Another lithium polymer fire
 

Packing my RV, getting ready to leave for ButtonWillow Spring Fling. I had a couple batteries on charge, so I'd be all charged up & ready to fly upon arrival. Left to go to the store, when I got back the black smoke was billowing out of the RV! This is what's left.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1982011http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1982012http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1982013

David S

Dave!

Bummer man! I hope you and your models are ok!

If charging indoors try to use a little fire safe. More so to contain the fire so you can pick it up and throw it out side!

http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/a...rproofsafe.jpg

Sorry to see that happen to you, David. I hope you are well insured.

Sorry to see that Dave-Do you know what happened-Charger malfunction or bad battery. Scott

Sorry David!!!!!!

But the end result is that you should never leave any kind of Lipo batteries unattended while they are charging. No questions asked and if you do put them outside of the vehicle you left them in.

Not trying to be an ass about it but this is the users fault.

Dave, sorry to see this. I charge lipos in a BBQ put now and have switched to a123/LIFE batteries for receiver packs.

That's awful David, sorry that happened to you and I thank you for the reminder to never get complacent charging these things. What happened? Charger didn't shut off?

Mike

Hate to say it, but the fire safe's don't work. A little 800mah lipo pack destroyed a fire safe and almost burned my house down. The pack puffed, I put it in the fire safe, closed it, put it on the back porch of my garage… came down at 1am to the smell of smoke, whole side of house was charred. fire safe was almost gone. Everyone talks about a fire safe, thinking it will work…I unfortunately tested it.

WOW! I give you this, your humble enough to admit your mistake in public. I have been tempted many times to walk away and leave unattended charging batteries but when I saw one go up at the field just sitting on the tailgate of a guys truck after charging and now this, never again will I trust a charger no matter what. A very hard lesson to learn indeed, very sorry for your loss and glad no one was hurt.

Fire safes are only rated for so much burn time and these things burn with all the heat of a plasma cutter.

That totally blows, but don't you know never Never NEVER!!! leave these batteries charging unattended! At least no lives were lost which is what really matters overall.

I have charged my batteries on the stove if ever I had to do it inside the house. I've talked to guys who have charged their batteries while they are inside of a bbq with the lid on. Not sure where that rates but that's what I've heard some guys say who didn't really have a very fireproof area to do this.

No! No! No!

I don't want to hear that!!!

I use a fire safe to charge and don't leave it unattended. A fire safe, I hope, would give me enough time to pick up the safe with the burning lipo and run to the middle of the street and let it burn there. Yikes.

How many times do you guys have to be told :

NEVER, EVER, CHARGE A LITHIUM BATTERY UNATTENDED !!

AND ALWAYS ASSUME IT WILL CATCH FIRE !!!!!!!

http://laserpointerforums.com/f53/fi...ies-55214.html

For not trying, you've done an excellent job. Must come naturally to you!

#1 I unplugged the battery just prior to leaving for the store, so they weren't left unattended while charging. Your ASSumption is incorrect. The failure had apparently already started prior to me unplugging it and continued to conclusion in my absence.

#2 I never claimed it was anything else other than my fault. But thanks for your statement of blame, we can all rest easy now.

Scotty,

I assume the battery was bad, as I had unplugged the final battery from the charger before leaving. It apparently went nova at some point after I left.

Raptureboy,

Yes I admitted my mistake in public, now comes my public flogging by those who love restating the obvious. Thanks for your concern.

If there is anything to be learned here, IMO, it is that there is apparently a period after charging that these things can still explode. When I unplugged the final battery I assumed I was safe. NOT SO!

David S

you need this for charging, not a document safe, they protect papers from fire outside the case not for fire inside the case..


http://www.graupner.de/en/products/c...tcategory.aspx

Sorry to see this happen to you David. Even scarier that you disconnected everything before you went out.

David,

It was battery used to run EDF or lipo battery for turbine or rx?

Best,

Gabriel

Scotty,

I assume the battery was bad, as I had unplugged the final battery from the charger before leaving. It apparently went nova at some point after I left.


I have heard of them sitting on the shelf for months and then just going off-The things really are unpredictable. S

David thanks for telling the whole story. It lets all of us know that these batteries will go off at any time. I store all my lipos in a ammo can, and charge in a fire proof bag. Now I am wondering if this is safe.

Glad you are ok Dave!!!!

