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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>We've all heard the stories, here's mine that I
posted on the Flying Giants,</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV id=post_message_54127>Ok folks,<BR><BR>This is the deal...<BR><BR>I am
finishing an Extreme Flight 300-E. I want to run 2100mAh 3-cell Li-Po's, so I
grab the 2 I already have and check them out. One has almost no charge at all, I
kind of knew that already, I had trouble with this pack last year. The second
one showed about 9 volts and change. I hooked it up to my Accu-Cycle Elite and
went to do a discharge so I could check full capacity on the charge
cycle.<BR><BR>The charger told me the pack was discharged already, so I set it
up for a charge and let it run for 20 min. or so, just to make sure it was
working ok, everything looked good so I let it charge and went inside. Now keep
in mind this battery is sitting on a wooden bench next to my Pattern plane and
my new Extra.<BR><BR>I went out in the garage this morning and heard the charger
doing 3 fast beeps, pause, 3 fast beeps. I said,"Oh, shoot!" and went to the
bench, the pack was 2.5 times it's normal size!!! I didn't think to look at the
charger to see what the screen said, I just shut it off, unplugged the pack and
ran it outside and threw it on the lawn. I went back to the pack in about 5 min.
and cut the Deans connector off, can't waste one of those, and the pack will sit
out in the rain all day.<BR><BR>Now before all of the comments come like,"You
should know better than to charge Li-Po's without them being in a can!!!!" I
know, I know...<BR>I've been using Li-Po's since the first Kokam packs came out,
never had a problem charging them, never even got warm. This is the first time
I've used this charger on them, so I think I must have done something
wrong.<BR><BR>Now I need to make a trip to the LHS and spend a couple of hundred
bucks on new 2100 mAh packs, this time with balancers.<BR><BR>I dodged a big one
this time!! I never even checked to make sure the house insurance was paid...by
the grace of God, it's only the pack that was destroyed.<BR><BR>This could have
been a very bad day, folks, PLEASE take this as an additional warning when you
charge your Li packs.<BR><BR>Flame suit on, go ahead...I've got it
coming.<BR><BR>It sure helps a ton to go to church and say my prayers!</DIV><!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
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