How to Store LiPo Batteries Safely?

A LiPo battery or lithium polymer battery or lithium-ion polymer battery is a rechargeable type of battery based on the lithium-ion technology. The battery utilizes a polymer electrolyte rather than a liquid electrolyte.

What makes them different from other types of lithium batteries is higher specific energy they provide and are generally appropriate for applications where the critical feature is weight.

Moreover, LiPo batteries are usually safer than other R/C batteries such as NiMH and NiCd. In fact, they have become one of the common high-performance R/C batteries and thus, are used in planes, boats, and much more.

A standard 4-cell LiPo 1500mAh battery at a complete/full charge stores a 25Wh of energy. If you are curious to know whether LiPo battery can explode or not, then you’ve come to the right place. Here, you will get to know more about LiPo batteries - storage tips, things you should avoid for safety of your battery and much more.

Can LiPo Battery Explode?

Well, the simple answer to the question going in your mind about LiPo batteries explosion is YES. When you charge the battery fully and continue to stuff more and more electrical charge into the battery, you can have a quite big explosion.

Now, if you’re wondering why LiPo batteries explode, then it’s actually quite simple. Lithium-ions present inside a LiPo battery doesn’t like to be exposed to the environment/air. Generally, all LiPo battery explosions happen for one specific reason - one or all cells in the battery get ruptured or punctured somehow. How brutal the reaction depends entirely on how much electrical charge your battery has. At the end of this post, you will get to what actions make a LiPo battery explosion. This will help you to take some safety measures.

How Do You Store LiPo Battery Safely?

Well, LiPo batteries are one of those batteries that are quite tricky to charge, discharge and there is no exception when it comes to storing.

Unlike smartphone or computer batteries that are lithium-ion, you can’t leave a LiPo battery on a complete/full charge for a long duration. If you do that, then the battery will start losing its capacity gradually and its lifespan will decrease. What’s more? The battery will begin to puff up.

The best approach to determine at what voltage you should store your LiPo battery is to check what voltage you bought the battery. Generally, all LiPo batteries come with a voltage between 3.8 and 3.85 volts/cell.

Thus, if you’re going to store your battery, then you have to bring the battery down to the voltage - between 3.8 and 3.85 volts/cell. The good news is that most computerized chargers come with a LiPo storage option that will bring the battery to the right storage charge automatically.

Keep in mind that LiPo batteries include a very reactive chemical that enables them to produce much power and that’s why you should handle your battery carefully.

For a start, insulate the leads. It is simple and all you need to do is to put a rubber cap or some kind of electrical taps on all leads including the main power and balance leads. You can also have a LiPo storage bag made from fire-retardant material.

Following are some guidelines on how to store LiPo battery safely-

· Store LiPo battery in a fireproof location. For instance, good locations are on the concrete in the garage or in a glass/metal box away from carpet or wood.

· Store LiPo battery in temperature-controlled locations that should not be too hot or too cold.

· You can store a LiPo battery in a container with a sandbag on top.

· The last but not the least- you should have a fire extinguisher nearby the battery so you can access it easily if any unexpected explosion occurs.

As you can now see that when it comes to storing LiPo batteries, the thing on which you need to pay much more attention is voltage. These batteries should be discharged and stored at a voltage near nominal and it is 3.8v.

As long as the battery voltage is 3.8v/cell, you can store your battery between 40 and 60% charge for better longevity.

What Action Makes A LiPo Battery Dangerous?

Following are actions that make a LiPo battery dangerous -

· Overcharging

Overcharging occurs when you apply a high voltage across the cells of your LiPo battery. Generally, you would like to boost the voltage on each LiPo cell to 4.2v while charging. The thing is that voltages higher than 4.2v cause a chemical reaction within the battery pack and eventually, cause heat and explosion. Also, keep in mind that overcharging can occur when you try to charge the battery more quickly than its ability to accept the charge.

Overcharging in whatever way is quite dangerous as the battery will usually explode.

· Punctures

A mishandling or hard crash can cause LiPo cells to get punctured. Further, this leads to instantly explode. And the best thing you can do is to have the fire extinguisher nearby to protect yourself from LiPo battery flames.

· Electrical Shorts

An electrical short occurs when any of the negative and positive wires in the power system contact each other somehow unintentionally. And when this occurs with a large wire, it can lead the battery further to discharge at rates far beyond its rating. Moreover, this cause chain reaction and the battery begin to heat up, eventually.

· Heat

If you left your LiPo battery in the sun, then it will start to heat up and also, expand. In hot areas, or when the battery left inside vehicles during the summer, the heat can be quite dangerous as it can cause an explosion.

These are some actions you need to be aware of them for battery safety. However, if you pay attention to the battery safety guidelines, then you can surely avoid such dangerous situations related to the battery.