watch out for puffed lipo packs....or youll get burn

[splitfire]

Pls be really careful handling lipo batteries....this happened to me inside my car.....I am dumb using a puffed lipo packs on my RC stuffs then I put it in my back pack 2 batteries and 2 radios in my back pack. I was washing my car and noticed that my windows are dark. I thought it was just the moisture from washing but its not as I opened up my door black smoke comes out fire is already done I am too late to respond. Pics coming up

 

[NeilP]

If you are very unlucky.

Yes they are dangerous, and the older packs still are dangerous, but now most of us know about the care of them, this sort of thing should not still be happening.


i have frequently tried to destroy them by massive over charging. and yes they do sometimes blow, but not always .

look at this.

OK a really crap video , but see the abuse it takes ,and i eventually have to hit it with a pointed welding hammer to get it to burn.

There are plenty more of course on youtube where they do burn more readily...just saying that it is not such a foregone conclusion as most seem to think it is.

[youtube]9FRjFxKoUYQ[/youtube]

 

[TheBeastie]

Pls be really careful handling lipo batteries....this happened to me inside my car.....I am dumb using a puffed lipo packs on my RC stuffs then I put it in my back pack 2 batteries and 2 radios in my back pack. I was washing my car and noticed that my windows are dark. I thought it was just the moisture from washing but its not as I opened up my door black smoke comes out fire is already done I am too late to respond. Pics coming up

Cool to hear your willing to post pics, don't hold back no ones going to get stuck into about it.

.. but now most of us know about the care of them, this sort of thing should not still be happening.

LOL, people dont read shit, I have noticed some folks on here reply to some of my posts for over a year and then post a thread about something old that is in my signature url as if its new and just discovered it, when technically the URL has been sitting in there face for years...
Like my dodgy 18650 cells URL http://youtu.be/eOshOXcSkDA

Then there are people who just don't even look at this forum.
There will always be lipo fires, infact I wouldn't be surprised that its just the beginning of such issue statistics.

 

[windtrader]

Only in hobby and DIY forums will you find this topic having meaning to the user of these batteries. We are statically not measurable in the hazardous battery failure rate.

virtually all batteries are used and charged according to standard and proven electrical and mechanical standards and used this way makes these incidents extremely rare.

What goes on here is like a mad scientists lab and we do literally play with fire and need to proceed with great care and caution and awareness and safety in mind. Simple as that.

 

[ohzee]

Good point.


Also add to the fact that there will always be new people who are like most of us or at least myself
and need to learn by experience.

 

[kenwood96]

I have for over 60ah 6cell lipo's in my garage, haven't had a single accident in 4 years. By "accident" i mean user error :lol:
If you know what you're doing, and you're not using a 10$ lipo charger NOTHING's gonna happen.


I had to drive a screwdriver through a pack 2 times to deliberately start a fire....

 

[windtrader]

The focus of the conversation is not about faulty OEM cells; it proven by the millions of batteries in use everyday that they are safe. The point of all battery safety issues in this forum is the systems connecting to the batteries and manual procedures are the root cause of the problems, not the batteries.

You are fine to this point, the moment you make a stupid "mistake" you will have your "accident".

 

[Hillhater]

The focus of the conversation is not about faulty OEM cells; it proven by the millions of batteries in use everyday that they are safe. The point of all battery safety issues in this forum is the systems connecting to the batteries and manual procedures are the root cause of the problems, not the batteries.
".

Not true...
If you read more of these forums, you will find well documented evidence of new, unused, balanced, ....LiPo packs spontaneously bursting into flames !
These things are not 100% guaranteed stable! And can be very sensitive to minor manufacturing errors,.... (remember they are made cheaply in China).

 

[999zip999]

Lipo Fire how would you guess. Hundreds of fires a week. Yes I said hundreds of lipo fires weekly. So be careful.

 

[windtrader]

All Flightmax batteries have UL, RoHS, CE and are produced under ISO 90001 and ISO 14001 standards. PRODUCT ID: Z22003S20C. This product avai

I am not an expert on the specific certification requirements for lipo batteries from the rating organizations but if flammable lipo battery incidents occur as often in the approved use cases then I am certain they would lose their certificate and be banned for sale in the USA and Europe.

