The 'lithium' used in LiPo batteries is not lithium 'metal', but is 'lithium carbonate' (or something very similar) which is actually extracted from water in the first place (ever seen those big lithium drying 'ponds'?). Given that Lithium carbonate is extracted from evaporated water ponds, it doesn't have any issues being submerged in water. If I had a dollar for every person that told me my LiPo batteries would react dangerously in water, I'd have over 10 bucks. Cheers for doing this.
Thank you Bob! I'm designing/building a ROV submarine and my greatest worry is that the seal will fail and the lipos catch fire. Good to see they're relatively safe!
I've been sketching out about my rc crawler battery it's a 5200mah 3s zeee in a hard case and it has holes around the cables and when submerged the hard case takes on water in currently drying it before a recharge. Tho u won't catch me stabbing slashing them u cray cray man lol not all batterys are created equal. I'm not sure people arent worried about them catching fire when wet. More worried about them failing and having a lipo fire at home later rather than in the model catching fire. Well I do anyway lol
I've had several LiPo cells puff up, though none has ever caught fire (of course, I didn't continue using them). That said, I personally prefer cylindrical Li-ion cells, but I understand the advantages in energy density and physical size with the LiPos.
Let's just say we have a healthy respect for mixing potentially explosive compounds in an adverse environment within the confines of a multi-thousand dollar RC craft. Planes, cars and boats are what we sub skippers build when we need a break from real building.... ;)
No, we didn't. That would have been a cool thing to check. The primary goal was to try and get it to catch fire. We forgot about testing battery performance after the mauling...
The positive terminal will bubble, but that's it... at least in fresh(ish) water. In salt water, the pack would short out and... yes... it would be bad.
@@RCSubGuy you toss a punctured pack into salt water once you've gotten the over all voltage to about 9.9v - this then zeros the charge and the pack can be discarded in the trash.
Electricity is flowing either forward or backward. Charging is at an even lower amperage than running, so I'd guess it would be safe to charge damp, but better to dry it out first, which is needed to do after every run anyway.
I love how Jason started backing up in the name of science 🤣
Great info y'all 👍🏾
The 'lithium' used in LiPo batteries is not lithium 'metal', but is 'lithium carbonate' (or something very similar) which is actually extracted from water in the first place (ever seen those big lithium drying 'ponds'?). Given that Lithium carbonate is extracted from evaporated water ponds, it doesn't have any issues being submerged in water. If I had a dollar for every person that told me my LiPo batteries would react dangerously in water, I'd have over 10 bucks. Cheers for doing this.
Thank you Bob! I'm designing/building a ROV submarine and my greatest worry is that the seal will fail and the lipos catch fire. Good to see they're relatively safe!
Thank you for that , I never liked the idea of having one in my RC Sub . But it does work much better then the older rechargeable types .
Bob this makes a refreshing change from playing with a rubber duck in the bathtub matey ha ha
I've been sketching out about my rc crawler battery it's a 5200mah 3s zeee in a hard case and it has holes around the cables and when submerged the hard case takes on water in currently drying it before a recharge. Tho u won't catch me stabbing slashing them u cray cray man lol not all batterys are created equal. I'm not sure people arent worried about them catching fire when wet. More worried about them failing and having a lipo fire at home later rather than in the model catching fire. Well I do anyway lol
No Boom, dam I was hoping to a mini sun under water. But good info to know
as far as I know you can put them in salt water to make them safe for disposable if they puff up etc
I know I'm a nerd because I 'm really interested in this. Or, I wanted to see Bob blow up his shop. 😏😊
I've had several LiPo cells puff up, though none has ever caught fire (of course, I didn't continue using them). That said, I personally prefer cylindrical Li-ion cells, but I understand the advantages in energy density and physical size with the LiPos.
I love how scared of lipos the RC boat and sub guys are.
Let's just say we have a healthy respect for mixing potentially explosive compounds in an adverse environment within the confines of a multi-thousand dollar RC craft. Planes, cars and boats are what we sub skippers build when we need a break from real building.... ;)
Ever seen one catch fire? Seems UPS, USPS and FedEx are scared too.
We treat them with respect , I have seen a RC Sub have a fire due to the battery !
Right adjacent to the shops paint-locker. What could go wrong?
I sink boats all the time with lipo batteries, worst thing that happens is corrosion on the connectors.
Is there any chance that in its final state of abuse you took a voltage reading to see if it could still power you home??!
No, we didn't. That would have been a cool thing to check. The primary goal was to try and get it to catch fire. We forgot about testing battery performance after the mauling...
Would the problem be at the connection between the battery and the boat if the connection was wet?
The positive terminal will bubble, but that's it... at least in fresh(ish) water. In salt water, the pack would short out and... yes... it would be bad.
How would that go in salt water I wonder?
Corrosion across the terminals would be much faster and battery depletion increased. I would not do it myself.
@@RCSubGuy you toss a punctured pack into salt water once you've gotten the over all voltage to about 9.9v - this then zeros the charge and the pack can be discarded in the trash.
So is it save to recharge the li-po when it wet or semi wet ?
Electricity is flowing either forward or backward. Charging is at an even lower amperage than running, so I'd guess it would be safe to charge damp, but better to dry it out first, which is needed to do after every run anyway.
thank you i had dropped mine in water also 😅😂 but instantly grabbed it and dried it never charged it tho because i didn't want it to blow up
Don't try this at home!!
Oops too late?????
@@zuluwarrior1648 Doh!!!
In a confined space with cans of spray paint, paint thinner Ect. on the shelves.....
Flower Class?
No frigate????