First of all, my family is safe and thanks to my wife for noticing the sounds of popping in the garage which was the lipo cells bursting.
I was in the garage doing some maintenance on my K6S and charging lipos at the same time. I finished charging some 3s lipos then I plugged in two 6s lipos to begin charging. Both 6s batteries were at storage charge (3.8v).
25min had passed and I was still in the garage working on my rig. I checked the lipos to see where the voltages were. 1 lipo was around 4.13v for each cell (seemed normal to me) and the other lipo was around at 3.85v for each cell (this should have been the warning sign) I thought “huh, that’s charging slow” and continued the lipo to charge.
I went inside the house to talk to my wife. 15min had passed and she noticed popping coming from the garage. I ran over and saw a yellowish orange hue bleeding threw the cracks around the door. Once I opened the door, I saw a fire spewing out of the lipo bag. I took a fire extinguisher and put the fire out.
Damage is minimal and glad we caught it in time. Lipo bag did it’s job and minimized the flame. Had thoughts of “this hobby isn’t worth the risk of catching your house on fire” as per normal in a situation like this but it taught me to be more cautious and I should have checked the lipo that was taking a long time to charge.
Definitely investing in a bat safe and to be even more cautious when charging lipos.
Was it my fault for the fire, yes. I should have done something when I checked the lipos.
anyone know what could have made the lipo not charge? Bad connection? I was using a Venom pro duo and charging spektrum 6s lipos which were 1 year old.
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Had a lipo fire in the house. Sharing my experience for others to learn from
- Thread starter RC-RAD
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Glad you're ok mate!! Let' me ask you a question who was the MFG of the Lipos and did you contact them yet?
Wow good that no one got hurt. Stay safe. We have a bunch of lipos in a small lipo bag in our house. Can someone suggest a good lipo bag? Thank you
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Hey buddy, your thread inspired me to make this. I confess, been a haphazard Lipo Charger guy for years...
https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/30-00-battery-charging-safety-box.48106/
https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/30-00-battery-charging-safety-box.48106/
Arrma Addict
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I use an inert gas management system I made years ago. It has a temp. sensor and alarm on it. If temperature in box reaches 110°F a solenoid opens and it dumps 20 cubic feet of Argon into a .5 cubic foot area to control any fire. I never tested it, so it is all theory at this point. I have similar systems on CNC Tool and Cutter Grinders, but instead of Argon it uses a "Clean Agent" to put out the fire and I know these systems work.
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We have a Haas Multi Grind with a similar system at my work. Thankfully we haven’t needed it...Nice work on that charging station.
My bat safe box will be here next week that and I have a Halon extinguisher close by now as well.
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I'm glad you were safe, I had a Spektrum smart battery catch fire a couple of weeks ago, it was from my helicopter, I think the smart board was faulty or not balancing the battery properly while charging. I've never had any other batteries that have done this type of thing before. It begs the question why are having to pay more for "smart" batteries that are supposed to be safer when they clearly aren't. With the fire I had, I heard the charger finish then like you said the noise, I was just nearby, ran in to the see the orange glow and move the fire away from the charger and the other batteries I was charging, then through a fire blanket over the smouldering battery. I only lost the one Lipo, sorry to see you loose a few.
Thank you for sharing and I hope other take heed.
It sure is a wake up call, I have started to charge a single battery on it's own rather than together in my batsafe or bag, I think it is a risk that they ignite each other.
Thank you for sharing and I hope other take heed.
It sure is a wake up call, I have started to charge a single battery on it's own rather than together in my batsafe or bag, I think it is a risk that they ignite each other.
scottyzinsd
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Lipo fire only happen when charging or in use right? They won't happen just sitting there., correct?
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I feel a bit better. Would have probably not gotten this without this thread, so thanks!
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Nice charging setup and nice T520. I still have one of those in storage as a backup laptop. Keyboard on that thing has never been beat.
milehighspeed
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Batt safe = $60. Vented Cmu bunker = $15. Added smoke alarm above = $8. Bag of sand to pour in = $4. Better Piece of mind = priceless.
Appreciate the forum tightening my ship on this.
Appreciate the forum tightening my ship on this.
krozema2003
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Are these available for purchase?? Or would somebody be will to help me build one??
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I recently bought a Bat-Safe: it works fine with my regular charger and charging cables, but I had to buy Spektrum 6-inch cable extensions so I could use it with my Spektrum batteries and Spektrum charger.
Bat-Safe charging boxes are available for sale at RC web sites and on Amazon. Just search for "Bat-Safe" for options
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@RC-RAD late to the game and glad it all worked out.
