It can become a problem depending on where you live to recycle your SP battery if needed because there are not too many places where it can be done in the country yet. I found one a few miles away from home. Friendly staff - they weighed the SP140 1/2 hour battery as well as 4 older Bonka 6S I used for my old OpenPPG X4. No State tax on recycling. I paid the fee calculated per pound, took my receipt and that was it. Pretty simple!
If you live in the States:
Battery+
https://www.batteriesplus.com/store-locator
Why did you need to dispose of your battery? Was it genuinely spent / worn out?
Phil,
I did the same thing with my Bonkas. They had several hundred flights on them, and the flight times were getting shorter. They were also showing signs of aging while balance charging. They had a good run, and it was just time. I also discharged them completely with 12VDC automotive bulbs and took them to Batteries Plus for recycling.
I did keep my X4 because I enjoy flying it so much, and it is really convenient to keep it folded up on the back seat of my car. Hopefully, I will be able to source some really good solid state batteries in the next year or two… maybe from Solid Power or one of their competitors.
Battery Education is a really important subject…how to handle them; how to store them; how to safely and properly charge them; things to always look for while charging, after flying and when they are in storage. I think Lithium ion batteries are pretty amazing, but just a little education goes a long way to make ownership very safe and fun!!
Thanks for posting, Phil!
Bill
2 Likes
The story:
The day was hot in the upper 80ºF and I had a nice flight having fun but accelerating conservatively. I landed and touched the battery as I always do. It was unusually warm towards the top of the housing and thought it was perhaps because of the day’s higher temperatures.
Back home 1:15mn drive away, the battery had not cooled down. Hmm!?.. my left eyebrow went up. A few hours alter, the battery should have returned to a normal ambient temperature but had not. I was beginning to worry so I decided to keep the battery outside the house in the middle of the yard with a metal wheelbarrow over it just in case. The night passed but even with the ambient cooler air the box temperature was still unusually warm/hot at the top the next morning.
I contacted a friend of mine who knows more about electronics than I do and described the situations. He suggested that perhaps there could be a problem with the BMS and check the cells.
I was not crazy about opening a hot box but did. I removed the six screws and lifted the red cover,… placed a finger on the BMS. It was really hot to the touch, realizing something was wrong there while the bottom of the box was cold.
I had checked the voltage at regular intervals. It was going down slowly but surely. Once home back from flying, the voltage was around 86V. The next morning it was at 84.7V. Something was drawing electricity.
The BMS was bricked. I texted Paul who also suggested checking the cells to make sure there was not more 0.20 difference with the others.
The two white connectors to the BMS became soft and rubbery with the heat and it was difficult to pull them but I managed. I was in new territory. I am not an electrician but guessed that the black wire was probably the negative and placed my voltmeter negative prong on it. I then subsequently touched each red tiny connection and saw the voltage increasing on the voltmerer screen. I jotted all the readings and sent them to my friend who crunched the numbers. He saw that the differential was out of whack.
Messing around with electronics and high voltage is not my cup of tea and changing the BMS may not have fixed the problem. The battery was from a few years ago (first SP Batch1 with the battery of the time equipped with older connectors and no Bluetooth). I had many flights and the battery served me well but I was not willing to take a chance of turning into a french fry or burning the house down. I am glad to have recycled it - no regrets.
The plastic connectors look normal on the photo but were really soft to the point of deforming when pulled.
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Where are you from?
Send me that battery, I will be happy with rebuild eheheh 
NY. The battery is gone!
Yikes
The lithium ion battery continues to be my biggest worry… most of the possible failure modes are quite energetic. Which is why I’ve previously asked for a solution that could contain a fire in storage, not that I’ve really found one. I’ve thought about building a cinder block “vault” in my garage, but even that is still… inside. Don’t even know how you’d get away from the battery if it went up while on your back.
Any opinions on the BMS quality? I’ve always wondered since the app was half Chinese.
For better or worse and I know someone else using the same box. Expensive but gives me some peace of mind. I hope not to test it eFoil Battery Case - ZARGES USA
Whatever can help! There is a risk in flight even with ICE PPG
Hopefully, solid state batteries will be available soon.