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View Full Version : Battery Popping noise while Charging????

rc10mike
06-22-2006, 08:10 PM
I was charging my 3300 pack on my Ice charger at 5.0 amps when I heard a popping noise followed by a slight hiss. I immediatly took it off the charger and then it popped in my hand!! The battery wasnt hot, in fact it was about room temp. What has happened? How can I tell if the battery is rurined?
SS Pede
06-22-2006, 10:10 PM
Sounds like a cell vented. This essentially makes the pack useless. You can measure the voltage of individual cells to see if one or more of them is reading a much lower (or ever negative) voltage. Those would be the dead cells. You can re-use any undamaged cells if you take the pack apart.
rc10mike
06-22-2006, 10:38 PM
Well I tested each cell the highest reading 1.401v the lowest is 1.37. Does .03 volts mean it is useless?
highroller
06-23-2006, 03:19 AM
Sometimes that little difference doesn't mean anything except that cells have become inbalanced or unmatched if cells are matched. Generally there is no accurate way of determining a bad cell accept when there is some load being put on it.
Pack has to be either be charging or discharging (usually at 15amp or higher) for some indication of cell failure or acutal differences in voltage. Usually at rest with no load on cells the weak cell might draw voltage from the good cells. A .03 difference is not that bad, usually voltage below 1.35 is an indication of cell deteoriation. GP3300 typically was around 1.55 for ideal numbers with 1.35 low but average below that cell is generally going bad and above 1.60 cells has built up internal resistance - it may take less time to charge and no have the punch it once did. While the GP3300 have good life span you may get one that goes in little as one use.
Try to look for a chemical leakage, discoloration around the positive tab or cell that has vented. The bad or vented cell will also get hotter than the rest when it was being charged.
It will be easier to detect if pack was built in a side by side configuration with stick packs it is very hard to detect sometimes or even get a voltage reading on each cell.