lithium batteries bad TV reporting

Kurt

Kurt

10 kW
Joined
Apr 21, 2008
Messages
962
Location
South Australia
I was watching tv last night and a promo for tonight's national news coverage came on. The promo was for a story regarding lithium battery's.

The 15 second promo showed a puffing lipo cell, burnt house, kids playing with battery's and used words like ticking time bomb. We only have three major networks for nightly free to air Tv news coverage so the story is going to get some big exposure tonight channel (9) if your in Australia and want to watch it and have a laugh. I will watch it tonight and see how badly they are misinforming people with worry tactics. I guess it makes a good story for them but I just hope it doesn't spark any lipo battery restrictions in Australia that's all we need :roll:

Anyhow I will try and get a video of it .

To me all batteries are just one more form of stored energy. there are so many other forms of contained energy around the home. Be it a compressed spring, Can of gas, compressed air bottle, Even a bent back stick int he garden has stored energy and need to be treated with some respect . Why single out a battery as the only candidate for injury or destruction when not treated with respect.

Kurt
 
Be scared of the new thing!!!

I remember how the internet was demonized and how hybrid cars were demonized in early reporting.

Thank god all those hummers saved the planet since the prius was just soooooo dirty ;)
 
Kurt said:
I will try and get a video of it .
Click to expand...

Please do post it. I would like to check it out. I would like to know which electric batteries have had this problem. From what I understand, calling a battery lithium is not enough information. And need to know more info about the details of cause of "burnt house". Some people have burnt down their house from other things, like to many cords in single outlet.. using flammables in their home.. I met this one guy who would take his gas scooter into his home.. and it was filled with gas in it.. I was in shock.. he said it with a straight face. I told him that is very dangerous to have gasoline inside his house.
 
Just recorded it on my mobile phone. I think there is more chance of 747 crashing through my roof than a mobile phone burning my house down. Lipo fires aren't that bad no worse than a gas heater or cook-top.

This is what they had to say

kurt

[youtube]JaLfiY74Ask[/youtube]
 
thanks for posting the video.

I was thinking that a way to make them safer is to place the charger and battery on top of something fire prroof, like a a slab of ceramic tile..or on ceramic floor, like many people have in a bathroom or kitchen.. and perhaps someone can build a device that can disconnect the power supply at the first smell of smoke or burning plastic?? or even perhaps have a kind of thermoresister switch relay that can shut off the electricity to the charger if it picks up elevation in temperature of the battery or charger as a secondary backup safety for the d3vices, to make them even safer.

I see the example they used was the lihium cells in the pouch. I have read people post here that these getting super fast charged and are the type of chemistry that are more volatile? They are not LiFePO4 chemistry?
 
Dang Luddites.

Likely Lico, which we tend to just call lipo, HK lipo, or RC lipo. Likely it's in your cell phone and camera, and good QC does make it pretty safe.

But when you kludge together a big pile of it, the fireball does get bigger if anything does happen. That's why my charging station is a tile fireplace hearth with a smoke detector 4 feet away, I'm awake, and there is a flat shovel outside the door next to the fireplace, and I don't charge 8 or more lipo packs all at the same time very much. 4 at a time is my usual deal.

There is a fire extinguisher nearby, but the main strategy in the event of disaster is to get that flaming pile of shit out the door, FAST. But even before that, the real strategy is knowing if you have abused a pack. It's why I LIKE to touch each pack right after every ride. Any of em hot? If so, something is up here I want to know about. But you could get the same result with several temp sensors on the bike letting you know each part of the pack is at normal temps. A real puffer usually gets hot.
 
When you think about it all the battery will do is burn. I guess the gas that vents burns with a ball of flame that tends to blow off relatively quickly. Steel tool box, couple of $1 ceramic tiles or anything that wont burn. Charge you battery's on the carpet, bed or desk with a pile of papers and your asking for trouble.

If I can't be bothered watching my lipo packs charge I do so on the concrete outside my house so if anything happens I just loose my battery. When my pack isn't in use and I'm not at home my pack is stored in the garage inside a small steel toolbox( lid loosely closed) then the small toolbox is placed inside a metal filing cabinet draw. If the pack has a internal short and catches on fire then the heat is well and truly insulated from catching anything on fire in the garage. Would most likely fill the garage with smoke and that's about it.

Kurt.
 
Yeah, outside is good in nice climates. I expect to never have flames if I just pay attention. A known to be discharged below 3v pack does get charged outside at my house. Generally, if that happened, it's a pack I already know is toast, and on it's last few charges.

The main thing is not ignoring your RC lipo, and trusting a sketchy charger system.
 
omg.... That was my first TV exposure for months. Lets see if I can make the next interval easiest to count in years.
 
liveforphysics said:
omg.... That was my first TV exposure for months. Lets see if I can make the next interval easiest to count in years.
Click to expand...

:lol:
 
This is the concept of basic threadbare logic in action. Doesn't take anything really to support a great leap. If anyone remembers 'Why Johnny Can't Read' that whole uproar was over the fact there had been a great reduction in illiteracy in America, but not enough to prevent someone from writing a frightening book about "Only" 87% of 18 year olds can read and write, up from 60% just 10 years earlier. That 60% had been lauded as a wonderful number at the time. Hmmmmm. The whole 'Why Johnny Can't Read' thingee was ultimately discredited, but not before some of us ran the gauntlet at school because of it.

I think I like the idea of kids developing a little fear of their radio control batteries; Especially with the dicey chemistry coming from China lately. In general I didn't find the story so intimidating.
 
The trouble is Australia has become a country so regulated and restricted with rules and fines for everything you can think of. It would be a shame if Lipo cells were some how controlled and treated this way.

No the report wasn't as over the top as i was expecting.

Kurt
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top