Battery users beware

[RC Storick]

There are thousands of videos on this subject

[Dwayne Donnelly]

It's amazing with all the cordless vacuums, power tools and such there aren't more fires.

[John Gluth]

On video #2:
“Fire putter-outer liquid.”  Would be ineffective.

 14.6v is not a “store charge/voltage” for a 3S LiPo.

11.55 is the correct conservative, storage voltage for a 3S of any capacity/size.
LiPos are delivered new at 3.85/cell.

[Dan McEntee]

On video #2:
“Fire putter-outer liquid.”  Would be ineffective.

 14.6v is not a “store charge/voltage” for a 3S LiPo.

11.55 is the correct conservative, storage voltage for a 3S of any capacity/size.
LiPos are delivered new at 3.85/cell.

       You are talking a language that 99% of the population doesn't understand!! They will use and charge any battery for any device like they charge their electric toothbrush!! . I don't have any of the chargers for electric lawn and garden tools and electric drills in my house at all. They are in the small shed about 20 feet away. I never charge any battery inside if I can do it any other way. remember when lap top computers first came into prominence, and they frequently would burst into flame. Most of that came from restricting the cooling fan airflow by having the computer sit on a couch, comforter or anything else soft and then it can't "breath".  Ever see a lead acid battery in a car blow up from overcharging/overheating? If the voltage regulator malfunctions, it cooks the battery and the resulting explosion can blow the hood clean off a car. My nephew is a car tech and it happened to him when a customer pulled a car into the work bay after complaining about his battery light was on. They left the engine running, opened the hood and he could see the battery swelling and smoking and as he tried to slam the hood closed, it blew up. He got burned on his face and hands and was lucky he didn't lose his eyesight. I have seen it happen with battery powered pallet trucks and lifts at work., where the operator insisted on having the charger connected while using it. I would read them the riot act about the safety aspects of and would tell management that it is either out of service when on charge and not to be used or in service. It can't be both. One day they had a pallet truck battery blow up in the middle of the bindery. Luckily the 4 12 volt lead acid batteries it used were in a metal enclosure and it didn't shower everyone with hot battery acid!! An operator dragged the burning, smoking pallet truck out of the bindery and near an open over head door and left a trail of acid along the way that was still there when we vacated the building and moved the business. This can really happen with any battery. I have read a lot about house fires getting started with cell phone chargers as a cause, sometimes when people were using the phone while it was on charge. It's amazing hot warm a charger can get that way and the back of a cell phone near where it plugs in can get also. All these new phones seem to have a fast charge option that I don't recommend people use. These new phones seem like they use a LOT of current for their size and can really eat up a battery so people plug in a charger and keep taking, texting, and watching videos, and the chords and the chargers aren't designed for that kind of current to be going through them. It may seem harmless to most people, but physics can be a bitch and bite you sometimes !! You have to respect any battery and charger for the possible damage that it can do, no matter how rare the occurrences might seem.
  Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

[Reptoid]

It's amazing with all the cordless vacuums, power tools and such there aren't more fires.

They don't use Li-Po batteries; they use Li-Ion batteries. Much lower danger of fire and not nearly as sensitive to sitting fully charged

[Rusty]

I have seen 2 vehicles burn up due to lipos being charged in them.  One was a new Ford F150 and it burned up the pine tree next to it.  The other was an older van, that had nothing left, every bit of it burned and all the contents. 

[Paul Smith]

It's amazing with all the cordless vacuums, power tools and such there aren't more fires.

The appliance Lipos are well-shielded in thick plastic cases.  Our Lipos are naked.

I had one go off while I was fitting it into the plane with an Xact knife.  It started issuing thick black smoke.  I was able to get it outside and douse it with water before any harm was done.

Ryobi and Black n Decker are pros.  Modelers are amateurs spearminting wid lecticity n plugin stuff in.

I made a field charger so as not risk my car.

[Dan McEntee]

They don't use Li-Po batteries; they use Li-Ion batteries. Much lower danger of fire and not nearly as sensitive to sitting fully charged

      Well, Li-Ion batteries were the subject of two of the videos, and that's what lap top batteries are. YouTube is full of videos of those bursting into flame. The common denominator is the user/operator and how the use and abuse the devices they power and and the charging of the battery. The instructions can be full of warnings and useful instructions and hints but they just get overlooked. All the terms about proper voltages, charge and discharge rates, storage voltage and such is meaningless to them. All they care about is playing with the toy or using the device again as soon as possible if not sooner. Just about any instruction sheet for any rechargeable device I have seen has about 3 pages of warnings and danger stuff and about 3 paragraphs of how to use it!! Sometimes even some catastrophic isn't enough to make them understand the importance of reading and understanding how to properly use and store even a small toy or device that is still capable of burning your house down!! Hell, I think it even happened to Tom Dixon, who was charging a battery in his garage and it went off and burned half of his house down. You would have to think that with Tom being a well known modeler was following proper procedures and such, but I think he was charging the battery unattended and then no way to stop it or remove it from his shop. It happened to one of the managers of the hobby shop I used to work at. He is VERY well versed in proper procedures on Lipos, and he had one grenade on him while he was charging it one day. He was in the habit of putting batteries in a Pyrex measuring cup, so when it went off, it was contained and he could grab it with an over mitt and get it outside. It gave absolutely no sign or warning of a failure. But at least he was monitoring the charge and was there to be able to do something. So in short, if all these guys that know what they are doing have issues, just think of the possibilities of an uneducated person messing up and they greatly outnumber the knowledgeable people. These are the people that can't put the batteries in their flashlight correctly, and that doesn't usually result in anything bad happening, but they take the same nonchalant attitude with anything that is battery powered and that is when events that end up on YouTube videos happen!!
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[Crist Rigotti]

The sky is falling, the sky is falling....!