Just based on your description, most likely the balance plugs/charger did not detect the correct cell voltage and just kept charging. Once it crosses 4.3V on a cell, it's just a question of luck and time before they go up in flames. Very odd that the charger kept a steady display, any chance you had several lipos next to each other and confused the connections? That is probably the most common issue.
Safety is always a concern, but some of the above are going above and beyond without adding safety.
Please do as you please, but here are my reasons as to why I would NOT do some things above:
A Lipo will burn without oxygen and will generate a bunch of smoke. Being safe and minimizing smoke damage are 2 separate items.
Fireproof container is great, does nothing for smoke damage.
@Arrma Addict Having a sealed container dumping gas, that is more of a hazard due to overpressure unless it's a vented box. If it is vented, you will just vent more smoke into the area due to extra pressure.
@RC-Dude I don't believe those pellets will do anything for you. Most likely, it will just blow out the pellets. This fire can't be smothered. Might reduce the burning plastic and insulation, but the Lipo itself will still smoke and burn.
@milehighspeed that is the definition of overkill. No safety added but makes life a lot more complicated.
Again, those are my reasons. If you feel safer, by all means do it. I do as others and simply charge outside.
Key is that you keep track of your wires and know what you plug in and check that your gear is working. Several times I had one balance wire showing a lot lower than it should have, just because it was dirty.
Your fire and smoke is generated by the individual metal laced sheets separated by plastic. The 'metal' will burn by itself, you can't suffocate it, simple as that.
Just based on your description, most likely the balance plugs/charger did not detect the correct cell voltage and just kept charging. Once it crosses 4.3V on a cell, it's just a question of luck and time before they go up in flames. Very odd that the charger kept a steady display, any chance you had several lipos next to each other and confused the connections? That is probably the most common issue.
Safety is always a concern, but some of the above are going above and beyond without adding safety.
Please do as you please, but here are my reasons as to why I would NOT do some things above:
A Lipo will burn without oxygen and will generate a bunch of smoke. Being safe and minimizing smoke damage are 2 separate items.
Fireproof container is great, does nothing for smoke damage.
@Arrma Addict Having a sealed container dumping gas, that is more of a hazard due to overpressure unless it's a vented box. If it is vented, you will just vent more smoke into the area due to extra pressure.
@RC-Dude I don't believe those pellets will do anything for you. Most likely, it will just blow out the pellets. This fire can't be smothered. Might reduce the burning plastic and insulation, but the Lipo itself will still smoke and burn.
@milehighspeed that is the definition of overkill. No safety added but makes life a lot more complicated.
Again, those are my reasons. If you feel safer, by all means do it. I do as others and simply charge outside.
Key is that you keep track of your wires and know what you plug in and check that your gear is working. Several times I had one balance wire showing a lot lower than it should have, just because it was dirty.
Your fire and smoke is generated by the individual metal laced sheets separated by plastic. The 'metal' will burn by itself, you can't suffocate it, simple as that.
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I have all five of my batteries in storage mode and inside a metal pot with a lid on it in my garage for the winter. My attached garage is insulated and stays above 40°F even when the outside temps are in the teens and single digits. When they are charging, they are also inside a metal electrical box. I'm thinking that I should have separate containers or bags for each battery when they aren't being used just so they aren't all together in the pot in case one catches fire and sets the rest of them on fire.
milehighspeed
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Fair enough, Your opinion. But No such thing for me when it comes to protecting my house and family.
Worth it for less than the cost of a single new battery, 5 minutes of set up, and doesn’t complicate much at all. Move a cmu plate, open batsafe lid, plug in battery. Easy. Actually less complicated than my old way.
Ever seen the video of a batt safe ignited with a 6s 16000 mha Lipo? It’s not good. That’s a huge load but I have multiple lipos so I’m not gonna take any chances…
cmu bunker doesn’t add safety?
disagree based on common sense. This is storage and charge station for me thus the extra protection.
jkflow
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Yup, peace of mind trumps all good advice if it doesn't do any harm.
I used to have a bag of sand laying on top, but others had the same idea and tried it on YouTube, it does nothing.
@joshual1177 Lipos can be safely stored at any temp. You just have to make sure that you bring them above ~ 60F before using or charging.
The voltage will drop exponentially below ~ 50F, even though the actual charge status doesn't. That will result in overcharging and the above-mentioned fireballs. Anything above 50'ish is ok. Above 60F will never be an issue.
I used to have a bag of sand laying on top, but others had the same idea and tried it on YouTube, it does nothing.
@joshual1177 Lipos can be safely stored at any temp. You just have to make sure that you bring them above ~ 60F before using or charging.
The voltage will drop exponentially below ~ 50F, even though the actual charge status doesn't. That will result in overcharging and the above-mentioned fireballs. Anything above 50'ish is ok. Above 60F will never be an issue.
