Disposing of LiPo

I have some old LiPo that I just acquired when I bought a bike. I don't want it lying around and I have no interest in using it. It is in a hard case that I would like to keep so I need to remove the pouches and then dispose of the pouches. How should I proceed??

Batteries plus, maybe even radioshack or best buy will probably take it.

These battery places have no idea what they are or who to deal with them.

Battery recycling places have been the source of some of the biggest lithium battery fires, because they just put them in ziplock bags and throw them in a bin until they have enough of them to make it worth-while for a truck to come pick it up.


The battery is dangerous until it's destroyed. A 5gal bucket of saltwater is a pretty good method, do it outside because it will bubble a bit of hydrogen.

If you're feeling like a man, overcharge them until they catch fire and burn into harmless ash.

I knew you were going to say that.
Harmless ash, suree.. what about all the stuff that is emitted into the air?

http://www.varta-microbattery.com/e...s/MSDS_01_Rechargeable_Lithium_Polymer_en.pdf

Cadmium.. cobalt.. lead.. maybe some mercury.. nickel.. that's bad news.
Am sure there is other nasty stuff in there as well.

RC Lipo fires are entertaining for sure but i can't stand behind telling people to intentionally make them.

neptronix said:

I knew you were going to say that.
Harmless ash, suree.. what about all the stuff that is emitted into the air?

http://www.varta-microbattery.com/e...s/MSDS_01_Rechargeable_Lithium_Polymer_en.pdf

Cadmium.. cobalt.. lead.. maybe some mercury.. nickel.. that's bad news.
Am sure there is other nasty stuff in there as well.

RC Lipo fires are entertaining for sure but i can't stand behind telling people to intentionally make them.

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What happens environmentally when you give them to a battery recycler who follows the standard practice of putting them in a ziploc and throwing them in the pile with the others? (these are just some of the many many examples)
Keep in mind, you're giving the battery to some idiot kid who can't find a better job than accepting batteries at a recycling place, who throws it in a bin with a bunch of other things for it to short upon, and fuel the flames as it all burns down.

[youtube]dfQwYKqmfk4[/youtube]


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/11/10/bc-toxco-trial-battery-recycling-fire.html


http://ifefirsig.blogspot.com/2011/04/fire-in-battery-recycling-bin.html

http://firegeezer.com/2011/04/17/battery-recycler-sends-neighbors-scrambling/

http://www.daily-tribune.com/view/full_story/12818511/article-Fire-continues-to-burn-at-battery-recycling-center

http://green.autoblog.com/2009/11/09/lithium-battery-recycling-facility-suffers-explosions-fire/

Does the salt solution help eliminate HF emissions? That stuff is nasty....

liveforphysics said:

What happens environmentally when you give them to a battery recycler who follows the standard practice of putting them in a ziploc and throwing them in the pile with the others? (these are just some of the many many examples)
Keep in mind, you're giving the battery to some idiot kid who can't find a better job than accepting batteries at a recycling place, who throws it in a bin with a bunch of other things for it to short upon, and fuel the flames as it all burns down.

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Well, it's hard to dispute your point. Other than to say, i would rather see batteries explode 50% of the time rather than 100% of the time. But now my view is mixed because dude... an entire town could be huffing this stuff..

I think i am going to stay away from lipo now and invest my battery $ into something that has a long calendar life and is safe and won't blow up unless really, really aggravated.

I have a light bulb device I could use to completely drain the batteries, would they then be safe to take to a recycler?

neptronix said:

that has a long calendar life and is safe and won't blow up unless really, really aggravated.

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For some reason this reminds me of my ex wife.

neptronix said:

Well, it's hard to dispute your point. Other than to say, i would rather see batteries explode 50% of the time rather than 100% of the time. But now my view is mixed because dude... an entire town could be huffing this stuff..

Click to expand...

Some recycling companies have an even better than 50% track record for plant explosions. Hard to believe, I know.

discharge it, in a safe place to 3v. Then take it to a recycler. In my town, that would be the city drop off where you'd take motor oil, metals, old pesticides etc.

It would be dangerous to discharge to less than 3v? or only dangerous if recharged after that? I admit, I'm just guessing about what to discharge it to. My wife recycles batteries and hazmats for a living, and they just toss batteries in a bin sorted by chemisty. nicads here, nimh there, lead acids on that pallet. Drooling for the day makita packs start showing up.

Anyway, my guess is that you don't want to recycle them with a full clip of ammo, so discharge em to what we call 100% discharged for that chemistry.

When my BMS had a few bad channels and discharged a few cells to nothing, I was going to make a video of smashing/cutting open a few reversed/0.01 volt cells, but they did absolutely nothing, cut them open with a utility knife, smashed them with a hand maul, nothing, no smoke, no fire, no vapor, just cold plastic/copper/carbon sheets. From my experience, I would take a light-bulb and discharge them to nothing, then take them to a recycling center.

Pure said:

For some reason this reminds me of my ex wife.

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lol! My wife is more like first gen lipo. performs very well, but is extremely volatile. (redhead)

If you're stuck for what to do with it, charge it to about 3.8v and then pop it in the mail. PM me and I'll give you my address.

