Is this Battery Safe?

[mrhond]

Hve a look at the pictures at the links below.

I discoverd this black scratch yesterday after flying my Walkera Heli. It smelled a bit burned, but I'm not sure if it is the plastic coating or the inside of the Battery itself.

What is your vision on this problem?
Should I keep using the battery or should I replace it?

For those who can't see the pictures, it's a LiPo-Battery, 3E Model, 2200mAh, 12C with a black deep scratch on one side.

Bad Battery:
http://www.mijnalbum.nl/GroteFoto-JGGHQZQT.jpg
http://www.mijnalbum.nl/GroteFoto-KKE7IY8O.jpg
Good Battery:
http://www.mijnalbum.nl/GroteFoto-L3EAE73G.jpg

Best,

Patrick, Oxford

[Danimal]

Hi mrhond
Welcome to the forum. A deep dark scratch and a burning smell is defonetly a reason for concern. My opinion is that you should stop using that battery ASAP. Any time you find yourself questioning the integrity of a LiPo pack your better off just remove it from service immediately. Its just not worth running the risk. There are countless story's floating around the Internet about people pushing there luck and losing their heli's, cars, workshop's in LiPo fires.

[mrhond]

Thank you very much for your quick answer. Should I dispose the battery to the nearby model shop as I don't have a chemical waste bin for my own? Or what should I do with the Battery to dispose it in a safe way?

[Danimal]

The method that I use to depose of my old LiPo's is the saltwater bath. You need to drain as much power as you can safely by attaching a small 12v light bulb to the pack and letting it sit until the light go's out. Then I drop it in a bucket of saltwater for at least 24 hours. This will make the battery safe for disposal. Make sure you do this in an open area with some sort of fire proof container.

[mrhond]

OMG, I'm getting the feeling i'm on a time bomb at the moment! Damn...

I'll drain the power out of the Battery (as far as i'm aware there should not be much juice left as I drained it empty last time i used it).

This leaves me with a single Battery at the moment than Might be worth buying 2 new ones, so I have 3 in total. What would you reccomand?

[Danimal]

Your right about sitting on a bomb. In a way we all are every time use our LiPo's. These battery's are safe for the most part if handled properly. If you've never seen a LiPo fire its worth checking out some of the videos on YouTube to get an idea of what kind of damage these things are capable of if misused or mishandled.
The best packs available are the Thunder Power and Flight Power line of battery's. The quality is defonetly reflected in their cost. But its like every thing else in this hobby you get what you pay for.
Every bit as important as the pack you use so is the quality of the charger the you pick to charge those battery's. A good balancing charger is a must.