 

[Hillhater]

I doubt many cells or packs are as rigorously inspected or tested as those used for the Boeing Dreamliner .
A respected , ISO quality Japanese manufacturer, certified by NASA, tested for thousands of hours....
..yet still a sleeping fireball thanks to an alleged minor internal defect !
Never get over confident with safety around any concentrated energy source.

 

[friendly1uk]

All Flightmax batteries have UL, RoHS, CE and are produced under ISO 90001 and ISO 14001 standards. PRODUCT ID: Z22003S20C. This product avai

I am not an expert on the specific certification requirements for lipo batteries from the rating organizations but if flammable lipo battery incidents occur as often in the approved use cases then I am certain they would lose their certificate and be banned for sale in the USA and Europe.

The batteries are fine. Just like petrol. It's what you do with them that counts.

Boeing's fires were poor quality control. Though it is extremely rare for them to burn if used correctly, It does happen. I hear we have one case of this reported. A tiny percentage, but it does happen.

edit: The cause of self ignition is generally dirt during production. Except for RC users, who connect them wrong or set their chargers wrong or run them down to low. There are quite a few ways to light them up. Only one is really applicable to a properly built pack though. Manufacture level faults, which are quantifiable. Also they come in batches, and recalls are not uncommon.

We can't take them away because some people need protecting from themselves. Many things are taken for this reason, but high power batteries are to widely used. We can just set standards. Then act against those that don't meet them.

We shouldn't promote the use of RC chargers at all. Everyone should have a BMS. If we add up the value of all our bikes, and all the stuff the bikes have torched, the result is one that requires action.

 

[Hillhater]

Boeing's fires were poor quality control. Though it is extremely rare for them to burn if used correctly, It does happen. I hear we have one case of this reported. A tiny percentage, but it does happen.."..

The conclusions to the Boeing fires are very questionable, particularly with regards to the lack of evidence to support the findings !
But, the point remains, YUASA are a certified ISO9001 manufacturer, with Japanese production standards also.
Like wise the Sony/Dell laptop cell pack fires of a few years ago,...
....and the A123 cell failures that helped bring down Fisker....
All were reputable manufacturers of high quality cells....but still there were serious flaws in their products that slipped through the QA systems and test protocols.
So, don't believe anyone who says their LiPo/LiCo etc , cells are guaranteed 100% safe !

 

[Doctorbass]

a quick search on youtube with LIPO FIRES give: 48 700 results

Now search with BATTERY FIRE and you get: 23 000 results

then search with LiFePO4 FIRE and you get : 2 700 results

is a sign? :lol:


But LiPo are not dangerous when discharged ( empty) because there is no current available to ignite when it is shorted by punture I tested that as well as many other members

My understanding is that often what cause them to catch fire when puffing is the mecanical deformation due to pressure build up inside that make their nice rectangle shape to force to a spherical shape with pressure and that cause the corner and edge of the layers inside to short together, creating the ignition ( well most of the time) and then the solvent ignite.

Doc

 

[999zip999]

Pedago is having a ebike battery recall for it's battery packs that were made with non samsung cells. If you open the pack up and they aren't label samsung it may be replaced. It said it was a 6~8 month period. The packs had caught fire. Some would just start making a popping noise. But a very bad situation that could or may led to fire. Plus a euro ebike company that recalled 8,000 packs as I was told yesterday. I could go back and ask the company name. Yes lighting trapped in a box and you just want to take a little out at a time as you want. Only need one mistake once for bad things to happen. All batteries can make fire. That a household 9v and some steel wool. Now you must do this outside in a barbeque. Potential problems are out there.

 

[dnmun]

i am under the impression he was not charging at the time his battery smoked so it is caused by a short so it is more likely caused by the cells contacting another battery or shorting on some metal object. i think it has to be a very good short to ignite them too.

the thermal runaway begins when the cell reaches a high temperature which it cannot shed the heat from. this is usually during overcharging for long periods. the boeing pack had to withstand 4.5V/cell for 24hours charging to pass airworthiness test.