Here's why you don't charge your batteries inside your model tank/truck/car
 

I've seen guys install charge jacks to charge their high-capacity battery packs so they don't have to pull batteries out all the time; I've always been uncomfortable with that arrangement.

Here's a reminder why you shouldn't do it:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2087366http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2087367http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2087368

Excellent post, Leong. A picture is worth a thousand words. I cringe every time I hear some guy say "I don't think anything will go wrong".

Looks like a Lipo fire, would have no issue charging my nimh packs in vehicle.

I've had to lob split and fizzling NiMH packs in the sink before now, and I have friends who have witnessed NiCD packs burn down a guys tug boat right before his eyes (thankfully it was being charged outdoors at the time).

'It will never happen to me' is what they all said before it happened.

Everyone seems to think Nimhs are perfectly safe and they can't go up like a lipo. Think again. Or don't, but don't come cryin' if it happens to you. "Better safe than sorry" is an expression that's been around for ages. Hmmm, wonder why?

The ones that really hack me off are the guys that do it in apartment buildings. Who are you to risk all those other people, because you think it will be OK?

All batteries can short and when they do, cause a lot of heat. Where do you think all that lovely power goes? It may not be as violent as a lipo, but it's not going to be pretty for the model. ;)

Any battery can have problems, not just Lipos.

I once had the 12 volt battery in my Land Cruiser, a full size Toyota, explode while the truck was idling at the post office. It blew battery acid all over the engine. I was lucky the hood was down.

I charge all my tank batteries on a noncombustible surface, metal or concrete, and set a metal plate on them to dissipate heat while they are charging. They are plugged in so that I can pull the plug quickly if needed without reaching over the battery to do it. Often I go as far as charging the battery inside an ammo can with the lid off, but handy, so an explosion will be contained and I can put the lid on quickly to extinguish the resulting fire before it spreads. NEVER assume nothing will go wrong!

As a footnote: I am a firefighter with over 20 years of experience.

I would never charge a LIPO on board, however I do charge NIMH batteries on board. I have never heard of a NIMH causing harm until now. The discharge rate is much lower and there has to be an issue with the battery or the wiring leading up to the battery for this to happen. I'll have to re-run that through the risk matrix and see where it ends up.

I would certainly never debate this topic on the FOR charging batteries on board and as Gary said, "it is better to be safe then sorry" My latest builds are made with the thought of removing the battery for charging. Mainly because I discovered Lipos.

Food for thought


Statistically you have a greater chance of a material loss or your life driving your car, and most of us summon up the stupidity to do that everyday.:)

With everyone in such a hurry to fast-charge their battery packs it's a wonder that we don't see this more often. Low and slow is the safest way to charge any battery but we just don't have the time...

That was a nice truck.

I'm not only charging battery outside of the car/tank but also turn off the charger & disconnect the battery when I want go out.

If you are using NiMH and have a fuse then would have not problems. I have seen NiMH to explode (because the guy forgot he was charging without timer or temperature sensor) and just they liberated a gas... poisonous of course.
I have my NiMh and NiCd batteries inside the tanks, discharged.
I have a lot of respect for Lipos, mostly the big ones, more when you don't have used them for a while..

Yep, a lesson I too learned a long time ago. When I was a young plug reservist I watched one of our radios with a NiCad battery burn up a tent. I always carry and charge my batteries in an old military metal ammo box. Right now an WWII .30 cal box! But anyone can go down to an army surplus store and pick one. THey are great for transporting your battieries and chargers to the field or just storing them at home...

That model would make a great diorama of a highway wreck.
rex

Providing of course they were made of plastic and would burn/melt...oh, wait a minute, THEY ARE!!

So the bottom line is that we all know what's safe and what's not, and we should all practice safety rules all the time. I can't think of one single guy on this forum that I would call "stupid", so there's no reason why anything like this should ever happen to one of us, because we know the safety rules and we follow them religiously, right?

I only had one problem with batteries... placed them in my RC Chaparral made several laps and it quit and had a mini fire on board. I wasn't pulling too many amps and the props were the proper size and pitch, so they weren't too aggressive. Just unfortunate as I repaired the damage and ran again in a few hours... the problem never returned.

I see a lot of guys have elaborate plugs set up for charging on board their tanks. Not for me. I don't mind pulling batteries out and placing a fully charged one in OR just getting another tank out, since most of us have more than one.

