How To Dispose Of LiPo Batteries Safely

The thing with LiPo batteries is that eventually, you are going to have to get rid of them. That much is pretty basic and is true for most things. The catch with LiPo batteries is that you cannot just throw them away in the trash. There are many cases out there; these LiPo batteries can causing fires and exploding. So you need to know how to dispose of LiPo batteries properly.

The main thing you have to keep in mind while disposing of these batteries is that you have to make sure that you have completely discharged them! 0 volts of charge should be left before disposing of it. Moreover, it would be easy if you have an advance LiPo battery charger with charging and discharging mode.

How To Dispose Of LiPo Batteries

So, getting back to the matter at hand, how do you dispose a fully discharge a Lithium polymer battery? There are many ways to go about it. Let us take a look at the ones that I find are the easiest:

By Using A Battery Charger

Suppose you got a multi-mode battery charger, then it easy to discharge a LiPo battery. It's fast, and no electricity is wasted during the process.

Battery Disposal Service

The easiest way to dispose of the battery is not having to do it yourself. Check if there is a Battery disposal service in your area and just let them handle it. The easiest thing in the world.

Salt Water Method

I will be very honest. This method is quite time-consuming if most of the charge inside the battery has not already been discharged. With that said, this method is quite effective, easy and safe so it gains some points for that.

Saltwater conducts electricity and it will slowly and surely drain out the charge of your battery. The salt will also react with the substances present in the LiPo battery, thus neutralizing the dangerous Lithium. Okay, so here is what you have to do.

Step 1: Get a plastic container or a bucket and fill it up with cold water mixed with salt. Make sure that the salt is completely dissolved; otherwise, this method will not work (or take a forever at least).
Step 2: Make sure that the bucket is placed in a fireproof place. The chances of a fire from inside of the water are of course very slim, but I wouldn’t risk it. Once the saltwater bucket is in a fireproof place, put the battery inside and leave it there for 2 weeks at least.
Step 3: Wrap the battery up in something like a towel or a paper and throw it out.

The Sand & Lamp Method

This method, unlike the previous one, requires some work but definitely is faster and more confidence-inducing in my opinion if you get it right and I like its name. Okay, so in order to drain the battery using this method, follow the steps:

Step 1: Get a bucket and fill it up with sand.
Step 2: Put the bucket in a fireproof place and place the battery inside of it.
Step 3: Now, you are going to have to connect the battery to a lamp. The lamp will drain out the battery completely. It should not take more than a day.
Step 4: You know the battery is drained when the lamp goes off. Cut the connectors of the battery, strip the wires and join the red and black together creating a short circuit. The short circuit will not allow any voltage to build-up.
Step 5: You have successfully drained the LiPo battery of all of its juice and it is stable. You can now throw away the battery with the rest of your garbage and be at peace.

The Hammer Method

Admittedly, this method is not exactly what I would call safe so I would suggest you gear up if you are going to deploy this ploy to get rid of the battery of your RC toy. That is a sam o’nella reference right there.

Anyways, so, I have just called this method the hammer method because it is sound cool, but you can do this with even with a rock as in this method, all you have to do is damage the battery physical so bad that the batteries inside break or puncture.

With a hammer, you can easily break the batteries and with a needle, you can puncture them. Both work great. However, it is a bit unpredictable what will happen if you smash the battery with something. Most of the time, nothing happens, but I would recommend wearing some protective gear just in case.

Recycle

If your batteries have puffed out and are below the 20% charge, instead of destroying them and throwing them away, you can recycle it. Individual companies also there to recycle rechargeable batteries. Search those company online and give them a chance to reclaim your battery.

Conclusion

It is great to see that RC enthusiasts and general users of LiPo batteries are responsible when it comes to getting rid of their used batteries. Most people would throw their batteries away so if you are reading this, kudos on being a responsible owner.

We listed several methods of getting rid of LiPo batteries. All of them get the job done and ultimately, it comes down to which way is the most convenient for you. I hope this how to dispose of LiPo batteries article helped. Thank you for reading!

Stefan

Stefan is a software engineer who graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2016 and currently living in San Francisco, California. He works in the leading media software industry who is quite an expert in computer manufacturing, systems development, imaging software and document management systems, and consulting. He is so passionate about computers, sports and photography and shares his knowledge by reviewing products at Yournabe.

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How To Dispose Of LiPo Batteries Safely