pin prick solves swelled battery problem !!

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today a local electronics repair technician saw my swelled battery,
pricked it with an exacto knife, the swelling instantly disappeared,
the battery continued to work !! but it was in a smartphone that
had worked nonstop 4+ yrs, never been opened, & had unrelated
microphone issue...

this has me thinking no reason NOT to pin prick my swelled
P4P+ (3) yr old battery...? has anyone reading this pricked
their swelling battery to solve problem? other than avoiding
going too deep to damage battery contents, what's wrong with
a shallow prick to release gas??? thanks in advance.
 
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@ribjig .... All I will say is whomever the Tech was is an idiot. This is an "effect" fix...and not the "cause" fix. What a bafoon....
 
Of course a pin prick will deflate the cell pack. But then what ?

The cell is then compromised and is a danger to you ...

A post earlier claims it could explode ... that's actually unlikely unless metal knife / pin is inserted deep enough to short the cell, and even then it will not 'explode' ... it will 'ignite' ... possibly bursting the pouch.

LiPo cells are sealed in the factory for very good reason.
 
My son currently works on building/testing Li ion batteries.....They have to be built in an oxygen-free environment and an alarm goes off (and the lab is evacuated) if any O2 is detected......
 

This is a video of a vape battery that shorted out on pocket change. Most (but not all) vape batteries are around 700-1500 mAh, some go up to around 3500. Those are too large for a pocket, so I'm thinking the one on this video was in the lower number range. Watch this video, then imagine the 5350 mAh of a P4P battery being pricked with a pin.
 
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I have a mark on one leg where a NiCd AA shorted in jeans pocket many years ago ... I absent-mindedly dropped it into pocket to carry a short distance ...

Boy did that hurt !! Luckily the hole it made in the jeans was enough to let it 'un-short' with a few seconds.
 
That repair man was an idiot! Lipos are so dangerous! When I was in to racing rc trucks there was a painstakingly long and involved way to dispose of dead lipos because they are so dangerous. PLEASE DO NOT go cutting at it!
today a local electronics repair technician saw my swelled battery,
pricked it with an exacto knife, the swelling instantly disappeared,
the battery continued to work !! but it was in a smartphone that
had worked nonstop 4+ yrs, never been opened, & had unrelated
microphone issue...

this has me thinking no reason NOT to pin prick my swelled
P4P+ (3) yr old battery...? has anyone reading this pricked
their swelling battery to solve problem? other than avoiding
going to deep to damage battery contents, what's wrong with
a shallow prick to release gas??? thanks in advance.
 
That repair man was an idiot! Lipos are so dangerous! When I was in to racing rc trucks there was a painstakingly long and involved way to dispose of dead lipos because they are so dangerous. PLEASE DO NOT go cutting at it!

The repair guy ignored the fact that Li Ion based batterys are one of the highest energy density battery forms available to public. It does not matter he was 'only' with a mobile phone battery - tell that to Samsung who actually recalled a model because of Li Ion battery problems ... in fact many airlines banned that particular model from flights !

Lipo's (Li Ion battery with Polymer) can be safely disposed of as long as simple straight forward methods are used. Discharge to as near zero as possible and then to suitable disposal reception.
There's nothing painstaking or involved about it. Just common sense.
 
Thanks for responses.
Assume phone repair tech (OP) has pricked phone batteries
many times without incident since business is 10+ yrs old.
99+% of Lipo explosions happen without pricking involved, right?
What if electrical tape is permanently placed over pinhole
immediately after gas is released?
Regardless, it would be interesting to hear from those
who released gas & covered hole without any further issues.
Maybe they don't want hassle of posting counter-evidence.
Did watch one Youtube video claiming 20% drop in battery
flight time after releasing gas...
 
You still don't seem to be taking this seriously. Lipos are dangerous and you should never hack/mess with them. Also think of this, your drone is worth close to $1,000 or more, don't know which drone you have, but a lipo battery is worth like a hundred and fifty. I would not risk my thousand dollar investment by flying it with a battery that has been poked and taped.
Thanks for responses.
Assume phone repair tech (OP) has pricked phone batteries
many times without incident since business is 10+ yrs old.
99+% of Lipo explosions happen without pricking involved, right?
What if electrical tape is permanently placed over pinhole
immediately after gas is released?
Regardless, it would be interesting to hear from those
who released gas & covered hole without any further issues.
Maybe they don't want hassle of posting counter-evidence.
Did watch one Youtube video claiming 20% drop in battery
flight time after releasing gas...
 
Of course the LiPo if pricked is unlikely to just burst into flame with provocation. But the fact that oxygen rich air has now been able to enter - increases the flame risk when charged or put under load.

I'm sorry - but I cannot help but have a vision of some poor customer with a 'pin-pricked' battery in a mobile in their pocket ... or them asleep with phone charging on the side table.....

Dread the possibility of someone 'pin pricking' a sizeable lipo as we use !!
 
Not to condone this.... But
I've tried this in the past. If you are careful to only prick the
thin plastic envelope it can be done safely. Be sure to tape
the hole after the gas pressure has been removed.
I still have a few of those batteries and they seem to be
fine other that old age degradation.

BTW... would never do this on my expensive P4P+ or Mavic
Pro batteries.

It is always best and safest to replace puffed Li-Po batteries.

Jerry
 
Not to condone this.... But
I've tried this in the past. If you are careful to only prick the
thin plastic envelope it can be done safely. Be sure to tape
the hole after the gas pressure has been removed.
I still have a few of those batteries and they seem to be
fine other that old age degradation.

BTW... would never do this on my expensive P4P+ or Mavic
Pro batteries.

It is always best and safest to replace puffed Li-Po batteries.

Jerry

mmmm not arguing but interested as LiPo's other than Hard Case batterys designed for car use are double wrapped .... first is the foil pouch ... then the plastic ... before heat shrink is applied.

The part that 'puffs up' is the foil pouch due to the electrolytes gassing.

But I have to say that I have two 4S LiPo's of 2700mAh that were bought specifically for one of my EDF's. After just a few flights (not unusual for EDF use) they started to run hot and puff. Unlike other LiPo's I've had that puffed - these two on cooling, deflated leaving wrinkles in the outer wrapping ! I continued using until they soon reduced power output ...
Strange - because normally a puffed LiPo will still stay puffed when cool .. OK there will be some reduction due to lower temperature - but I had never seen a total deflation like that and I mean these were PUFFED !! No holes / bursts nothing.
 
Due to my own stupidity.. I had left a Radio transmitter ON
overnight. The next morning the battery was puffed to a
point that it blew of the battery cover.
I tried balance charging then discharging to 3.0V about
20 times and the puffing finally came back down to a
normal size. I'm still using the same battery in the TX.

I use this technique on freshly puffed batteries and it seems
to work for me.

Jerry
 

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