Gosh Big D, I am so sorry to see this happen to such a good person. I hope you can recover quickly from this.

Sorry to see this happen, especially right before leaving for a fun filled weekend of flying! Are you still planning on making the trip up for the Spring Fling? I am looking forward to meeting some more RC Jet veterans and getting as much information as possible from them as I am just starting out in jets.

If I may ask David, when you unplugged your battery from your charger before going to the store, did you notice anything in particular to the status of the battery? (Warm, puffed, etc.) Any idea how old the battery was? Size and capacity of the batter along with C rating? I am just curious.

David thanks very much for posting this. I am very sorry about your loss, I am glad no one was hurt.

David,
I'm so sorry this happened. I wish you the best.

A story from this past weekend:
We were at the flying field this past weekend and had to pack up quickly due to rain. Apparently, I left 3 4s2650 packs on the inside shelf of my trailer and did not secure them before leaving. When I got home and opened the back door of my trailer a huge smoke cloud billowed out. One of the 4s packs fell off the shelf and ruptured two of the cells on the floor. Fortunately, there was no fire or I would have lost a small DF jet, a 2.6m Yak and an EF Extra. All I have is a small burn mark on the floor and a hurt ego. On most days there is a turbine back there too. Man, I should have known better. I'm so lucky on this one.
Paul

Hey Dave,
Thanks for the heads up. Scary stuff. The good news....NEW RV!

With my fire, I am certain I was charging the battery properly.. i.e. 2s pack charger said 2s. I saw it puffing while on the charger. Put it in the safe, put it outside (thank God) and went to bed. Tiny little pack smoked that doc safe. hate to see what one of the 7000 packs for my planes would do!

I do my best to only buy TP packs if I'm buying lipo. And I tossed all the off brand random ones I had.

Thanks to all for the well wishes and concern, they are appreciated.

The battery was a 2100ma 3S Lipo I use for powering the fuel pump. I had it on charge as I was in the RV arranging and packing. The battery charger indicated charging complete with beep, so I unplugged it from the charger and left it sitting on the table. Left about five minutes later for the store, returned maybe half hour later to black smoke.

The battery explosion somehow caught ignited the upholstery/foam of the couch on fire. Took the fire dept about ten minutes to arrive. As soon as they opened the entry door, boom, the flames erupted!

I usually charge these at the field, in the pits, but, as I was eager to be able to get in afew flights later today I wanted to get a head start. Obviously a bad idea.

I will try to make it to ButtonWillow for Saturday flying at least, but someone will have to loan me a battery for the fuel pump. Both of mine were in the RV.

David S

David,

Glad you are safe, very scary, just hope they get that type of battery, and the systems correct for use in public transport aircraft.

Thanks for posting this unfortunate experience. All of us need to learn from this. I certainly have unplugged and walked away not thinking about this potential consequence. I will now revisit this concept

I have had some experience with this myself. I love the way people love to point out what they think is obvious. I lit up the inside of my explorer one day at the field. I for some reason set the charger to 4 don't know why. I knew what I did as soon as I heard the pop. I also blew up a a 123.2s when I forgot to change the setting back to 2s. Both of these incidents where completely my fault and I learned a great deal from them.

Freddy

Over 10 fires that I know of in this area over the last few years. I have seen brand new in the package Lipo batteries PUFF up hanging on the hobby shop wall. I'm surprised by the number of people still using them.

My home is a Lipo Free Zone! Not worth taking a chance.

sorry for your fire!

We wrongly assume that we are safer after unplugging the batts after charging. Thank you very much for your warning and detailing about the incident.


best regards, Enrique.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1982136Even small batteries can go up when my back was turned in same room

Damn,, David. Sorry for your loss man. I left you a message.

Dave, not to be a downer but I remember you let me crash on that very couch in 2009 at Fresno jets! Gosh, crazy! I hope you are able to get a great upgrade!

Exactly my concern now. I use ammo cans, sacks, and even a (apparently worthless) "fire" safe. And now these lipo's can just go off "unprovoked", even months later?

Man....

I keep mine stored in an ammo can with holes drilled in the top. I only charge outside the house.

Man, this just freaked me out. I just moved all my lipo's out to the shed, I'm ok if that goes up. What's the best way to store these?

Damn David, so sorry to see that.

David,

Thank you for sharing this experience with us, I am sure it will serve as a reminder as we all get going this season. Sorry for your loss.

Dave