Back in 2021, I was working with a young ham looking to learn Morse code. As he was blind, many of the tools commonly used, were not as useful. I stumbled upon the Morserino-32, a wonderful device from Willi OE1WKL, I bought a pair of them in kit form, and soon had my young fella sending and receiving Morse.

Recently a somewhat older ham (about 70 years older than my young student) mentioned he was having issues transitioning from CW skills learned on a bug decades ago to modern paddles/keyers. I immediately though of the “Echo Trainer” mode in the Morserino-32, which had been boxed up for the past 5 years. Upon examining one of them, I discovered that the 3.7v LiPo battery had “puffed”. This is a sign of a failed battery.

Since many ham devices use LiPo batteries, I thought I would remind folks to beware [of] puffed batteries. It is quite dangerous to attempt to charge and use them. The photo below shows the puffed battery on the left (leads cut off since it can’t be used) and a “normal” battery on the right. If it looks like a pillow, it is time to dispose of it safely & properly. Both Best Buy and Staples offer battery recycling for free.