Li-Pos.... unstable?

[Kernal H]

Hi all,
Firstly, I thought Li-Pos were ment to be unstable when charging... and using them. So, when I opened up my mobile (cell) phone, I was quite shocked to see that it had a Li-Po 770mAh battery. They obviously can't be that bad, especially seeing as my phones nearly 3 years old (It's a Sony Erricson T610). Are the Li-Pos really 'unstable' or is this just a myth?

[texasracer]

They're only volatile if you do everything to them that you're NOT supposed to do. Cell phones come with their own correct charger, only reason they would be volatile is if they short somehow.

I've been using lipos in everything since they were the newest thing on the market several years ago. I've never had any failures, fires, shorts, or baloons, ever.

They're safe in my book :)

[arceeguy]

LiPo and LiIon cells can catch fire and burn with ferocious intensity if they are exposed to severe physical shock, overcharged, rapidly discharged, etc. They can also be ruined by overdischarging, and need special cicuitry to cut off the load when the voltage drops too low. All these conditions exist in RC cars trucks and planes, so they are a significantly higher risk than "conventional" NiCd and NiMh cells. As technology improves to make them safer for more demanding applications, you will start to see them more in mass produced RC products rather than just the specialty "high end" market.

As mentioned, they are perfectly safe for low drain applications like cell phones, PDA's, and laptops - where they have been used for years.

[Kernal H]

Ahh, that makes sense then. Thanks for the info, I feel like I've learnt something today (not just lying around lol)

[Azuza]

I've only ever had one pack go bad on me and it totally discharged for some reason and began to balloon.

[Nitronaught]

As mentioned, they are perfectly safe for low drain applications like cell phones, PDA's, and laptops - where they have been used for years.
+1 and also car chargers for cell phones are your biggest culprit for ruining your cell phone batts because of the charge rate and that often it is not regulated by the charging device.:cool: