Lipo battery went up

[Pete.]

We're having a bit of a gathering round here, 2 barbeques going and loads of family/friends round with their kids. A couple of them have high-performance RC cars which they brought round to tinker with to save them getting bored.

One of the batteries was on charge in the back room (where my PC is, luckily) and I was sitting watching the footy on telly when there was a loud pop. The casing had split on the charging LIPO and it was visibly swollen.

We quickly grabbed a LIPO bag and stuffed the battery into it then put it out of harms way on the roof of the tin shed that holds the gardening tools. 10 minutes later it went up with a loud whoosh and a big cloud of smoke. Here's the result:

Needless to say, there will be no more LIPO batteries charged in this house any more. If I hadn't been sat there, we might have lost the house.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Good save there.
You are a lucky man.

 

[Pete.]

Don't I know it. I've seen the stories of LIPO fires etc but never gave it much of a thought when the lad put his battery on charge. They said that they could feel the heat from it going off in the bag from half way down the garden. Can't imagine what would have happened if it went off in the room though I do have a couple of CO2 extinguishers in the workshop.

His dad's off to collect a couple of steel ammo boxes tomorrow, he's not taking any chances after this happened.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Yell dad to get a couple of 2kg powder extinguishers.

 

[james butler]

often wonder what would happen should an electric car decide to go up in flames.
going to be hard to put all those batteries out.
i think the one hammond crashed on grand tour burnt for 5 days didnt it?
sounds like you had a very lucky escape and good job you reacted the way you did, i dont think i would know what to do other than unplug it and get it out the house.
where did you get a lipo bag from? never heard of one before.

 

[Pete.]

The bags are made just for this purpose (charging lipos). They had several bags I think they just got complacent about using them.

Definitely a wake-up call and I'll be glad when they have all gone home and took their batteries with them.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

@james butler
it is "entertaining" Class D fire extinguishers will do a lot to control it, but they are not cheep.
Home use a 2kg dry powder will do it bets if found early.

The fire brigade will let them burn, safer that way.


Pretty colours in the flames.

 

[james butler]

The bags are made just for this purpose (charging lipos). They had several bags I think they just got complacent about using them.

Definitely a wake-up call and I'll be glad when they have all gone home and took their batteries with them.

where did you get the bags from?

 

[Pete.]

where did you get the bags from?

I don't know James, they were visiting family. They are available most anywhere that sells RC stuff.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Get BS kite marked one.

The cheep ones burn very well.
But not good enough to cook a sausage on them, unless you want it to be your last.

 

[Pete.]

Not that it bothers me in the slightest but why would you move a thread about the dangers of charging batteries out of a forum that has the heading "Please post all discussions about electrical stuff in here."?

Seems a bit of a pointless exercise at the very least.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Coincidently I got mine out today to check charge levels.
Stored In individual fire bags in an ammo box.
Always charged in a bag and with me max 1 room away.

 

[R-D-R]

I'm heavy into RC cars and had a couple pop on me, both high end batteries but well used. First one was charging on a wooden bench in the wooden shed changed my approach from then on and use bags and charge outside whenever I can.

 

[james butler]

I don't know James, they were visiting family. They are available most anywhere that sells RC stuff.

ah righty ho, never heard of them before so wondered if they were a new thing.

 

[awemawson]

Pete, when I said you could have some of my bangers for your BBQ I meant bits of pig !

You are a lucky chappie.

 

[roofman]

I get paranoid when my daughter goes out and leaves her laptop sitting on the bed charging..ime not kidding it gets blistering hot

 

[Tangledfeet]

Had a brief flirtation with RC buggy racing several years ago but got far more out of building the cars up from kits than I did actually attempting to race. You can't go to a BRCA (British Radio Car Association) without lipo sacks; you'll be asked to leave pronto!

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Had a brief flirtation with RC buggy racing several years ago but got far more out of building the cars up from kits than I did actually attempting to race. You can't go to a BRCA (British Radio Car Association) without lipo sacks; you'll be asked to leave pronto!

Enjoyed building programing and tuning my racing quad than I do flying. Been over a year since I flew it.
Need to hit the sims before I venture out its been so long

 

[rtbcomp]

Not that it bothers me in the slightest but why would you move a thread about the dangers of charging batteries out of a forum that has the heading "Please post all discussions about electrical stuff in here."?

Seems a bit of a pointless exercise at the very least.

The "Electrical Stuff" section was in response to requests for a section on buildings wiring and electrical installations. The Brew Room is for sensible technical discussions (or at least those that start out being sensible ).

 

[carbon]

His dad's off to collect a couple of steel ammo boxes tomorrow, he's not taking any chances after this happened.

If the ammo boxes have seals fitted then it can just as bad and the boxes can get distorted in the event of a battery fault see this site Lipo battery container test