe you only have Astec and one of my friends around here that will import the whole range of Etti products.

[sailr]

Good find! I always forget about the .hk! Not sure why a google search didn't pick them up.

Jim, would this be them?

http://www.etti.com.hk/index.php?language=en

[sundog]

Leave the seal intact

I read where some people have removed the rubber seal from their ammo boxes, fire safe, etc. and I don't understand that logic. After all, the batteries don't 'explode' - they catch fire, and fire requires oxygen. If you have removed the seal and one catches fire, it may lead to a chain reaction damaging more batteries - not to mention the smell that will permeate your dwelling. If you leave the seal intact and one spontaneously combusts, it will smoulder until it uses up the oxygen and then go out completely - possibly saving the rest of your collection of lipos. My thinking is you should leave the seal intact - that it could certainly help you in the event of a fire.

[Boatman]

What are folks doing about warranty on these turnigy packs. Has anyone sent one back? I have only sent a venom back and they sent me a new one very quickly.

[Basstronics]

Question- are they not all Chinese packs?

Does hyperion actually "produce" them here? By Produce I mean make the cells- not simply assemble them here.

[JimClark]

I think they use a factory in Korea

[BHChieftain]

What are folks doing about warranty on these turnigy packs. Has anyone sent one back? I have only sent a venom back and they sent me a new one very quickly.

My problem is the shipping cost was nearly half the price of the packs so I just wasn't worth it...esp since my confidence of getting a replacement lipo that worked correctly is low... I don't like thowing good money after bad...

Chief

[BHChieftain]

I read where some people have removed the rubber seal from their ammo boxes, fire safe, etc. and I don't understand that logic. After all, the batteries don't 'explode' - they catch fire, and fire requires oxygen. If you have removed the seal and one catches fire, it may lead to a chain reaction damaging more batteries - not to mention the smell that will permeate your dwelling. If you leave the seal intact and one spontaneously combusts, it will smoulder until it uses up the oxygen and then go out completely - possibly saving the rest of your collection of lipos. My thinking is you should leave the seal intact - that it could certainly help you in the event of a fire.

Here's the logic--
I am concerned that there is enough O2 in an airtight ammo box to enable a lipo to generate a huge amt of gas and pressure before it smothers... I'd rather have the rest of the lipos in the box burn safely vs. risking an explosion.

Would be great if someone could run some experiments...
I *have* seen experiments where lipos burn safely in metal containers that are vented.

Chief

[BHChieftain]

Question- are they not all Chinese packs?

Does hyperion actually "produce" them here? By Produce I mean make the cells- not simply assemble them here.

I don't think there is inherently quality problem with Chinese lipos per se-- it depends on the company and the quality/quality control they want to put in place. Higher quality and QA costs more. I don't care where Hyperion makes their packs--
they charge more for their packs, but their packs can support 5C charges (so there must be a real quality diff since you can't do that with a turnigy pack).

I've owned multiple sets of hyperion packs and turnigy packs. Problems with my turnigy sets, never problems with my hyperion sets.

Chief

[Brushless55]

What are folks doing about warranty on these turnigy packs. Has anyone sent one back? I have only sent a venom back and they sent me a new one very quickly.

keep in mind venom is much closer than Hobbyking
I've had a pack with a dead cell, come to find out it had a solder joint on the tab, and I resoldered it and it works great now..

[GP73]

The new Zippy batteries are rated at 5C charge.

Not saying that they will work, just reporting what's on the label.

I charge everything at 1C anyway.

I don't think there is inherently quality problem with Chinese lipos per se-- it depends on the company and the quality/quality control they want to put in place. Higher quality and QA costs more. I don't care where Hyperion makes their packs--
they charge more for their packs, but their packs can support 5C charges (so there must be a real quality diff since you can't do that with a turnigy pack).

I've owned multiple sets of hyperion packs and turnigy packs. Problems with my turnigy sets, never problems with my hyperion sets.

Chief

[slappy]

I store my lipos in a sealed ammo can, on a mesh steel shelf in my garage. I can see both sides of the argument for vented vs sealed, wouldn't a very small 2mm hole in the ammo can be the best of both worlds? So small as to not let too much oxygen in if things do heat up and big enough to keep the pressure down if they did start to burn?

Ideally a one way valve would be the go, similar to the ones on gas tanks, not sure if you can buy these though?

EDIT: are these the hyperion packs you guys use?

http://www.hyperionaustralia.com.au/?stg=724&view=724

[BHChieftain]

The new Zippy batteries are rated at 5C charge.

Not saying that they will work, just reporting what's on the label.

I charge everything at 1C anyway.

Might be interesting if someone listed the most common brand packs and we did a poll on who has had problems or not.

Chief

[GP73]

Might be interesting if someone listed the most common brand packs and we did a poll on who has had problems or not.

Chief

I have Turnigy and Zippy only, about 30 packs total, so far I've had problems only with one 5S pack that has a cold solder on a tab and doesn't work properly sometimes.

Some of the Turnigy packs have swelled somewhat, but we are talking of few mm on each side. The problem is that they are only 25C if I recall correctly and it's not enough for certain hull/motor/prop combinations.

All the packs are about 1 year old or less.

Still, Lipo batteries are dangerous, no doubt about that.

[electric]

I have all my lipo's stored inside a metal cabinent (craftsman rolling tool chest) I wonder if one goes off, what is the probability of all the others going off with it? I guess beyond something more extreme that is a reasonable place to put them?

I have no doubt the hyperion's are better, but the price/value point is not there. To me, those are for those who are racing and looking for any edge they can get. I have not had any turnigy's go off over the course of two or three years now with a lot of usage. I have had them puff when I was pulling to many amps, but still no fire or anything hazardous.

I do charge them in a combination of a lipo sack and coffee cans(away from anything combustable) to at least have some protection. Finally, only charging at 3.5 amps on 5000mah batteries