Or if you are in Phoenix, you can just drop any old batteries by my place, and I'll figure out something to do with them. :lol:

If they're toast I can make some interesting videos inside a stack of bricks or an old dryer tub I've still got.

Otherwise I can see about adding range or power to one of the various experiments....

The big advantage of lithium based batteries is their ability to be recycled into new lithium batteries. However, from what I understand, they usually are not recycled for various reasons.

So if I just throw them in the trash can and the local dump truck goes up in flames.....then what?
8) 8) 8)

Pretty sweet achievement gets unlocked if you do that.
You get an AussieJester costume and luke's pink race bike if you blow up the garbage truck.

neptronix said:

Pretty sweet achievement gets unlocked if you do that.
You get an AussieJester costume and luke's pink race bike if you blow up the garbage truck.

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Yeah!!!!!

I'd think one could just discharge them to 0 volts. I just accidentally did this to a 3S 5000Mah pack by leaving my RC car ESC on for 2 months. Battery reads 2V, and is not puffy or anything.

I think they would be much less flammable at 0 volts.

I've thrown some Lipo in the trash. I haven't seen any flaming garbage trucks yet. One busted 6s 5000mah pack drained down to nothing, and one dented 3s 1000mah pack from my RC plane.

I have to get rid of 3 x 5ah 6s pack. I hooked them up (individually) to 2 x 12V 50W halogen bulbs wired in series (24V) and let them get down to 0V (didn't take very long). They puffed just a little and got warm but not hot.

Once they were at 0V, I just connected the 2 bullet connectors to completely short them out.

Should I still dump them in salted water or can I assume they are safe for the dump truck?

El_Steak said:

I have to get rid of 3 x 5ah 6s pack. I hooked them up (individually) to 2 x 12V 50W halogen bulbs wired in series (24V) and let them get down to 0V (didn't take very long). They puffed just a little and got warm but not hot.

Once they were at 0V, I just connected the 2 bullet connectors to completely short them out.

Should I still dump them in salted water or can I assume they are safe for the dump truck?

Click to expand...

It is possible that you have pack with few positively and few revers charged cells. I think discharging serial packs by draining on pack basis is kind of risky, if 1 cell is far lower capacity, it will be reverse charged which makes it kind of unstable.
Salt water bucket will discharge the pack on cell level which is good.

Edit: I usually dispose of LFP wise.

parabellum said:

It is possible that you have pack with few positively and few revers charged cells. I think discharging serial packs by draining on pack basis is kind of risky, if 1 cell is far lower capacity, it will be reverse charged which makes it kind of unstable.
Salt water bucket will discharge the pack on cell level which is good.

Click to expand...

Good info, I hadn't tought of that. Some cells were at zero way before the others (defective cells) and were probably reverse charged. Probably why the pack got a bit warm. I'll do the bucket of salt water next time.

I have a lipo pack that is losing capacity faster than his brothers. Any advice/tips for disposing of lipo cells.

Is this info any good?
http://thunderpowerrc.com/PDF/DISPOSAL-OF-LIPO-BATTERIES.pdf
** DISPOSAL OF LIPO BATTERIES **
Unlike NiCd batteries, lithium-polymer batteries are environmentally friendly.
For safety reasons, it’s best that LiPo cells be fully discharged before disposal (however,
if physically damaged it is NOT recommended to discharge LiPo cells before disposal -
see below for details). The batteries must also be cool before proceeding with disposal
instructions. To dispose of LiPo cells and packs:
1. If any LiPo cell in the pack has been physically damaged, resulting
in a swollen cell or a split or tear in a cell’s foil covering, do NOT discharge the battery.
Jump to step 5.
2. Place the LiPo battery in a fireproof container or bucket of sand.
3. Connect the battery to a LiPo discharger. Set the discharge cutoff
voltage to the
lowest possible value. Set the discharge current to a C/10 value, with “C” being the
capacity rating of the pack. For example, the “1C” rating for a 1200mAh battery is 1.2A,
and that battery’s C/10 current value is (1.2A / 10) can be used,
such as a power resistor or set of light bulbs as long as the discharge current doesn’t
exceed the C/10 value and cause an overheating condition.
For LiPo packs rated at 7.4V and 11.1V , connect a 150 ohm resistor with a power rating
of 2 watts (commonly found at Radio Shack)to the pack’s positive and negative terminals
to safely discharge connecting it to an ESC/ motor system and allowing the motor to run
indefinitely until no power remains to further cause the system to function.
4. Discharge the battery until its voltage reaches 1.0V per cell or
lower. For resistive load type discharges, discharge the battery for up to 24 hours.
5. Submerse the battery into bucket or tub of salt water. This container should have a lid,
but it should not need to be air-tight. Prepare a plastic container (do not use metal) of cold
water. And mix in 1/2 cup of salt per gallon of water. Drop the battery into the salt water.
Allow the battery to remain in the tub of salt water for at least 2 weeks.
6. Remove the LiPo battery from the salt water, wrap it in newspaper or paper towels and
place it in the normal trash. They are landfill safe.
http://thunderpowerrc.com/PDF/DISPOSAL-OF-LIPO-BATTERIES.pdf

Thanks

I try and do everything in a environmentally way..

but sometimes i like to dispose my lipos in an open burning fire.. pretty entertaining