BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

First off, Iwant to make it very clear that I am NOT trying to scare people and suggest that LiPos are devices of evil created by the devil. Nor am Isuggesting that you should stay away from LiPo packs. Along with brushless motors, I believe they are one of the great inventions in modern RCtechnologythat have allowed hobbyists to experience another dimension of the hobby; insane speed and power!

Anyhow, Idid something foolish and this was the result. I was ill equipped to make a repair to the main power lead and while trying to repair a tear in the silicone shielding Iassume Ipunctured a cell inside the hardcase. After that, all hell broke loose as I scrambled to kick it out of my garage and out the back door deep into the yard. Ilet it burn itself out but I smoked out the rest of my house. No injuries to report, thankfully. As long as you charge, discharge and use LiPo packs as they were intended you will not have an issue like this.

This used to be a Turnigy 2S 30-40C 5200Mah LiPo.

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

Thanks for posting up. I think its good for people to get a reminder every now and then that you need to treat these things with care even if 90% of people never have this happen.

How charged was the battery when you were working on it? Was it just smoking? Do you think you would have made it outside with it had you been forced to go through the house with it?

The_Shark

one time my dog grabbed my micro lipo for my helie, he chewed on it and i grabbed it out of his mouth as it got hot and started to smoke, WHY a dog would think it was a good idea to chew on a battery is beyond me...

thank god that dog has a new owner, what a handful!

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

The pack was less than 50% charged when this happened.

It went sort of like this: as I was poking around where the power leads enter the hard case (this is where I went wrong) Iheard some "pops" then saw some sparks. Then Iheard sizzling and saw more flame and sparks. At that point very thick white smoke began shooting out; that's when I swatted it off the bench in a panic. When it hit the concrete the pack was well involved as I saw flames and soot shooting from it. Ihave black marks on the floor, parts of the wall and on my washing machine. The smoke was incredible. It was filling the room quickly so Ithrew the back door open and kicked the pack towards the yard. An old blanked was left on the ground in the doorway so now the battery is caught up in it. Ikicked the entire smoldering mess way out into the yard and let it burn. After a moment to catch my breath Iremove the blanket and let the pack continue to burn on the lawn.

It's difficult to remember but, I believe the entire episode lasted longer than a minute but less than two. I had to open a bunch of windows and use fans to clear the house of smoke and that disgusting burning electronics smell. Thankfully I didn't light my clothes on fire and I'm glad the kids weren't around. I think overall this went pretty well; all things considered. Had Ifor some reason been forced to run it through my house carrying it by the power leadsI don't think I could have made it. If the intense smoke didn't choke me out and cause me to drop it the heat of the fire would have melted the solder joints and the pack would have fallen on the carpet. That may have caused a fire or at the very least filled the house with even more smoke. The blanket has holes burned it it but, it never caught flame.

The lesson: don't make repairs or modifications to battery packs unless you are skilled in electronics repair and have the appropriate tools and safety equipment to do so. For most of us here on RCU Idoubt we are prepareed. So, if you have a LiPo pack that's going lame or you're unsure about it's integrity; just drop it in the recycle bin such as those at Radio Shack or Best Buy retailers and save yourself the possibility of personal injury or damage to your home.

Karontu

especially with turnigy lipos, my uncle felt bad when his SC10 didn't hold the balance lead in on one of my turnigy's, it ripped the plug off. he offered to try and repair it but i just told him don't trip, the batteries are all of 20$ which is a lot less than a fire.

ReMiXeDg

I don't trust LiPos, I was charging one once and it blew up in my kitchen gave my mother burns all around her face and arms and her belly.. From that day on I never used one again.

The_Shark

i guess you dont have a cell phone, ipod or laptop either.

properly maintained and charged they are safe as can be.

OvalRacer99

Umm...Here's a clue, Your dog DIDN'T know it was a battery, besides, they will chew on just about anything!!!

Dale Gribble

My Feedback: (4)

There is the other side to this story, i.e. you were definitely doing something wrong here. Lipos don't just 'blow up'. You had something happen, i.e. charge leads shorted, or you were overcharging or were using a nimh charging profile or something...

Dale Gribble

My Feedback: (4)

TO OP, its a good reminder to all of us that we shouldn't become complacent with something that can deliver 120A+ of continuous current. That is a ton of energy to dissipate in the event of a failure.

tommygun32

Thanks Dale, I wanted to, but thought twice about stating the obvious...

But then again, we've only read his limited side of the story.

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

Insert misogynistic joke about women and kitchens here.

In all seriousness, LiPos don't "just blow up", you have to do a LOT wrong. There was a video on YouTube of a guy that hooked one directly to 120AC and it took FIVE MINUTES to go up. You did something wrong.

