Battery Safety 🔥

Lithium Polymer Battery Information and Safety

Lithium polymer (LiPo) batteries can be dangerous. They can produce smoke, heat, and

fire if they fail. Follow these rules to help prevent this:

• ***DON’T leave a LiPo battery unattended while charging or discharging.***

• DON’T charge the battery with anything other than an approved lithium polymer battery charger. (They will be available in lab and at the contest.)

• DON’T attempt to use or charge a battery that is:

  • Visibly damaged.

  • Bulging.

  • Warm.

  • Below 6.0V or above 8.4V.

  • Not yours.

• DON’T allow the battery to become short-circuited during use or storage. Protect the terminals at all times. Don’t mount your electronics on a metal surface.

• DON’T attempt to modify the battery connectors.

• DON’T connect that battery directly to radio receiver. They are not designed to run at 7.4V, and there is a risk of connecting them backwards. Use the Arduino Nano Carrier or the Battery Eliminator Circuit (BEC) to supply 5V to the radio receiver.

• DON’T leave the battery connected to anything when not in use.

• If a battery appears visibly damaged or is bulging, hot, or outside of the specified voltage range, bring it to the course staff for safe disposal.

• If a battery is releasing white smoke, even a small amount, it is damaged and should be treated as an imminent fire hazard. If possible, place it outside on a concrete surface. Otherwise, place it in a bucket of sand and cover it with sand. (A bucket of sand will be available by the chargers.)

If a battery is on fire, don’t touch it or try to remove it from your robot.

2.007 LiPo Battery Specifications:

Configuration: 2S1P

Nominal Voltage: 7.4V

Usable Voltage Range: 6.0 – 8.4V

Capacity: 500mAh

Max Discharge: 15C (7.5A)

Internal Resistance: 0.14Ω

Things NOT to do to the LiPo Battery:

(Headers were plugged in to balance leads, exposing them to short circuit.)

(Battery short-circuited with mouse trap to demonstrate fire potential.)