Lipo Battery Issues and Questions

Okay so I just got two new Zippy 3S 5000mah batteries in the mail today. After some past experiences, I’ve come to fear connecting two lipos together in series.

Anyways, I chopped off the bullet connector and put a couple of Dean’s plugs onto the batteries. Then I plugged the series cable with no issues, but when I plugged the balance leads to the 3S to 6S adapter it went up in sparks and now the balance lead on one of the batteries is burned.

Here is what the adapter looks like:

Did I need to cut one of the wires on the adapter?

With all that said, is it still safe to use one or both batteries? Or do I have to get new ones?

Maybe you should have put the balance leads in first, then put the batteries in series

I thought about that after it happened, but I didn’t think it made a difference.

Yeah man i hate when stuff like this happens. I had that happen to me on a 6s lipo one time and i never used it again cause i dident feel comfortable charging it again… but im curious to know if this is fixable too…

This will soon be the last time I deal with lipos. I’ve decided to just save money and get the SPACE Cell. Screw it, right? Safety first.

Ehhhh… idk about coughing up $350 rather than max $150 for a lipo battery that will pretty much do the same thing. Just a little more hastle. No biggie.

But if u got the money… get the space cell… if your on a budget, stick to lipos

that happend to me but on the deans connector first.

A fix for this issue is to decide which battery will be your positive and negative. then make sure that the outer red cable on the balance lead is on the positive side and the outer black cable on the other connector should be next to the black lead, then put a mark on each connector so you know where to connect it.

Exactly like what @Chris_KP said. You need to decide which battery is postive side and the other one negative side.

The simplest solution would be to switch side your 6s balance plug connector. If its on left move it to right, if its on right move it to left (the 3s side). While doing this Do NOT change the side of your main connectors.

If you did it lucky and correct theres no short. If it does short, just do it like i said switch the side.

The easiet and safest way is to use multimeter.

I was just passing on what you said hahahaha

I know. It’s kinda hard to explain it very short without diagram and or example, but I am happy you understand! :smiley:

Here’s how I had it connected before it sparked.

Should I have plugged the balance adapter before connecting the series connector? The black sharpie mark on the balance adapter is indicating the pin that was sparking and is now burnt. I plugged the non-burnt balance connector first and the burnt one was plugged second. If someone could tell me why it happened, that would be great.

I already have a set of batteries setup, so these are my second set.

I’ve already gone way over budget, so dishing out the money for the Space Cell is no problem. I went in knowing this was going to happen. I figured this would be a continuous work-in-progress.

Even though I’ve been using lipos for awhile with somewhat good experience, it still gives me anxiety every time I’m handling them.

It doesnt matter which connector you plugged in first, the balance or the series. Short is just short.

For now keep the main series connector plugged. We are just going to swap the balance lead around. Put the burned female to the unburned male. Then put the burned male to the unburned female.

You should have no spark at all if your batteries are not connected to ESC / VESC.

Man, I’m so scared to plug it in, even if I’ll be outside. Lol

I won’t even be able to plug it into the burnt female because the pin melted down, so it’s shorter and has a bulb too big for the male pinhole.

But, the batteries are good though, right?

Yes. The batteries are fine. One of a few reason why connecting the series harness first is better is because if you short it out, the balance plug melt with spark but batteries are safe.

I know how scary it’s and I am still paranoid as well time to time when working with lipo. Thats why most of the time when I am working with lipo / dismantling them, I always have my multimeter to double check and triple check before connecting the plugs if its going to short or not.

The way to fix those is actually by soldering them if you dont have spare balance head. But please be very careful if you cut those balance lead. You will have to cut 1 cable at a time, work with it and shrink wrap them immediately before doing the next one.

I mean soldering the wires directly without using connectors.

I won’t go the solder route. Too afraid to do that. I’ll just order another adapter since they’re cheap.

Are you advising me to solder the cables or is getting another adapter just fine?

Also with a multimeter, when using it, how can I tell if it’s going to short or not?

Well if you can get the same balance plug male and female is better, make sure to get couple of them as you might short it out again.

Soldering is also fine, but you got to make sure you’re soldering it correctly according to the order I’ve just told you. And if you’re soldering, start with the negative one first (safer).

Just put multimeter on voltage reading. Then put 1 lead from multimeter to one female and put the other lead from multimeter to one male side. If theres a solid voltage reading from 3.6v up to 25.2v ish as ur using 6s, then if you connect them it will definitely spark up.

I received the new balance adapter today. I’m still afraid to plug it in, so what should I do?

Also, should I replace the burnt balance connector on the battery? (First picture above).