ludi wrote:Suggestion: get those battery packs into a covered metal trash can ASAP, until you can fully assess their physical condition. Would be much worse if your RC crash turned into a garage fire.
They are LiFe packs and not nearly as succeptible to fire as normal LiPo packs. The cells are in metal cans an not the soft foil polymer cells. My biggest concern was for fire from them shorting out due to damaged wiring. The cells themselves have no physical damage other than on had the soldered on power lead pulled off.
That said, your concern is real, for those that aren't aware. Sunday the 12th, we had a plane crash at the field and catch fire due to the battery pack.
I did the autopsy Sunday afternoon and it wasn't pretty.
I hit hard enough to destroy the main power switches.
The port wing is a collection of balsa confetti being held in the general shape of a wing by the covering.
The engine is a near total loss. The carb is still good, that's about it. It broke the cyclinder and crank case and bent the connecting rod too.
The electronics seem to have survived pretty well. All the servos turn smoothly, though I haven't torn them down yet. I'll pull the gears and control boards, as well as the reciever board and look at them under a microscope at work to check from damage.
--SS