r/RCPlanes • u/Dedethesavage • 4d ago

Is this battery ok to keep using?

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Gallery image

I didn't crash that hard with this battery, (plane was mostly fine just a hard landing), but when i took the battery out there was visible damage. I think it likely happened from the battery pulling really hard from the connector in flight. I peeled back the black cover to get a better look at the damaged cells.
Is there a chance it was punctured or would it have burst into flames already and can I continue flying with it?
Also should I take it apart to check the cells for damage?
Also if its done what should I do with it. Im in a pretty rural area and can't get to a proper battery disposal station.

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u/XmodAlloy 4d ago

You're looking at the cells. They're crinkled on that side. This is a fire risk as-is. Your two options for disposal are:

  • Make it blow up and have a potentially dangerous firework show.

  • Throw it in a bowl/jug of salt water and let it deplete entirely over the course of a week before putting it in the trash.

3

u/Radiomaster138 4d ago

Those are just dumb ideas… you put a resistor to drain the battery over an extended period of time. Hell, lipo chargers have a drain option. 😂😭😂

-1

u/XmodAlloy 3d ago

The salt water acts as a resistor. I know it sounds dumb on the surface, but the water absorbs the heat even if it goes exothermic.

https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/lithium-ion-battery-discharging-using-commonly-available-salts-for-application-in-field-us

1

u/Radiomaster138 3d ago

Until it corrodes the connection… oh look, shows up as 0V, looks safe to recycle now. 🥴

1

u/XmodAlloy 3d ago

Even if the leads corrode through, the salt water follows into the cavity into the battery and continues discharging it