[Dennis Toth]

Agree with Chist, these videos have been around since Lipo/electric started to be used in glow engines. Same as with the electric powered car. Fire from any type of fuel can and has happened (gasoline is the worst). With Lipo's you need to by a quality charger. That is the most important purchase for electric power. Set up correctly and it will keep things from overcharging. Some of the early problems with lipo's stemmed from using NiCad chargers which just kept charging and some at a very high amperage rate. With the correct charger, setup correctly for the pack you are charging it really takes allot to make them explode.

Second caution is if the pack is puffed, it is done, get a new one. Puffing is the first sign that the pack is finished. This can happen if the pack is left fully charged for long periods. Lipo's that are not going to be used (even for a week) should be left at below 60% charge. Trying to stretch out a pack useful life once puffed is asking for trouble.

Best,   DennisT

[Peter in Fairfax, VA]

Trash truck fires have gotten more spectacular and common.  Compressing the trash with the hopper or ram punctures and ignites.  Like most trash truck load fires, the operator is well served to dump the load on the street and let it burn or extinguish it.  So, both for fire safety and heavy metal environmental reasons, take old batteries to Best Buy.

https://www.cmsdca.gov/news_detail_T6_R145.php#:~:text=Sixty%2Dfive%20percent%20of%20fires,to%20the%20community%20and%20environment.

[Ken Culbertson]

 

The sky is falling, the sky is falling....!

[RC Storick]

The sky is falling, the sky is falling....!

Everyone can use this information or ignore it. I put it here to prove a point to someone who said I didn't know what I was talking about. If you do a Google search and read the about 444,000 results on lipo fires, it would seem more common than not. That number is right off Google. Now, compare gasoline to a battery: a battery can ignite itself, while a gallon of gas can not ignite itself unless it has an outside ignition source.

Ask Google the question if a lipo can ignite itself. The answer is: Yes, a LiPo (Lithium Polymer) battery can ignite itself, especially if mishandled or damaged, leading to fire or even explosion due to phenomena like thermal runaway or internal short circuits.

[Dwayne Donnelly]

Everyone can use this information or ignore it. I put it here to prove a point to someone who said I didn't know what I was talking about. If you do a Google search and read the about 444,000 results on lipo fires, it would seem more common than not. That number is right off Google. Now, compare gasoline to a battery: a battery can ignite itself, while a gallon of gas can not ignite itself unless it has an outside ignition source.

Ask Google the question if a lipo can ignite itself. The answer is: Yes, a LiPo (Lithium Polymer) battery can ignite itself, especially if mishandled or damaged, leading to fire or even explosion due to phenomena like thermal runaway or internal short circuits.

While yes a lipo can self combust, it is extremely rare, I can only relate my own experience but I also fly RC and remember when lipos first came out, since  that time our RC field is now about 2/3rds electric so over the years  I've probably witnessed at least 100,000  charge cycles and I've seen 3 lipos explode on a charger, all 3 were old puffy batteries, I've yet to see one new or properly maintained lipo exploded, I've seen the videos so I know it happens It's just never happened at our field, are we doing something different? No, it really is that rare a lipo self combusts. 

[Crist Rigotti]

Bobby, thank you for your concern for the safety of people every where.  Thank you.

[Paul Walker]

I am not sure of the value of this subject. It would be similar to someone pointing out airplane crashes and saying all airplanes are bad. Or pointing to shootings and saying guns are the problem.

To have value  it should explain what caused the fire so we can learn from that. Otherwise, it is just a waste of time.

[Dave Rigotti]

I'm having a difficult time determining if the OP is a Public Service Announcement or simply a Public Bashing Announcement?

[RC Storick]

No, it really is that rare a lipo self combusts.

I agree, but it only takes once. The reason for the post was a disagreement with someone.

Take it for what it's worth and use your own judgment.

[Dan McEntee]

The sky is falling, the sky is falling....!

      Well my comments were driven by personal experience and things I had witnessed regarding ANY kind of battery not just Lipos.  My time behind a counter selling this stuff and working with the general public on it has let me see the good, the bad and the ugly with the situation, and I don't even fly electric models currently ( no pun intended!) I have seen people do some really dumb stuff and they will not be schooled on anything!! They can be a threat to the entire hobby. Most of the people responding here are experience and tech savvy with it and know what they are doing and things still happen. The technology and quality has improved but stuff still happens. Most people do not bother to read Model Aviation magazine that they get and that's fine but there is a safety column in there and some other good content that is worth reading. In the December, 2024 issue, just a few months ago, there was an article about this very subject and a guy that was charging a known, good pack for an airplane and right in the middle of the charge it exploded. It sounds like it actually grenaded and didn't just catch fire. He had it in a Lipo bad, but it barely contained the worst of it, and he dumped it into an ammo can and took it outside. There was some damage to stuff in his room from flying debris and I think he was lucky that none of that caused a secondary fire. This was supposedly an experienced person that was following some basic precautions to mitigate a worse outcome. I have to assume that he was using up to date charger and was charging at a proper rate, and if it was a decent charger, I would think that it would have detected any flaws of issues in the battery and raised some kind of alert or prevented the charge cycle from starting, and it still blew up. My point is that you cant get complacent at all with charging ANY battery and if assisting someone new in the hobby , you can't stress the safety factor enough. I don't think that we really ever hear about all the incidents that happen, depending on how severe it is and whether or not it's a slow news day or not!!
     Type at you later,
  Dan McEntee