Hello everyone. I am having problems in charging my Wolfpack 2200 mAh 20C LiPo Battery. Got it from RCBazaar along with the Sky Surfer kit. I have used it for 4 flights in my Sky Surfer V2 till now. All was ok untill recently.

After the 4th flight, when I put it on charge using my Wolfpack balance charger (also came with the kit), I found that Cell 2 & Cell 3 turned green after about 2 hrs (meaning fully charged). But Cell 1 was still RED even after 3+ hrs. Cell 2 & 3 are showing voltage levels of 4.18V each. Cell 1 was showing 3.82V. I managed to increase Cell 1 voltage to 3.97V after ~15 hrs of charging (not continuous of course, as I checked its voltage, time and again).

To check the battery condition, I connected it to my plane's motor and ran it for ~5-7 minutes giving various levels of throttle (5-% average). Worked without a glitch. Checked the voltage levels again. Cell1 = 3.76V, Cell2 = 4.06V, Cell3 = 4.05V.

I again charged the battery for ~ 2.5 hrs, when Cell2 & 3 showed full charge (green light) whereas Cell1 was still charging. Checked their voltages at that instant. Cell1 = 4.06V, Cell2 = 4.18V, Cell3 = 4.18V. Tried charging for another 2 hrs. Cell1 still had same 4.06V. Kept the Lipo for storage. That was last Saturday (28 Sept 2013). Today, took out the LiPo and checked the battery voltages. Readings are Cell1 = 3.70V, Cell2 = 4.17V, Cell3 = 4.17V.

Is it normal (of course its not!!) or is something wrong with charger / battery? Please help.

Take it to a friend or someone who has charger that can show Internal resistance. If the IR is very high that cell is bad. It will not hold charge.
Also, upgrade to turnigy lipos or other good brands.

http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=233111

check the first post

+ @doctor  

you need to check the internal resistance of the lipo, you can do is take it to some electronic shop and measure perfect cell reading from a professional device, sound hmm, but believe me many a time it happens to be fault of the cheap voltage tester. Wolfpack lipos are just fine, i have 2 of those and they work pretty well, better than my turnigys with same specs. If you are serious about this hobby better plan to invest in a professional / intelligent charger.

Wolfpack is not best of the batt that's why it is cheap, i got one bad batt, then sujju promptly replaced it, hope they'll bring some world class lipo soon

Thanks for the suggestions frnz. I'll check the internal resistance tomorrow at my Univ Dept. My multimeter can measure resistance only upto 1 Ohm. LiPo Batteries have resistance values in milliohms, from what I found out.

I am planning to buy Turnigy/Turnigy NanoTech Batteries from Hobbyking in the near future. In the meantime, I had to order a Wolfpack 2800mah 30C 11.1V from RCBazaar.

I think RCBazaar should provide some 2-3 months warranty on these LiPo products. They are doing great and honest business as far as I am concerned and what I have heard. It will enhance their reputation if they introduce Warranty on certain products.

Hope they read this post...

no one gives warranty on batt that i know of, educate me !!

however i can tell you batt from rcdhamaka are really good, very low internal resistance and better than nanotech in (a) C rating (b) no of cycles

@nairitb  warranty on battery , duratrax , Traxxas lipo power claims to provide warranty for the first year of ownership,  replaces any battery found to be defective at no cost. If they say lifetime warranty, shouldn't it means that if it break at any time for no reason when you are not doing something to it you shouldn't do, they replace it?

@rcpilotacro sir,   waiting for RCD to restock 2200 3s and 2650 6s lipos. I have heard positive review about them..

my charger too shows cell 2 & 3 as green and cell 1 never gets green I don't think the problem is with batteries,I have tried 3 batteries with it.no doubt that  the charger is your problem

Nair

Just out of curiosity ! what is your experience in this field and on Lipo batt? i am beginning to wonder, did you take proper care of your batt or you just always fast charged and may be abused it a bit (By damaging in a crash or something) or dropped it here and there. all this will reduce the integrity of the batt. so before blaming the batt, ask yourself these questions, i am sure most i f not all of the seniors  would have advised you just the same.

So before writing problems with rcbazaar batt, you need to tick mark these answers, and may be post a picture of your battery.

I am hope i was clear enough, and that is not a request

Buy a new battery , charge it with that same charger , rest you know what to do

@rcpilotacro. Hi. Yes you guessed it right. I am a beginner in this field. However, I, think, I did take proper care of the battery. I recharged it once before each flight, till the 4th flight. I crashed the plane in the 1st, 2nd & 4th flights. I flew 3rd & 4th flights under Sundaram ji's supervision. 1st & 2nd flights were failures. I have posted 4 pictures of the battery in its present condition. I have never dropped the battery till now. Always charged it under constant supervision on concrete floor. Yes, I was a bit rough with battery AFTER it malfunctioned, like charging it intermittently & charging it for long periods.

You'll see it is bent a bit in one corner. Its the result of the 4th flight that crashed. After that, I am having the problems. I showed the battery to VC. He opined that the Cell1 might have gone bad but was not sure if the crash was the reason. Same opinion of Sundaram ji. Sundaram ji asked me to charge only the Cell1 with a 5V DC power source(a mobile charger or something) and see if its voltage increases, and revert back to him with the results. But I decided not to do it without any expert supervision. He lives in Shillong & I live in Guwahati.

I am planning to go to VC's place this Saturday/Sunday and charge his batteries using my charger and vice versa.

@avesh. I bought a new battery. Yet to receive it. Planning to do as you advised.

Thanks to everyone for taking time out and posting comments & suggestions.

   wrong topic title

topic is wrong nair, it is because of the crash that the batt's one cell isn't working, integrity of the batt is lost, you are better if making it into a one 2cell pack and use the single cell for some park flier.

(a) be careful with the batt next time, people take care of lipo like they are taking care of their baby, you should see my lipo bag, lipo carrying case and individual balances protector.

(b) be careful with the choice of topic, it is no way fault of rabazaar, you need to change the title of the topic too

Well spotted by Master Vineet! Yes, due to no fault of the LHS, it will bestow upon them a bad reputation on Google. Topic title needs to be amended immediately.

Sorry. I used RCBazaar's name as I thought someone might ask where did I buy it from. Didn't think about the future implications. Thanks for correcting me.

just in case u want a lipo that works in any shape including becoming banana shaped after crashing, buy rcdhamaka lipos, cheapest and the best in the country at the moment.
my experience - out of 9 RCD lipos i had, one failed. i had only one rcb lipo, gave me bad time after few runs with eratic power delivery. i push my equipments a lot but i do know how to break in. i like to buy things available locally as it supports indian rc ecosystem, i dislike buying something that wouldnt work or is fragile, my flying bud had similar exp. hence my headsup. not dissing anyone.

By the way, regarding LiPo battery.

The construction of a LiPo battery is made in such a way that, theoretically, this type of battery could be made flexible, like a piece of cloth. Advantage? Able to survive crashes or drops. But thats THEORETICALLY. Practically, LiPos that we mosty use, contain some amounts of GELLED electrolytes (instead of Dry electrolytes). A good LiPo will use a very minimum amount of gelled electrolyte or none all at. So it'll be able to survive crashes (be flexible). But of course not 100% crash resistant as a very hard crash could break open the container into which the electrolyte is stored.

Hope this helps...

RCD always serms to be out of stock whenever Im buying

Sent from my GT-S7562 using Tapatalk 2

Same here Sanjay sir