Good point about treating things with respect. LiPos are like guns...only dangerous in the hands of people that don't know how to use them.

proanti1

My Feedback: (2)

I watched a helicopter catch on fire after the LiPo battery burst into flames. Smoke started dumping out of it (looked like nitro), helicopter went down after the battery failed, then went up in flames about 30 seconds after it hit the ground.

The_Shark

dogs lucky i didnt give him a 255gr. piece of lead at 1200fps.

i hated that dog, it was a nice, friendly dog, but would chew on everything, and try to eat your food while you where eating it.

it was a small little silver cube with no scent, plenty of other stuff to chew on, like the rubber tires that where sitting right by it.

SyCo_VeNoM

That is no scent to you. Remember they have WAY better sniffers.
Majority of animal behavioral issues can be traced to the owners who raised them, how they are treated, and spoken to.

Dale Gribble

My Feedback: (4)

That sounds amazing. Pics or video? IMO guy was either pushing lipos too hard or maybe the balance connector or battery leads shorted.

Here is another problem I have been seeing lately. Modern brushless system are pushing way past the current capabilities of many lipos and some are overlooking that. If you throw a 20C 5000mAh or lower C lipo against a 120-150A ESC, bad things will happen. It used to be that lipos and ESCs were in step, but now you can really pick some potentially dangerous combos if you don't know what you are doing.

savagecommander

poking around on the inside of the cell is a bad idea period. the cell shorted, and was attempting to deliver 100% of its capacity at 100% of what it could. the worst possible scenario for fire is overdischarge.

T-bird, read up a bit on lipo's and got some good facts instead of basing your opinion on youtube videos and then bashing people in posts.

Maj_Overdrive

My Feedback: (11)

I'd like to be able to say anyone with some electrical knowledge and a little common sense can make lipo repairs safely as I've found repairing lipos quite easy. But not everyone knows enough about lipos to do it safely and we can all make mistakes, and with lipos mistakes can result in fire. Most likely scenario is he punctured a cell and you don't have to go deep to short the layers within the cell (u can see the paper thin layers in the op's pic), resulting in a thermal runaway and fire. Possible the tabs were shorted, but in instances I've seen it usually takes a minute to get smoke and fire from an external short. At least he was in the garage with a concrete floor and not flammable flooring, I do my Lipo repairs in my garage as well which also has a fire extinguisher.

Dale: Good point about esc/motor combos being able to pull more than a lipo can put out. Been seeing more posts by people complaining of the symptoms of not having enough battery. Been seeing a bunch of puffed packs at my LHS from people pushing their setups too hard too. Kinda sad to see a guy puff 3 cells in a Venom 6s 5000 pack on its first run.

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

LOL[&:][&:]

K. You're right. ThunderbirdJunkie has never used LiPos before. Never did any reading. You're absolutely right...something that is normally benign and harmless burst into flames with no provocation whatsoever.

fred985

i charge my lipos outside away from anything that can burn. i never had any problems but just want to be safe. it would be grete to have a book listing all the electric motors etc that work together. or have the corect equipment to be sold as a matched packege. some electric motors are being listed as to their power compared to glo engines. that is a step in the right direction.

1QwkSport2.5r

Wow.... And I thought an epoxy fire was serious business.... Good thing I dont run Electrics..

vega406

My Feedback: (73)

i put a puffed 5 cell out of it misery with BB gun [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9mOEzq9m_c[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJYB5HlNiWE[/youtube]

The_Shark

i blame the mother of that dog, should've bit that puppy's head right away.

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

In my first post I made the above statement; that pretty much says it all. I don't blame the pack for it's build quality or the like. I went against my best judgment because I thought I could save a $25 battery but in the end I lost the pack and could have lost more.

The "fire" I saw looked more like Vegas first smoke video. I didn't see large flames as in the second video.

So long as we're on the topic of burning batteries; I've never seen a NiCd or NiMh fail. Do they burn or explode if they are severly damaged? I imagine if a cell was shorted it could generate enough heat to possibly pop but, is it anything like a LiPo?

vega406

My Feedback: (73)

i have fellow flyer take cells from bad one,s put together and make good one but if you short something yep bad news..my 1st test was with blow dart it did nothing until i touched the dart sticking out of battery then it short internal plates and 2 cell was light enough to spin around like fireworks and i have put out fires at elcectric plane crash due to battery short on impact.. my Habu 32 suffered repairable nose damage but $200- 6 cells are bent bad on end but still works good so i know gases will ignite but does it have to be puffed and bad 1st i wont test a good one P.S. i,m 51 but still like to play scientist in daddy,s back yard and it was dad at the BB gun