How to Discharge and Dispose of LiPo Batteries 

Thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate it.

Kezat Awesome suggestion. I was able to do that over the weekend thanks to your comment! Thx.

Did you find out? I need to get rid of a 3 cell lipo that has a dead cell and I have a Hi-tek charger with an option to discharge so I'm wondering if that is the way to go?

Team Icarus No problem. Thanks for watching.

Dans Channel Glad to hear this helped. Good luck and cheers from Austin, TX.

Andrew W Very cool to hear. Thanks for sharing.

I'm not familiar with that discharger but I know a lot of manufacturers have a lower limit on voltage per cell that they don't let you go under. So make sure you do your research otherwise you'll be left with discharging for storage and not for disposal.

agreed.....good idea....

Matt Molloy I have never heard of the 3 Rs but that's good stuff to know. I'll definitely keep this in mind the next time this happens. I would have loved to keep those 2 remaining cells. Thanks for the tip!

Batteries Plus in the PHX area and in the Orlando area will take them....and they don't have to be discharged! And no fee.... at least at the time of this post and the store locations that we deal with...

You may see a little voltage fluctuation when you drain the battery. For example, I recently drained a battery, disconnected it, and then connected the next day. It was able to power the bulb (very dim) for a few seconds. It didn't have any real capacity but still had a small amount of voltage. Shortening the leads should definitely get it to drop all the way down. Be safe when you do this. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

You can use the same light bulb. Good luck.

Dennis Baldwin Thanks!

good question - maybe they "recover" a bit when not shorted out - probably would stay at zero if left shorted

It really doesnt matter!

Red to center black to side...

its an incandescent bulb, polarity doesnt matter

I solder the positive cable from the XT60 to the bottom tip of the light bulb, which is positive. Then solder the negative cable from the XT60 to the side part of the bulb. This page shows a good diagram of the connections: www.quickstudylabs.com/Electronics%201/FreeSafetyClass/Light_a_lamp.htm

startazz Thanks for sharing and my experience has been similar in that it's not very often that I have to do this. I just wanted to experiment and see what different ways there are to dispose of them. One user suggested removing the bad cell and use the remaining two. I thought that was a good idea and I may have to give it a try sometime. Take care.

+jekabs karklins It's a 12w bulb.

+Savire I think worse case is due to humidity or some metal element could cause a short and ultimately lead to a fire.

+Patrick Aniol Next time you get a sick battery take it to your field and hit it with an ax, that's what could happen when the garbage truck operator compacts his load.

I work at a yard with city trash trailers. I’ve seen an entire trailer light on fire and the fire department coming out to handle it. Battery fires are nasty since it’s a chemical reaction. All they could do was douse the surrounding material but had to let the chemical fire burn itself out. Then there was a huge mess left for a separate disposal crew. Don’t be a fool, properly discharge and recycle them.

lasersbee You got me on this one. I couldn't figure out those values either. I did so much digging around and know my voltage tester is fine. I use it all the time and compare it with my voltmeter. When I hooked up my balance charger it wouldn't let me charge because cell 2 was below the minimum threshold. I read about trickle charging on the NiMh setting, but then I'd have to isolate that cell and bring it up to a voltage where my charger wouldn't complain. Anyway, all that to say I have no clue why those cell voltages were so out of whack. Very frustrating but this battery had been through quite a bit of wear and tear. Thanks for the thoughts and if you come across any other ideas I'd love to hear them.

Dennis Baldwin Would be a good idea to test your voltage tester against one that is known to be good.

jkflorida2013 No doubt. This way is too safe and boring :)

Kevin Talbot cut one in half with a chop saw ... worth a look !

donnlee Very true....and it'll save some solder too :)

blackmennewstyle I thought so too, but have read a few articles that suggest that it is safe: www.rctoys.com/pdf/thunder-power-disposal-of-old-damaged-lipo-batteries.pdf Not sure what to believe but the best bet is probably to take them to a recycling center. I hope you're doing well and thanks for the comment.

Dennis Baldwin Interesting article, thanks for sharing :)

statesmanls1 I'll have to give this a try if this happens again. Thanks!

The only hobby shop in my town is not good at all.Maybe its just because of my first experience there, but they look like they dont know what theyre doing.

***** I hear you. I'm not sure what the best way to dispose of them is, but I know discharging them is a necessity. Several articles about lipos suggest that they are landfill safe: www.rctoys.com/pdf/thunder-power-disposal-of-old-damaged-lipo-batteries.pdf But who really knows. The best bet is probably to drop them off at a battery recycling place and let them take care of it. Thanks for the comment.

Calvin C Good suggestion. Thanks.

how!?

what's wrong with the lightbulb? Is it pulling too much juice to be safe?

​@@cinialvespow1054nothing wrong, some just dont understand how discharging actually works