While most lithium fires result from human error (overcharging, physical damage, shorting the leads, excessive current flow, etc.), there is a small percentage of cells which contain manufacturing defects. Those cells are unpredictable which is one reason why a lithium pack should never be left alone while charging. In addition, if you have a suitable charging container, it makes good sense to use it. I have a 5S3P pack which is brand new....has never been used and doesn't even have a connector soldered to the leads. Yet, it's puffed which indicates it may have been damaged when the pack was built, or there are one or more defective cells in the pack. Clearly, the balancing modules such as those which are available from Thunder Power offer one more step toward safer electric power. I've been reading various electric forums on the Internet for several years now and many of the problems modelers experience with lithium polymer batteries occur when folks become complacent and fail to follow the safety rules.

Mike Moritko