If your RC is not performing the way it used to, you’ll need to check the battery. Damaged batteries can put your device in jeopardy. I’m aware of how serious this issue is.
The question here is, how to tell if Traxxas battery is bad?
You can identify a bad Traxxas Battery if the ESC or charger fails to detect the battery. A Traxxas battery that drains charge faster than expected can also be considered as a bad battery. In many circumstances, Traxxas batteries that are bad won’t charge properly, leaving you with poor battery life.
These are just an overall idea of testing Traxxas batteries. However, if you want to comprehend the problem more, spare a minute. And give this article a read!
Are you ready? Let’s get to it.
Signs of Bad Traxxas Battery
The signs of a bad Traxxas battery are: not charging, not being recognized, and battery drain. There are many signs, but these are the common ones you need to look out for.
Source: Small Addictions RC
Here’s a detailed explanation of the Traxxas battery errors that you should keep an eye out for-
- Battery not detected: Let’s assume you’ve plugged your Traxxas batteries in the EZ peak charger and the battery is not recognized.
That means the charger does not detect your Traxxas battery. This is a textbook example of a bad battery.
- Battery not charging: If the NiMH Traxxas battery you got is not charging, that also points to a bad battery.
It also points to a Traxxas battery too low to charge. Sometimes if your battery is discharged too much, it damages your battery to an irreparable degree. Unfortunately, this cannot be reversed.
- Battery drain: If your Traxxas battery can’t hold the charge at all then that’s a telltale sign of a bad battery too.
To be more specific, your battery will drain at a visible pace. If you don’t know how long a Traxxas battery lasts, it’s typically 30-90 minutes. But it will get drained in 10-20 minutes for example.
Furthermore, it may be subtle at times so compare the runtime with the one from the manufacturer’s website.
These are just the signs a bad battery will show. But there are a few ways to test it with certainty. I’ll talk about them in the next segment in great detail.
Ways to Test A Traxxas Battery
There are two ways to test a Traxxas battery depending on what kind it is: Cell-Checking a Traxxas LiPo Battery and Testing a Traxxas NiMH battery with a multimeter.
These two tests will cover your battery testing easily and tell you if you have a bad battery or just bad luck. If you’re wondering how to exactly test a Traxxas battery, here are the tests along with their steps.
The Cell-Check Test
You can check both Traxxas LiPo and NiMH batteries easily with a battery tester. You can check for bad cells with the battery tester to know if the battery is bad.
The cell check test is the easiest way to tell if your battery is indeed bad without taking the time to look out for signs.
What a battery tester does is check all the cells of a battery individually. While it won’t directly tell you if the battery is fine, it will tell you the voltages.
A battery tester can tell if your Traxxas battery is charging, but it can also tell apart a bad battery.
These are the steps you must take to Cell-check your Traxxas LiPo or NiMH battery-
- First, connect your battery to the battery tester. Connect to the right port whether your Traxxas battery is LiPo or NiMH. This is how you can test both Traxxas NiMH and LiPo batteries.
- Then, the battery tester will show the voltage of each cell separately. First, take a reading of the voltages without fully charging the battery.
- It’s time to charge the batteries. Plug your batteries in the charger and leave them there till they’re full.
- After your batteries are fully charged, plug them back into the tester and check the voltages of the cells.
- If all the cells show increased similar voltage, then your battery is fine. However, if any of the cells are showing drastically different voltage, that points to a bad cell. A battery with a bad cell is a bad battery.
Simple, wasn’t it? All you’ll need for this test is a battery tester. I myself use a Goldby RC Cell meter, though I’m thinking about switching to a Tenergy 5-in-1 battery tester.
This youtube video digs deeper into the cell check method, it may be of help to you too.
That being said, let’s move on to the 2nd way you can test Traxxas batteries.
The Multimeter Test
The test is pretty self-explanatory, in this method, you’re going to use a multimeter to test your Traxxas LiPo/NiMH battery.
Testing a Traxxas LiPo or a NiMH battery with a multimeter follows the same principle as a battery tester, just less convenient.
This is how you can easily test your Traxxas LiPo/NiMH battery with a multimeter-
- There’s a small clearance on the connectors of Traxxas batteries. On dual-cells there are two and in tri-cells, there are 3. Checking each clearance with your multimeter will tell you the voltage of each cell.
- Check all the voltages with your multimeter before charging the battery.
- Then Charge your battery with the battery tester.
- Finally, check the voltages once again for discrepancies. Like with battery testers, the odd one out is the bad cell.
And as usual, the voltage error tells the bad batteries out of good ones. This is how you can test the Traxxas LiPo/NiMH batteries with a multimeter.
Here’s another youtube explaining this method to help make it clearer for you-
You could also try measuring the internal resistance of the battery to know if it’s bad. With that out of the way, since we’re done with bad batteries, I’ll talk about reviving them.
Is It Possible To Revive Dead Traxxas Battery?
Yes, it is possible to revive a dead Traxxas battery through balance chargers. However, it’s not guaranteed to bring your Traxxas battery to life even if there is a possibility.
Another method would be to jump-start the battery with a drill battery. However, that’s a riskier method so it would be better to just avoid it.
Here is how you can revive a dead Traxxas NiMH or LiPo battery and get it to charge-
- Battery balancer: Using a battery balancer to charge a dead battery at the lowest possible voltage often revives the battery back to life. It works for both NiMH and LiPo batteries.
- Jump starting the dead battery: Jump starting a dead battery with a drill battery can also revive your dead Traxxas battery easily. However, this one bears the risk for you since the battery has the possibility of exploding too.
With the bad battery, both detected and revived, It’s time to now give you some extra tips to avoid the situation in the first place.
Battery Maintenance
I’ll show you your way around the prevention, in other words, battery maintenance-
- Traxxas battery maintenance starts with a regular inspection of the battery after each use. Make sure there aren’t any visible damages to the battery.
For example, if your LiPo battery is puffed, you should immediately depuff your LiPo battery. The battery could literally explode on you and cause serious harm.
- Wipe your battery after you use it each time. This is pretty self-explanatory.
- You should always charge your Traxxas battery for 45 minutes. No more than that. That’s because the Traxxas battery can be overcharged and that usually kills the battery fast.
- Use the Store mode to charge your LiPo batteries in preparation for storage. This prevents damage while the battery is unused. This step is unnecessary in NiMH batteries.
That wraps Traxxas battery maintenance up. Well, I’ll answer some of the frequently asked questions before concluding the article.
FAQs
How expensive are Traxxas batteries?
Traxxas batteries are pretty affordable. The price depends on which one you’re going for. 5000 mAh batteries will cost you about $50 dollars. Lower amperage ones are around $20-30.
How long do Traxxas batteries last?
Traxxas RC batteries will give you 20-40 before needing to be charged again. This is determined by how hard you use the RC. It also depends on the type of battery you possess.
How do I stop the battery from going bad?
Make sure you don’t over-discharge your battery. Always store them in a cool, dry place. Don’t charge the batteries when they are hot. Please allow some cooling-off time first.
Conclusion
We hope you now understand how to tell if a Traxxas battery is bad..
If your batteries need to be replaced, it’s not a huge deal. You won’t have to worry if you take proper care of the new ones.
We look forward to seeing you again. Bye!