I think it's more like they CAN do this is why it's done. :cool:




Jeff

I follow a risk matrix, and decide accordingly. If the worst case outcome is the loss of a tank, and nothing more then there is some room for living on the edge;) Ie charging my tank outside on my concrete pad. If something bad ever happens I will be sure to share pictures.

I am pretty sure the human race seems to like taking risks, but these battery hazards should not be ignored. Why would anyone risk burning up the house or endangering their loved ones over something so simply mitigated.

There are many videos on you tube demonstrating how some of these things can get out of hand, so it does happen and the risk is real,.

You know the idea of a 10 Amp car fuse would be one way of averting disaster if you must charge a battery inside a tank. Anything that is going to start a fire will draw 10 amps pretty quick, and blow the fuse shutting off the power,

Dupe post

Sorry guys, but these pics don't look like a battery overheat, it looks staged.

The truck looks like someone has taken a blow torch to the truck. That's odd damage to the wing on top of the cab on the right side. Melted, yes. Strangely, there's no damage to much of the plastic underneath. Seems like that the back of the cab (being closer to the battery) would have melted first. This looks like the heat was applied from the top and right side.

Also, when I look at the rear wheels on the left side, I see significant melting on top (and deeply) of the tires, but not the bottoms. Curious. Seems like the whole tire would have melted uniformly...or perhaps that the tire closest to the battery holder would have melted more. Not so.

There also seems to be lots of damage in the rear, specifically in the center where a kingpin would hitch. ? No battery back there. This truck looks like a Tamiya Scania Highline 470. On that kit, the battery holder is slung beneath the fuel tanks laterally (perpendicular to the direction of travel). A battery overheat that happened while one charged the battery in the vehicle means that damage should be centered in the fuel tank areas. In contrast, there is no damage to the left side of the truck near the fuel tank, the damage just seems to be on the right side, and then back at the hitch area.

I'm not saying it's fake. I am saying it has some inconsistencies that would need to be explained before I believe it is real. Why would someone do this? It seems to be getting lots of attention doesn't it? Just sayin...

Yes, you can burn things up with negligent battery handling, but the fact that we charge our cell phones and laptops while the lipo is inside of them really undermines making a rule not to charge in a vehicle. Negligent battery handling (with any battery chemistry) is always asking for trouble.

We airplane guys have been charging NIcads and Nimh batteries in our radios and planes with no issues. Sometimes even a smart charger can't overcome a dumb operator.

I can second the car battery explosion. My truck died, I jumped it and the battery bulged. I went to sears for a new battery and they insisted on a load test. I pointed out the bulge and they ignored it. In a few minutes i heard a boom and a bunch of guys running. I walked to the window and saw them throwing backing soda all over under my hood. I shook my head and went to the manager. They had to detail out my engine compartment. That poor truck took a beatimg from sears, they also dropped it off a lift once while all the wheels were off. Ugh....

ok, i have a 12v gel cell built into a g scale train only because its so hard to get out. Otherwise I wouldnt do it. In the signal corp i have seen a few battery fires for radio batteries. Lithium Ion batteries siting on a charger, NiMh, Nicad etc. When we fly on military transport, all radio batteries get pulled and put in accessible areas, incase they spontaneously combust, they can be ejected out the back. What is scary is that policy only comes from experience...

A friend had an airsoft gun catch fire from a battery short while we were playing against a bunch of marines. He had a nicad 7 cell i think. The marines got us while we were dealing with it.

Just a note: I don't own the truck in the pictures, I got that off a Hong Kong RC trucker Facebook page, but I think it is unlikely to be staged. Although I can't think of a good reason to burn down an expensive model truck, it wouldn't be the first time people have done silly things for giggles either.

Well, I am glad you posted the pics whether it's real or not. We all need to be reminded those little batteries we use can go bad at a moment's notice.

I just thought it looked staged because the heat/fire damage on that pic seemed to be in several different places...kind of like it was jumping around. Every fire I've seen starts in 1 place and works out from there.

Regardless, it's a good safety reminder. Thanks for posting it.

Jeff

Hey, when we were intoxicated, we burned down my friends model rail road. He said he wanted a forest fire, and handed us a couple of lighters. It was funny, those trees are so flamable. For all seriousness, he told us later he was planning on tearing most of it out to expand and rebuild it.