3-cell lipo drained down to 1% charge

[Pilotguy]

Oops ... By mistake I left the 3-cell 2200Mah lipo connected to the ESC overnight(about 18 hours precisely). When trying to connect it to my charger, instead of starting to charge, the charger lights up and bells and whistles sound. No charging occurs. Is the lipo no good now or can it still be charged? More importantly, did I do damage to the ESC, receiver?

[OV10]

Oops ... By mistake I left the 3-cell 2200Mah lipo connected to the ESC overnight(about 18 hours precisely). When trying to connect it to my charger, instead of starting to charge, the charger lights up and bells and whistles sound. No charging occurs. Is the lipo no good now or can it still be charged? More importantly, did I do damage to the ESC, receiver?

Damage to the ESC is a low probability but the lipo being good is a negative. Throw it into a brine solution (salt water bath) for a couple days and then it should be safe for the garbage can.;)

[fhhuber]

Small chance of the LiPo being recovered for low demand application.

Charge it at 1/10 C for 30 min, outdoors on concrete using the NiCd setting. That should let you put it on the LiPo setting.
Minimum 5 charge/discharge cycles before you trust charging without using extreme measures for fire prevention during charge.

Expect it to not be able to deliver better than 1/4 of rated n label current (20C would become 5C which is only useable by a plane that can go 12+ minutes full throttle on the pack)

It is damaged... Max capacity may be significantly reduced.

[Pilotguy]

Something like this? Thank you.

[fhhuber]

i'd use a glass or plastic container instead of metal. The battery's materials + saltwater + metal container = a new sort of random form of battery.

Basic battery: 2 different metals and a conductive (acid or alkaline) fluid.
This is the basis of the "potato clock" or lemon plus 2 different metals (usually copper and zinc) to produce a voltage (usually to light an LED) grade school science projects.

[xviper]

1% remaining doesn't mean the voltage is near zero. At 1%, there should still be about 3.5V per cell. Depending on the brand and quality of the battery and its age, such a battery can be brought back. I've even brought back a LiPo that was below 3.0v/cell using the method described by fhh. It's not as strong as my other batteries but it still works fine in my low draw applications. If the battery was fairly new, you should try to bring it back. Destroying it would be just a waste of money.

[OV10]

1% remaining doesn't mean the voltage is near zero. At 1%, there should still be about 3.5V per cell. Depending on the brand and quality of the battery and its age, such a battery can be brought back. I've even brought back a LiPo that was below 3.0v/cell using the method described by fhh. It's not as strong as my other batteries but it still works fine in my low draw applications. If the battery was fairly new, you should try to bring it back. Destroying it would be just a waste of money.

No bringing it back...........its already taking a Dead Sea swim as shown in the pic;)LOL

[xviper]

No bringing it back...........its already taking a Dead Sea swim as shown in the pic;)LOL

I was hoping it was a picture he found on the net. Oh well. No coming back from that. LOL

[Pilotguy]

Maybe they'll let me retake that basic science class ... at 56 yrs old! Bahahahahaha

[fhhuber]

Depends on how the charger reports 1%...

1% of useful power is far higher than 1% of full voltage.

I have obscure battery monitor devices that report in both ways. I like the 1% of useful power much better, but that doesn't set off the alarm saying voltage is too low to charge it when I plug it into my Hitec charger.
I consider the % voltage to be useless, because 70% of full voltage is in the danger of damaging the pack zone.

[Pilotguy]

I removed it from the aluminum container and put it in this plastic container from my chow mein take out.
Grateful to have this level of expertise on Hobby Squawk, even if I dont understand most of the technical talk. Thank you all!