Lipo fire Always charge outside lesson learned.

[ollieleven]

Hi chaps

Learned why i must ALWAYS charge my lipos outside.

Last night i charged a 4s 5000mha lipo on my icharger 3010b and chargery 1200w Power supply. For some reason it didn't cut off and the lipo exploded, luckily i always charge the lipo in an old Ammo box so the flames didnt take anywhere. but the smoke was insane, i went to A&E as breathed in alot of smoke while shutting of the power and trying to open the doors/windows. my house was a mess full of soot in every room still stinks of poisonous gasses. Girlfriend with ruined clothes maybe more dangerous than the lipo fire to be honest.

So lesson learned move house out of london get bigger garden n buy a shed

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Olli

 

[jfro]

I'm just starting and this is the stuff that scares me. I just got in 2 sets of 4s 5000mAh batteries (2 brands).

I bought the iCharger 306b. I built my own power supply from an old pc power supply. For my first charge for just one battery, I put it on a small metal table in my driveway (it was 34 F degrees out) to be safe.

I will probably charge 2 together some of the time, but may do some 1C charging with 4 batteries. I think your story (as well as many others I've read about) will lead me to getting a metal box to charge in and I will not be charging in my house.
I have a timer by my back door for cooking on the deck and can use that for reminders that the charger needs checking every few minutes.

Can't tell from your pics, but how many exploded and are they all ruined?

 

[DucktileMedia]

I would be curious to know how many incidents happen while lipos just sit in storage, if any. When I charge I am pretty careful about location but what scares me more is when I am not around to monitor them and how well that kevlar bag will really help.

 

[STI-REX]

I had an 8s lipo catch fire while i was 150 feet out on my T-REX 600 2 minutes into the flight

Total loss of the heli and burnt half of a field of long grass

That battery was less than 20 flights old and was way more than needed in "C" rating

Sorry no pic didn't have camera with me

 

[Bartman]

hey, hurry up and call Boeing before they put those damn batteries in an airplane! what's that? too late? well, they'll probably get it right so they'll be safe. what's that? the fleet's grounded? battery fires? hmmmmmmm, nevermind.



glad to hear everyone's safe.

 

[jfro]

Wonder how Boeing feels. They have billions of dollars on the grounded jets and on hold in production with battery problems. Some built and some yet to be built. Something about the cells not being isolated enough.
from nbc news

"U.S. investigators have already examined the lithium-ion battery that powered the auxiliary power unit (APU), where the battery fire started in the JAL plane, as well as several other components removed from the airplane, including wire bundles and battery management circuit boards.

"Examination of the flight recorder data from the JAL B-787 airplane indicates that the APU (auxiliary power unit) battery did not exceed its designed voltage of 32 volts," the National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement......."

Have a feeling there is a lot to be learned by the industry with lipos plus we may be getting the lower end of quality on the builds to keep costs down.

I'm absolutely a little unnerved by the lipo fire issues and will look into an alternative storage when not in use. Burn up my car as long as no one gets hurt and I"ll survive, but my home is too near and dear to us for excessive fire risks.

 

[Carapau]

Okay, this is a bit Heath Robinson but it is probably about as safe as you can get in terms of retaining the lipo going up. Not only does it deal with the fire of the lipo (by using the good old 50cal ammo tin, it also deals with the smoke. Ideally I would have used copper piping rather than plastic but it still held up very well. Check out these two vids:

And the test. For this there were 2x 6s 3300mAh batteries in the box. Only one went off. Both batteries were fully charged:

 

[R_Lefebvre]

That's a great idea. I was thinking of something like that, maybe a larger steel electrical box, and vent it into my garage which I think would be tollerable.

BTW, how much coffee did you drink before filming that? I've never seen Jello from a hand-held before!

 

[slowjett]

awesome idea!

 

[Carapau]

My hands are odd, I shake like made normally and then when I'm hungover, they are as steady as rocks!

 

[ollieleven]

Okay, this is a bit Heath Robinson but it is probably about as safe as you can get in terms of retaining the lipo going up. Not only does it deal with the fire of the lipo (by using the good old 50cal ammo tin, it also deals with the smoke. Ideally I would have used copper piping rather than plastic but it still held up very well. Check out these two vids:

And the test. For this there were 2x 6s 3300mAh batteries in the box. Only one went off. Both batteries were fully charged:

Wow thats pretty awesome could have done with that myself

 

[ollieleven]

Only one lipo luckily and yeah it's toast

I'm just starting and this is the stuff that scares me. I just got in 2 sets of 4s 5000mAh batteries (2 brands).

I bought the iCharger 306b. I built my own power supply from an old pc power supply. For my first charge for just one battery, I put it on a small metal table in my driveway (it was 34 F degrees out) to be safe.

I will probably charge 2 together some of the time, but may do some 1C charging with 4 batteries. I think your story (as well as many others I've read about) will lead me to getting a metal box to charge in and I will not be charging in my house.
I have a timer by my back door for cooking on the deck and can use that for reminders that the charger needs checking every few minutes.

