Yep. There's no 'sane' solution where you pin-prick a swollen battery and not only keep it, but try re-using it in your bird....as that could be a LOT of money you watch fall out of the sky and smash into pieces!
RoOSTA
pin prick solves swelled battery problem !!
- Thread starter ribjig
- Start date
Yep. There's no 'sane' solution where you pin-prick a swollen battery and not only keep it, but try re-using it in your bird....as that could be a LOT of money you watch fall out of the sky and smash into pieces!
RoOSTA
FYI, to anyone interested in data point;
just flew P4P+ with, first time, pin-pricked-no-tape
battery for ~15 min over isolated moist green grass;
first for few minutes just hovering ~10 ft up;
then a series of up to 327ft & down again, then
several side to side ~100 ft, sometimes full
speed (non-sport); then landed, all without issue;
(more than average live image pixilation breakup
but assume that's nothing to do with battery)
pulled battery, felt warm, not hot;
during flight battery ranged 3.75-3.80 per 4 cells;
volts, IIRC was somewhere around ?15.12?;
charging % went from 92% to low 40s%;
AM NOT ADVISING, JUST REPORTING...
will no longer store this battery inside P4P+...
just flew P4P+ with, first time, pin-pricked-no-tape
battery for ~15 min over isolated moist green grass;
first for few minutes just hovering ~10 ft up;
then a series of up to 327ft & down again, then
several side to side ~100 ft, sometimes full
speed (non-sport); then landed, all without issue;
(more than average live image pixilation breakup
but assume that's nothing to do with battery)
pulled battery, felt warm, not hot;
during flight battery ranged 3.75-3.80 per 4 cells;
volts, IIRC was somewhere around ?15.12?;
charging % went from 92% to low 40s%;
AM NOT ADVISING, JUST REPORTING...
will no longer store this battery inside P4P+...
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I would suggest getting rid of the battery altogether. The failure will probably not occur during a calm hover, it will probably fail months or even weeks from now as the already damaged battery gets worn more and more, and then at the worst time under stress and heat it will fail. Better be safe than sorry, and I really don't want to see another news report further burying our hobby in the mud: "Drone pilot sets forest fire" or "Flaming drone hits person" or what not. No matter how arrogant you are these things still can happen.
My concern is the possible flame thrower result as it hits deck and decides it needs to play more serious.
Just want to let everyone know my experiences
One time many years ago, I had an iPhone 4s battery that got extremely swollen and it was actually water damaged and the battery likely got too hot from getting shorted out and ended up swollen. The battery likely didn't have any charge left and I didn't even check it with a multimeter. Just for the heck of it I decided to prick it and release the gas. No explosion or venting flame like everyone thinks will happen and no damage to my skin from the gas that was released either. There are so many different variations of lipo and liion batteries along with different chemicals the electrolyte can break down into. Some batteries have a liquid electrolyte, some have an actual solid one, and others have gel. Yeah the battery was almost fully discharged but it was fun pricking it and watching the swelling go down. As long as you don't prick the brick in the middle, it will not catch on fire. Even if you remove the entire wrapping of the battery, it still won't ignite without something shorting out the layers because the cathode is made of lithium ion which is even less reactive than lithium itself. It may react with the oxygen to the extent of tarnishing but only if you let it sit out and the electrolyte fully evaporates. I did the same process with a MacBook Pro battery and this one actually worked just fine and I pricked the 2 puffed cells and put glue over the holes when I was done. And from that day on I never had a problem with it again. Honestly, batteries are so expensive sometimes and if you've got the skills, you'll save a lot of money. I even tried to find a video of a lipo exploding due to being pricked but not once did that happen unless the actual brick of active material in the middle was intentionally stabbed. Lipo batteries, normal, swollen, or pricked and resealed all have the same level of danger. The real thing that causes fires are overcharge or short circuits internally or externally. I've repeated this process on many devices and I love doing it because it's a great way to save money and keep a battery going a bit longer. Of course if you really want to just get rid of it. you should sell it to someone who is comfortable with doing this process and if you happen to accidentally short the layers by doing this, you are fully responsible and I have nothing to do with that because this post is simply explaining that lipo batteries are feared for the wrong reasons.
One time many years ago, I had an iPhone 4s battery that got extremely swollen and it was actually water damaged and the battery likely got too hot from getting shorted out and ended up swollen. The battery likely didn't have any charge left and I didn't even check it with a multimeter. Just for the heck of it I decided to prick it and release the gas. No explosion or venting flame like everyone thinks will happen and no damage to my skin from the gas that was released either. There are so many different variations of lipo and liion batteries along with different chemicals the electrolyte can break down into. Some batteries have a liquid electrolyte, some have an actual solid one, and others have gel. Yeah the battery was almost fully discharged but it was fun pricking it and watching the swelling go down. As long as you don't prick the brick in the middle, it will not catch on fire. Even if you remove the entire wrapping of the battery, it still won't ignite without something shorting out the layers because the cathode is made of lithium ion which is even less reactive than lithium itself. It may react with the oxygen to the extent of tarnishing but only if you let it sit out and the electrolyte fully evaporates. I did the same process with a MacBook Pro battery and this one actually worked just fine and I pricked the 2 puffed cells and put glue over the holes when I was done. And from that day on I never had a problem with it again. Honestly, batteries are so expensive sometimes and if you've got the skills, you'll save a lot of money. I even tried to find a video of a lipo exploding due to being pricked but not once did that happen unless the actual brick of active material in the middle was intentionally stabbed. Lipo batteries, normal, swollen, or pricked and resealed all have the same level of danger. The real thing that causes fires are overcharge or short circuits internally or externally. I've repeated this process on many devices and I love doing it because it's a great way to save money and keep a battery going a bit longer. Of course if you really want to just get rid of it. you should sell it to someone who is comfortable with doing this process and if you happen to accidentally short the layers by doing this, you are fully responsible and I have nothing to do with that because this post is simply explaining that lipo batteries are feared for the wrong reasons.
I have to agree.... I've been doing this for a few years now
with my RC plane and Transmitter Li-Pos.
It is rare that my batteries puff up but forgetting to turn off
a transmitter does happen and it is important to cover the
pin prick with some air tight tape like clear packing tape after
the swelling has gone down.
But... For my P4P+ or Mavic Pro... I personally would not use a
battery that had been mistreated and puffed in an expensive
piece of equipment that could fall out of the sky.
Jerry
Last edited:
It took almost 5 months since OP.
Finally, an authoritative report on the benefits of pricking swollen batteries.
My P4P+ pricked battery still works.
Meanwhile, almost daily there are new threads about drones
falling out of sky for other reasons.
NONE involve pricked batteries...
I let my batteries get puffy until they are unusable then we go blow them up in a fire pit. But I let mine get pretty puffy as I spend 100$ on 10000 mah batteries for my Dji F550 I will get every Charge out of that thing before it blows up.
