Not a electric guy and the only batteries I use is for the TX, RX and field equipment. Our field has thirty stalls in two pavilions. Each stall has 110 outlets for charging. Yesterday a person was charging a LIPO and the thing burst into flames. Never have I seen such a thing. We have fire extinguishers located in places along the field. The fire was quickly put out. My question is what in the world happened. The person had been charging all day and nothing seemed wrong. After all the excitement the charger was checked out and appeared to be OK. Could the battery gone bad or could the charger malfunctioned?
Must admit, never observed old men moving so fast!

Lipo fires are a hazard we must live with. Careful use of chargers and constant battery inspection and maintenance will reduce most chances. But, yes it could have been a damaged battery, an incorrect charger setting or automatic reading, old out of balance battery, etc. There are many reasons. And actually too common.

I only charge/store my lipo packs in a battery sack. At might be a good idea to make this a rule at your field. At least for the charging part. Chip Hyde burned part of his house down from a battery fire. So it can happen to anyone.


David

Yes indeed, you never leave a charging lipo unattended and always put them in a fire bag when charging. Lipo's do have a history of catching fire and need to be watched as they charge. They will also catch fire in a crash if the right set of circumstances is present. They are good batteries, however they must be respected and monitored at all times. I might be on the extreme side, but I store mine in a fire proof box in between trips to the flying field, but then again, I work in the fire protection field. Good Luck, Dave

As mentioned the pack could have been damaged in a crash or dropped. The charger could have been set incorrectly also.
I must admit I've never witnessed or even heard a story of anyone(at the fields I fly) experiencing a fire while charging and a lot of folks fly electric and use some large packs.  I believe if you take care of the packs, handle them, charge and maintain them properly and in a safe manner  and stay away from the low quality packs you will have no problems.

Chances are it was the pack. Lipo fires are pretty common

What do you consider to be a good fire proof box? I store mine in Army ammo boxes. Is that good enough?

Due to the possibility of a fire I store my LiPo batteries outdoors in an old barbecue grill I no longer use for cooking. I have seen 3 LiPo battery fires at our field, one in a crashed electric plane, one in a flying electric helicopter, and the third I don't remember. LiPo batteries are currently dangerous. The latest full scale passenger plane has had LiPo battery fires; read the papers!

question.....if the batteries are not damaged and stored in a LiPo 'bag' - Can they still catch fire?

Hi tailskid
I have to assume that they can catch on fire.

Just being stored and un damaged Id say the chances of a fire are very small. A fire can be caused by over charging, or damage to the pack. Once a cell rutures then you have a very intense hot fire

Some of my LiPos ballon up, like being under pressure. What causes this? Is there a danger? What can be done about it? Should I stop using the battery? The batteries have never been damaged.

If your batteries are bulging up that is damage. You're either over charging or over discharging the batteries. Is it bad you bet if a cell ruptures and the goo insides hits the air you have a hot intense fire. The only accidental lipo fire I saw was from a bulged pack.
I think you need to see what is causing the packs to bulge

If they are puffed at all then yes they are damaged and yes that battery is history totally unsafe to use and easily can end up looking like this one. This not just some picture off the net, I took this picture, it happens.

John

Not totaly true. They all will puff some after a hard discharge but are not necessarily bad. I have some that I have been using for years that do this. Follow the rules, use precaution and you will be ok. Good reading here for allhttp://hangtimes.com/lithium_ion___l...er_saftey.html
[quote]ORIGINAL: JohnBuckner


If they are puffed at all then yes they are damaged and yes that battery is history totally unsafe to use and easily can end up looking like this one. This not just some picture off the net, I took this picture, it happens.

John
[/quot

And just what do you think that hard discharge is raptureboy? Its damage that's what it is so now tell me are you prepared to accept the libiltity if Villa has an incident. Exactly how little puffing can one be safe with and are you prepared to tell them what it is and what is not safe, I think not. Your cup may be half full but be assured the lawyer that can come after you, their cup is half full.

You yourself said follow the rules and every rule out there will tell you puffed batteries are damaged batteries and are unsafe.

John

I had one puff up and go HOT and vent at the field. It never burned, but you would not want to touch it.

It happened because I charged it at too high a rate, my bad. I was just getting into elect and lipo's

I try and stay at 1C charge rate, no matter what the battery says it can be charged at. If I want to fly more I try and have more batterys for that plane.

I agree, I think the lipo's are safe. but we must treat them as they need to be treated.

I also do not leave them unattended while charging, I have a special charging station in the basement. Its fire proof.

sticks

I do store mine in an old military ammo box when I am at home. I also use the same box to transport them to the field and back as well. Not sure if it is completely fire proof, but it will take a wail of a fire to get out of the box. Common sense is all that is being talked about here, as I said before, never charge them and leave them and check them often for any damage. Good Luck, Dave