Can't tell from your pics, but how many exploded and are they all ruined?

 

[ollieleven]

I know i feel the same i know keep mine in Lipo safe bags inside metal 50 cal ammo box in plastic chest in the mini shed my lawn mower is in in my garden. I'm too scared to keep 10+ lipos in my house since my fire.

I would be curious to know how many incidents happen while lipos just sit in storage, if any. When I charge I am pretty careful about location but what scares me more is when I am not around to monitor them and how well that kevlar bag will really help.

 

[SAR39]

My house has a indoor BBQ in our game room. Perfect for charging lipos inside!

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Fireproof containers (ie: BBQ) are great to prevent your house burning down, but do nothing for the noxious smoke that is created.

One small variant idea I've had for a while:

Use an airtight cabinet to charge in. Vent the cabinet external to the house. Cover the vent with aluminum foil. This can help prevent general ingress of dirt, etc into your cabinet from outside, but it will blow out easily if Lipo goes off and allow the vent.

 

[xvin]

Hi chaps

Learned why i must ALWAYS charge my lipos outside.

Last night i charged a 4s 5000mha lipo on my icharger 3010b and chargery 1200w Power supply. For some reason it didn't cut off and the lipo exploded, luckily i always charge the lipo in an old Ammo box so the flames didnt take anywhere. but the smoke was insane, i went to A&E as breathed in alot of smoke while shutting of the power and trying to open the doors/windows. my house was a mess full of soot in every room still stinks of poisonous gasses. Girlfriend with ruined clothes maybe more dangerous than the lipo fire to be honest.

So lesson learned move house out of london get bigger garden n buy a shed

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Olli

Two failsafe features that you may not have checked:
1. Temp probe -- it will cut power if the Lipo exceeds a certain temp during charge
2. Timer -- it will cut off if the time to charge takes longer than a specified time.
My iCharger has both features.</SPAN>

For others considering what to charge in, consider a steel tool box. Drill holes in the bottom that are just wide enough for the cables from your charger to enter. You can attach metal feet to the bottom of the box to lift it from the deck an inch or so. </SPAN>
And of course, never charge in your home. I charge in my garage. The tool box sits on a larger steal tool chest. When not charging, the batteries are stored inside the larger metal tool chest. Although I’m considering a small cooler box for storage in the garage during summer.</SPAN>

 

[helloman1976]

Hi chaps

Learned why i must ALWAYS charge my lipos outside.

Last night i charged a 4s 5000mha lipo on my icharger 3010b and chargery 1200w Power supply. For some reason it didn't cut off and the lipo exploded, luckily i always charge the lipo in an old Ammo box so the flames didnt take anywhere. but the smoke was insane, i went to A&E as breathed in alot of smoke while shutting of the power and trying to open the doors/windows. my house was a mess full of soot in every room still stinks of poisonous gasses. Girlfriend with ruined clothes maybe more dangerous than the lipo fire to be honest.

So lesson learned move house out of london get bigger garden n buy a shed

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Olli

Hey, big thanks for posting the pictures and taking the time to do this write up. I always monitor my batteries and I never charge them unattended HOWEVER, I do charge them in the house and right under all of my other electronics which of course is foolish considering I have an engineering based degree lol. Sometimes we get complacent, myself included, and thanks for re-sparking in my mind at least the idea of Lipo safety. I'm going to start charging outdoors as well, love the ammo box idea but I use a lipo "fire-proof" charging bag...or used to but will again thanks to your post. Thanks for posting this and helping me to pull my head out Moving my charging station now!!!

 

[jfro]

I'm thinking of taking a old outdoor gas grill, cleaning it up and ridding it of the propane hardware and leaving it on my patio. When I want to charge, roll it 15'-20' feet away from the house and turn on the charger.

Any pros or cons to this idea?

 

[Droider]

Cheap if you consider what it can prevent either in charging or in transport

https://shop.graupner.de/webuerp/servlet/AI?ARTN=8371

Dave

 

[helloman1976]

I'm thinking of taking a old outdoor gas grill, cleaning it up and ridding it of the propane hardware and leaving it on my patio. When I want to charge, roll it 15'-20' feet away from the house and turn on the charger.

Any pros or cons to this idea?

Since it used to have propane I would say be careful but I'd also assume that's a given. Propane is heavier than air and you cannot simply pull the top off because it pools. Actually, you'd have to "dump it out" in order to get it to leave the grill, ok I'm done with my rant on grill safety. There's no obvious disadvantages and I'd say they are built for extreme heat so you're probably safe. I wouldn't put the lid on it though as I'm not sure what the bi-product of burning Lipos are but it could become explosive and in a compressed environment could throw shrapnel from an explosion. Any chemical engineers online know? Chemist? Otherwise a BBQ grill sounds like a great idea, keep in mind it'll conduct electricity so grounding your positive lead/s to it will create a closed circuit or sometimes called a shorted condition. Using a Lipo bag it probably the way to go as they're basically just fireproof bags and they're cheap. I got mine on eBay so it's probably China specs but hey, it's gonna be outside from now on so burn-baby-burn