Lesson learned: Lipo's really ARE dangerous
09-19-2005, 09:19 AM
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Lesson learned: Lipo's really ARE dangerous
First off, I'll just mention nobody got hurt. But for any other newbies, it's a good idea to check this out..
I'm fairly new to electric flight. Bought a couple of lipo batteries for use in my planes. I see warning and caution labels everywhere concerning lipo maintenance, storage, and use. I figure... yeah whatever. How bad can they be right? If they're so dangerous, then we would not be able to purchase them for use in model aircraft, right??
Well, they are dangerous. Was flying my plane yesterday with a new brushless outrunner and lipo combo. I had (notice past tense used here!) a 3S 2100 lipo in it. At one point in the flight, I was doing a high bank turn. The battery door in the plane opened, and the battery litteraly ejected from the plane!! This was about 200 ft. above ground. All I could was watch the battery first fall and smash into the ground, and then the plane did a nose dive not too far away from the battery crash scene.
I first saw where the plane crashed, so I headed for it. Looked over though, and all of a sudden I saw a huge puff of smoke coming from the ground. It only took a second for me to realize what had happened. I ran over, and sure enough, the battery was popping, fizzing, and now billowing smoke from it! It was severe enough that I almost ran for a fire extinguisher (I probably should keep one in my car now). I didn't know if the grass was going to catch fire or not. It eventually stopped smoking, and nothing on the ground caught fire. But I kept an eye on it for a while, and then finally removed it from the crash scene with a pair of pliers.
What a bummer. I got all of 5 minutes of use on my new lipo. Check out the picture below to see what happens to a battery when it hits the ground at a high rate of speed. [
]
I'm fairly new to electric flight. Bought a couple of lipo batteries for use in my planes. I see warning and caution labels everywhere concerning lipo maintenance, storage, and use. I figure... yeah whatever. How bad can they be right? If they're so dangerous, then we would not be able to purchase them for use in model aircraft, right??
Well, they are dangerous. Was flying my plane yesterday with a new brushless outrunner and lipo combo. I had (notice past tense used here!) a 3S 2100 lipo in it. At one point in the flight, I was doing a high bank turn. The battery door in the plane opened, and the battery litteraly ejected from the plane!! This was about 200 ft. above ground. All I could was watch the battery first fall and smash into the ground, and then the plane did a nose dive not too far away from the battery crash scene.
I first saw where the plane crashed, so I headed for it. Looked over though, and all of a sudden I saw a huge puff of smoke coming from the ground. It only took a second for me to realize what had happened. I ran over, and sure enough, the battery was popping, fizzing, and now billowing smoke from it! It was severe enough that I almost ran for a fire extinguisher (I probably should keep one in my car now). I didn't know if the grass was going to catch fire or not. It eventually stopped smoking, and nothing on the ground caught fire. But I kept an eye on it for a while, and then finally removed it from the crash scene with a pair of pliers.
What a bummer. I got all of 5 minutes of use on my new lipo. Check out the picture below to see what happens to a battery when it hits the ground at a high rate of speed. [
]
09-19-2005, 10:14 AM
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RE: Lesson learned: Lipo's really ARE dangerous
Have you ever seen what happens to a fully charged Ni-Cd pack when it is suddenly shorted - like it might be from a high fall to the ground?
09-19-2005, 01:10 PM
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RE: Lesson learned: Lipo's really ARE dangerous
Ummm...the result of the fire, etc. was NOT from the battery.,,, it was the blunt trauma to the ground....
I'm betting that is not an appropriate way to treat a battery... this does NOT make the battery dangerous........
I'm betting that is not an appropriate way to treat a battery... this does NOT make the battery dangerous........
09-19-2005, 02:26 PM
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RE: Lesson learned: Lipo's really ARE dangerous
You say that LiPos are dangerous.....
but the problem you described was due to obvious mistreatment of the pack...no fault of yours (unless the battery hatch wasn't properly attached
)
but mistreatment all the same....
so the battery IS NOT dangerous... but MISTREATMENT of the battery can be... but this is true of all battery chemisty.......
Put a big wire between the positive and negative post of your car battery (please don't this is just an example) and it will fry and cause problems... does that mean the battery is dangerous......?
but the problem you described was due to obvious mistreatment of the pack...no fault of yours (unless the battery hatch wasn't properly attached
)but mistreatment all the same....
so the battery IS NOT dangerous... but MISTREATMENT of the battery can be... but this is true of all battery chemisty.......
Put a big wire between the positive and negative post of your car battery (please don't this is just an example) and it will fry and cause problems... does that mean the battery is dangerous......?
09-19-2005, 03:44 PM
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RE: Lesson learned: Lipo's really ARE dangerous
Ok. Would you prefer I changed the title of the thread to this...
Lipo's can potentially be very dangerous if mistreaded
I figured people would understand what I meant by the title. I believe lipos are much more volatile than other battery chemistries though. Others, such as Ni-CD's, will tolerate much more "mistreatment". Or at least, I don't see lots of warning labels plastered all over ni-cd packs like they do with lipos.
Lipo's can potentially be very dangerous if mistreaded
I figured people would understand what I meant by the title. I believe lipos are much more volatile than other battery chemistries though. Others, such as Ni-CD's, will tolerate much more "mistreatment". Or at least, I don't see lots of warning labels plastered all over ni-cd packs like they do with lipos.
09-19-2005, 08:09 PM
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RE: Lesson learned: Lipo's really ARE dangerous
I think the title of this thread is appropriate, no need to change. Are they really more dangerous? I don't know but I've heard of more fires with LiPos than we had with the other chemistry batts. Am I going to change the way I treat them? No......I ain't had no trouble yet and I've gone thru a bunch already. I feel a lot of the problems are caused by people not paying attention to what they are doing when charging. Causing a fire due to a crash, (shorting out), is no more dangerous than other batts.
09-20-2005, 12:11 PM
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RE: Lesson learned: Lipo's really ARE dangerous
Last Sunday I watched a fellow run his Stryker out of range (apparently) and lawn-dart into high grass. He went to get it and was a long time coming back. Later he reported that when he reached the crash site, the battery had shorted out and was smoldering, so he waited around to make sure it didn't start a grass fire. Good thing he wasn't too close because one of the cells actually exploded. So I asked him if it was a Li-Po, or a Ni-Cd, or what.
Guess what?
Ni-MH.
So, apparently, there's no free lunch. They can all be dangerous if abused.
Guess what?
Ni-MH.
So, apparently, there's no free lunch. They can all be dangerous if abused.
