Bad Battery Buzz

korgae · June 28, 2007, 11:33:18 PM

It happens,

@ Vegas this year a battery blew up in the pits ( no it was not a IB, it can happen to all of them) and man was it loud............... Sounded like a shotgun going off, and everyone ducked.

With that said, I have been reading everyones responses and have been communicating with Danny about the subject.

Once I hear back from Blake, Danny will decided what to do about it.

Thanks

Korgae

Blake · June 29, 2007, 02:19:57 AM

Thanks Korgae.

IROCCers, feel free to PM me your bad cell counts so I can compile the info and get a preliminary number to Korgae.

Blake

PS. Frank told us a scary story of an exploding GP3300 cell that came out of the can like a shotgun shell and embedded itself in a wall 50 feet away. He now "aims" his packs away from the body while charging. Scary stuff.

jarrodH · June 29, 2007, 01:23:23 PM

i dont now if i have any bad cells in my packs,is there someone i can drop them off to that can test them for me.??

Blake · June 29, 2007, 04:26:08 PM

You should test em on the track. We've been missing you out there!

Blake

Arch · June 30, 2007, 03:20:05 PM

I'll suggest what no one else will .TOTAL replacement of ALL cells!These batteries have sucked .Who can tear apart a pack and wait for replacement cells (not racing while you wait).Once again it seems we are left holding an empty bag while someone else is hording all the club members money.I can't even afford the batteries I have now, let alone purchacing something else,I've always trusted the quality of the batteries we've gotten in the past ,so this is such a disappointment.For weeks I've been struggling with my car ,and never once did I question the batteries.I went from being a regular in the 'A' to barly making the 'B' . Thank GOD it's not all in my driving.

Grinder · July 03, 2007, 03:07:39 AM

I'm feeling like SMC isn't really interested in resolving this issue for us. There has been no response to our concerns. I guess the club members just flushed $8000 down the toilet in bad cells. Its too bad the clubs biggest race of the year is coming up in less than a week and most of the packs have failed - should be interesting.

Haven't heard a thing back from Danny - should we post this issue on RCTech net to get some sort of reply? The summer is wasting away here....

cyrrus · July 03, 2007, 06:14:17 AM

Blake

PS. Frank told us a scary story of an exploding GP3300 cell that came out of the can like a shotgun shell and embedded itself in a wall 50 feet away. He now "aims" his packs away from the body while charging. Scary stuff.[/quote]

Yeah it happened at the Calgary last year. that was from a guy dead shorting a pack that he though was already discharged. guess what it was fully charged. and yes it did sound like a shotgun going off.

Tom · July 03, 2007, 01:35:28 PM

Serves him right -- you should NEVER dead short a NiMH cell (or battery). NiCad is the only chemistry that can tolerate this, in general.

GP NiMH 3300 seemed to tolerate this, but that is a major exception to the rule.

Blake · July 03, 2007, 03:03:16 PM

Quote from: "Grinder"I'm feeling like SMC isn't really interested in resolving this issue for us. There has been no response to our concerns. I guess the club members just flushed $8000 down the toilet in bad cells. Its too bad the clubs biggest race of the year is coming up in less than a week and most of the packs have failed - should be interesting.

Haven't heard a thing back from Danny - should we post this issue on RCTech net to get some sort of reply? The summer is wasting away here....

Fellas, I have been talking to Korgae, and he has been talking to Danny. They are more than aware of the issue, and they want to help us through it. To this end, I'm still gathering bad-cell counts from you all, but not everyone has submitted them to me yet. Please do this as quickly as possible.

So far, the counts I've received do not look too bad (20% failure rates) but I have not heard from some of the people I know have had the most problems.

Thanks,
Blake

haddow · July 04, 2007, 12:07:39 AM

i dont need replacements, i am done with NiMH.

RC51 · July 04, 2007, 12:25:09 AM

I personally tossed my two SMC packs and have moved away from Intellect.

haddow · July 04, 2007, 02:15:16 AM

Quote from: "Blake"So far, the counts I've received do not look too bad (20% failure rates)

20% is more than one cell in every pack... that aint too bad?, LOL, ROTFL, OMGAYK?

haddow · July 04, 2007, 02:21:32 AM

for the record I would have requested 5 cells total from 2 packs. (I bought 3 packs)

I have one pack that feels good on the track but two cells still die way before the others when discharged fully, the good thing is the two crappy cells still last just over 5 minutes with a stock motor. I would not have requested replacements for this pack, just so I didnt have to rebuild it.

I seem to only use up less than 2500 mAh in 5 minutes of stock touring. ( I "leave too much on the table" so to speak). How do the big guns at the big races dump in stock class (with good batteries)? I wish I could do that.

Grinder · July 04, 2007, 02:29:34 AM

For the last time....

The batteries are garbage. They only last for a few charges if that. We are not interested in any more of these junk cells. I'm not interested in rebuilding packs each week as the cells continue to fail. I have no packs left that don't have at least one bad cell in it (last time I checked - likely more now as the trend continues).

Club members have had failed cells in the past and never ask to have them replaced. We have provided tens of thousands of dollars in purchases of SMC batteries in the past. We are now asking SMC to stand up and support us. Will you take back your faulty cells and give us a suitable replacement? More of the same cells is not acceptable. Alternatively will you refund our money for these faulty cells?

Can you answer this simple question or not? I expect an answer promtly or we'll assume you are skirting the issue and I will try and get satisfaction elsewhere.

cyrrus · July 04, 2007, 04:05:46 AM

This is an ongoing. This problem was know well before the club made the purchase. One of the Main reason why I didn't purchase any. I knew of the problem ahead of time. I'm still using my packs from last year. with two new packs purchased at the beginning of the season. Been waiting on a matcher to get new cell. I won't have them till after speed weekend. The don't have the voltage but are much more stable. I'm even looking into another brand to give them a shot. As there very reasonable in price and don't have the problems both the IB and GP are having(yes there is a problem with one of the newer batches of GP 4300)

If your wondering why I didn't mentioned anything, Well there... No body asked. I would figure other would notice.

My only sudjestion why not allow Lipo. Big deal there not roar approved. lower the weight limit abit. and allow them. Why wait for everyone to jump and then follow. When we can lead. I'm not saying this cause I want to run lipo.(I can't rigth now) but the future is heading that way.