Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

Given the awareness Andy's recent lipo fire thread brought to our community, I thought I'd share my experience in hopes that it further underscores the seriousness of the issue.

Last December I was charging a 2s lipo with my field charger and the battery caught on fire. I was charging at 0.8 amps and with the balance connector. The battery was 6 months old and I always bring all my lipos down to storage mode after a day of flying. The charger was new and sold by Tower. I used it 3 or 4 times as a field charger and this was the first time using it home.

The fire started in my workshop while I was in my house. I was only gone for 5 minutes and came back to a raging inferno. I used 3 fire extinguishers with no luck. The fire severely damaged my house, totaled my van, and wiped out my entire fleet of planes, helis, tools, transmitters... basically every hobby related item I owned.

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

Man, all of my man hours, up in smoke!!! That was rough man.

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

Tell me about it! 6 months later I'm still dealing with the mess.

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

The natural tendency for some, as seen in the other thread, is to assume that you must have done something wrong or your new charger was bad. If it was YOUR fault, they assume it won't happen to them.

I am grateful for your having shared your experience so that we might all learn from it.

Thanks,
Don.

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

So any clues as to the cause???

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

This is indeed worrying but for some who have many models (Me 130 in total) with lipos in the nose for balance etc it is very difficult to know what to do

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

Dantley,


It was horrible to hear about what happened but great to hear no one was hurt.

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

That is very, very bad. If you use LiPos in an aircraft, you *have* to make them removable and remove them for charging and for storage. You *will* get burned, its a matter of when...

Bob

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

Exact same way my fire started, Gone 5 min and returned to garage full of smoke. Only difference is my batteries were in a CHARGE SAFE BAG. Fire stayed in the bag. It got hot enough to melt the outside of the bag and through the work bench mat and even scourch the wooded work bench but never spread beyound the bag. It would have eventually started the garage on fire but I figure the bag bougnt me 2-4 minutes to smell the smoke and get the mess thrown out on the driveway and put out.

Still a huge mess to clean up but the bag saved my bacon.

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

I agree 100%. I always charged my lipos outside of the plane, but in this case I was charging an A123 battery on one port and a lipo (from another plane) on the other port. That lapse in good judgement cost me. [:o]

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

The photos of those burnt turbines are sickening. Damn sorry for your loss.

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

Sorry for your damage. I hope you have good insurance that covers your loss fully.

I charge my lipos outside the house on a metal table. I never get lazy or complacent about it. They are stored in an 1/8" thick metal box.

Even with my precautions, I still am not going to leave the charging area when charging.

Can't trust the lipos or charging process yet.

Soon, insurers will not cover lipos fires if this continues. Like mold..

Steve

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

Doesn't anyone use fire proof sacks? I always charge my LiPo's in one of these.

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

hello<div>
</div><div>I use this case for all of my lipo storage </div><div>
</div><div>http://www.boutiquemilitairequebec.c...IMG_0409-a.JPG
</div>

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

^ This

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

has anyone ever had any batteries besides LiPos light up ? I had a NiMh pack go on fire while charging several years ago. I was right there and was able to tear it out of the plane, but another 30 seconds and there would have been a bonfire going ...


On another battery note, I had a regular AA Duracel battery set fire inside my car. My son left old batteries in the trunk of my suv from one of his toys. I discarded them however one rolled under the seats which were folded. One day i folded the seats back up and heard a pop ... a few seconds later the rear of the seat and the carpeting is on fire. I had a hose nearby and was able to put the fire out. I found the old battery had gotten crushed open and shorted by the seat frame [:@] ...

Anything that has a store of energy, be it a battery, or fuel , etc ... is potentially dangerous and should be handled with caution and care. ..


~V~

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

I have never had any type of battery ever cause a fire issue in 39 years.

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

Dantly I heard about this but hadnt seen the carnage till now. Man that sucks. I see the problem though-Its that pile of JetCats that got so close together and reached critical Mass and had a spontainious ignition :) I had a NiMh batt go off in a Rookie. It was a two battery two switch into two ports set up. I was charging both batteries at the same time with two separate chargers powered from a single source battery. Barely got the battery out before it spread to the plane. Some one told me it was because of the common ground that confused the chargers. Who knows. Anyway I only charge one battery at a time now. BTW I only use dual A123 setups in my planes for the last few years. Scotty

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

Dantley, that was terrible but glad you werent hurt. Didnt realize you were attempting storage mode which is the right thing to do.

But I have to think that once in storage balanced state these Lipos are safe. Here is why I think that.
Manufacturers and warehouses that sell these have literally thousand upon thousands of these. I have not heard about their factories and warehouses burning down(have they?) The probability that they have a "store state fire"(since that's the way they keep and ship them) is much greater than you are I given we have at most 100 of these(most have far fewer) and they store many more - any one of which could "go". Except their batteries are brand new and ours cycled and used. So its somewhere in the handling/discharge/charge cycle that they have the potential to bite and likely due to imbalance. If this is not the case and they can simply spontaneously combust anytime then we might as well forget this technology altogether(and eventually it will self destroy and we wont be able to obtain them anymore).

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

Darren, I was charging the lipo, not putting it in storage mode. I just want to clarify that I did put all my lips in storage mode to prevent early deterioration of the packs.

Scotty, I no longer user lipos for my jets... only A123 and LIFE packs. Glad you were able to get the battery out.

JohnMac, I now use lipo sacs when charging, regardless of chemistry.

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

Yep been telling guys for years...
only charge outside in a safe area, I have been useing lipos since 2006. I keep them in vented ammo boxes inside lipo sacks and in storage charge when resting.
I only charge a few packs the night before to start my day and charge the rest at the field.

I also try and stick with high quality packs (thunder power, hyperion) always balance charge with high quality chargers .. I like FMA and thunder power chargers

I watch for out of balance cells and keep track of the I.R. ... I get rid of any old or damage packs right away.

I do feel safe with the packs when they are in a storeage state... there is always a risk, same with gasoline, kerosene, or your local PG&E gas lines..lol

I will not freak out about my large stack of Lipos, I treat them with respect and understand there is a risk. People have to know that you can't charge in your garage or home unless you plan to sit with it and even then there is not much you can do if it goes up... best practice is outside in a safe area.

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

OMG, sorry about your loss. Those pics are heart breaking. That's why I fly glow !!!:(

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

Ron, you're absolutely right. I got too comfortable with these batteries and slipped. I now charge in a slightly charged BBQ grill. I'm not abandoning lipos... I have a 14s 3D helicopter on the way, but I will not use them in my jets anymore. I like being able to charge A123 and LIFE packs in my plane.

Lopflyers, thanks for your kind words.

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

I knew about this Dantley but hadnt of course seen the pics until you
started this thread. tough to see all the loss for sure.

I have a few Lipos here, and am as carefull as possible with them.

Scotty mentioned above about a NiMH going off while charging.
I had a similar thing happen to me in a plane with a NiMH battery
going off while I was charging as well....................another plane
however!

I was in the garage charging my P47 to fly the next day. heard a puff, smelled
smoke, heard the sizzle. turned around and unplugged the wires to the
P47 and took it outside. Hmmm, where's the burning battery at?

Well, it wasnt in the P47................it was in one of my FW190's that was
on the rack and not being charged. For some wierd reason, the NiMH shorted
out and caught fire for no apparent reason I could tell.

I guess no matter what we have to fly and charge, being carefull is priority #1

Good to see you getting all back together. See you down here at BITW in a few
months

RE: Lipo Fire in Workshop
 

were they all NASA edition batteries by any chance ? :D:D

~V~