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Battery Journal →

“Yesterday still okay.” Today the battery looks different.

Swelling, cracks, water exposure, unusual heat, strange smell or visible damage all mean the same first move: stop using and charging the pack.

Opened battery module showing brown deposits and discolouration around metal connections.

IN SHORT

  • Stop using it and stop charging it.
  • Don't press it, open it or poke it to check.
  • Get advice from the maker or authorised service provider.

A CHAT WE SEE A LOT

yesterday vs today

Zack

eh bro 2 photos. yesterday, today. same-same or not

yesterday still okay one

Mel

wah spot the difference. ok start 😂

Mel

1. the case. today open a bit

Zack

lighting only lah

Ben

ya lighting. today sun very strong

Mel

2. fatter

Ben

bulking season. battery go gym 💪

Zack

u all enough anot

Jo

3. got water mark. sweat ah?

Zack

rain only. dry already

Mel

4. “dry already”. yesterday u never say this one

Ben

4 differences

0 reasons to charge

Zack

later i charge and see 🥲

Jo

bro 4 people find 4 differences in 3 minutes, and the only thing not different is you still wanna charge it 😂

Looks same-same? Check these four

Swelling, leaking, unusual heat, strange smell, hissing, cracking or visible damage means stop using it and stop charging it. A battery can work on one trip and look different on the next. That change is where testing stops. You don’t need to name the fault before you take the warning seriously.

Case or heat-shrink changed

Visible damage means stop using it and stop charging it.

Pack looks swollen

Don’t press it, open it or poke it to check.

Water exposure

Treat it as possible damage: stop using and charging it, and have it checked.

Outside looks dry

Drying the outside doesn’t show what happened inside.

A visible change is enough reason to stop.

Case or wrap changed

A crack, a split corner, wrap coming away, frayed wires: all visible damage. Stop using it and stop charging it. Don’t tape over it, press it, open it or poke inside. Tape is not a repair. See how a taped joint failed in Twist, tape, pray.

Close view of a black pack casing with a split corner and a green strapping band running past it.
Split corner on a pack’s outer casing, with a strapping band around it.
Close view of a pack corner where a black outer layer lifts at the edge above blue wrap and clear mesh tape. Printed digits on the tape are blurred.
Corner of a pack where the outer layer has lifted away from the wrap and tape beneath.
Corner of a cell group where amber tape lifts above a green cell sleeve and metal strips.
Tape lifting at the corner of a cell group.
End of a pack with frayed wire strands beside the circuit board and a red lead, torn amber tape and wrapping, and thick red and black leads in front.
Frayed wire strands at the BMS board and beside the thick leads, with torn tape around them. The tape edges are darkened.

Rain, then “dry already”

Water has its own version of “yesterday still okay”: the outside dries, the casing looks normal again, and somebody proposes one quick charge. Water may have damaged the pack. Stop using and charging it, and have it checked. Drying the outside doesn’t show what happened inside. Don’t charge it to see, even for one quick trip.

Exposed cell ends and copper links during workshop removal from a water-damaged battery pack.
Midway through removing the cells from a water-damaged pack. The copper links and joints are exposed while the workshop checks what can be repaired.
Close view of the corner of an opened pack: a wide strip across the cell ends with spot welds, rough and blistered-looking patches, and a thin red wire at one cell.
Nickel strip with spot welds on an opened pack, rough and blistered-looking in places, with a red wire at one cell.

Don’t open it to check

Someone always knows someone who opened one and it was fine. That tells you nothing about what’s happening inside yours. Don’t press, open or poke a suspect pack, and don’t touch or sniff it to check. Opening it still leaves you without a proper diagnosis.

Already open? Leave it alone. Don’t keep handling it or try to put it back together. A photo can show a mark. It can’t tell you the pack is safe.

A boxy pack wrapped on all sides in strips of tape with foam pads at the corners and leads coming out of the top, on a workshop bench.
Tape and foam over the whole pack; the cells underneath are hidden. More tape cannot turn an unknown pack into a checked one.

What now

Say what changed and send photos from outside the pack. Don’t turn the call for help into a transport plan before you ask what to do.

Stop

Stop using it and stop charging it.

Leave it alone

Don’t press it, open it or poke it to check. Don’t touch or sniff it to check.

Ask first

Get advice from the maker or authorised service provider.

Don't take a damaged pack to a shop yourself

Don’t ride with it, courier it or carry a hot, leaking or damaged pack to a shop. Ask the maker or authorised service first.

Pack finished for good? Disposal is its own question: Dead pack, blue bin?

995

Smoking or on fire?

Hissing, smoking or getting hotter on its own: if it’s safe, get it out into the open fast, never carried against your body and never into a lift, then keep away and call 995. Already on fire: raise the alarm, get out, stay out and call 995. Don’t stop to film it.

Full steps for a fire: Battery fire? You got about one minute

Sources (4)

Read when there is no emergency

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