Make sure you're storing your LiPos safely, folks!

[Twinfan 1807]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crgggmeyjj7o

[simalarion 2529]

Same batteries are used in close to everything Electric you have in your house, so if you really have paranoia for it you should put all from your Switch, Laptop, phones etc etc in a fire proof basement each night.

Just charge them as you suppose to do and do not use cheap equipment or batteries, they are here to stay. Not sure about UK but in Norway the entire 1:1 Car park is also changed to Electric cars, and bikes ... the list goes on.

[Kowalski86 3983]

1 hour ago, simalarion said:

Same batteries are used in close to everything Electric you have in your house,

The LiPO batteries used in appliances have special protection circuitry in them, while RC LiPOs are a bit more basic, they're not quite the same.

Otherwise I hope this thread doesn't immediately devolve into a religious debate over batteries. Is there some sort of 7 RC commandments that I should be following?

[simalarion 2529]

9 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

The LiPO batteries used in appliances have special protection circuitry in them

yes, thats why i add:

Quote

Just charge them as you suppose to do and do not use cheap equipment or batteries

 

[Twinfan 1807]

I'm not trying to stir up the debate again, I just wanted to point out that lithium batteries stored outside of appliances are still dangerous and people shouldn't skimp on looking after them correctly.

[Gebbly 760]

Just now, Kowalski86 said:

I hope this thread doesn't immediately devolve into a religious debate over batteries.

With luck it will be ok. @Twinfan's statement seems fairly accurate. No judgement on using LiPos, just, IF people use them be sure to take precautions.

[Pylon80 3322]

Meh...

[Howards 588]

Not discounting the risks of poorly treated RC LiPO batteries, but poor quality e-bikes and e-bike conversions pose the biggest threat and have been the cause of a number of recent tragic deaths including children. They form a lethal triangle of **** quality batteries, naive users and being left to charge in escape routes (hallways). 

[ad456 457]

Best to not keep them this way!

[nowinaminute 3320]

4 hours ago, simalarion said:

Just charge them as you suppose to do and do not use cheap equipment or batteries, they are here to stay.

I 100% hand on my heart swear that EVERY SINGLE post I've seen in facebook RC groups where a lipo goes up has been down to user error and/or negligence.

But nobody ever seems to be interested in that, you get 100 comments by paranoid people perpetuating the notion they are inherently unsafe and describing the elaborate nuclear bunkers etc they construct in order to contain the results of their negligence/errors rather than just learn to treat and respect them.

Don't charge unattended.
Don't over/under charge.
Always balance charge.
Use the correct settings.
Use the correct charger.
Dispose of damaged/puffed/misbehaving packs.

It really annoys me seeing all the scaremongering in the comment section of facebook posts, but nobody actually asks if there was user error.

Some classics I've seen include:

Using a a basic nimh wall charger AND leaving the battery in the vehcile AND going to sleep in the same room THEN making a furious post about how lipos should be banned because they are lethal.

Someone mistakenly thinking the MAH cutoff limit for NIMH mode on their imax charger was where you're supposed to put in the capacity of the lipo battery. They then proceeded to try and put 4000mah into a half full 4000mah pack in nimh mode so ended up with a nice 6000mah grenade.

Some guy trying to paralell charge lipos of different cell count and capacities in nimh mode...

It just goes on and on!

Sorry if I'm contributing to a "religious debate" lol

[Kowalski86 3983]

2 minutes ago, nowinaminute said:

Don't charge unattended.
Don't over/under charge.
Always balance charge.
Use the correct settings.
Use the correct charger.
Dispose of damaged/puffed/misbehaving packs.

Sorry if I'm contributing to a "religious debate" lol

Well that's 6 of the 7 commandments, what's the missing one?

[Gebbly 760]

Perhaps one of the reasons so many people arent scared of other devices with Lithium batteries is most devices are very simple when it comes to charging. For example with mobile phones you just plug in the adapter to a socket or usb port. All the management is done for us. Whereas the RC hobby is a small segment of Lithium battery users (relatively speaking) in which the user needs to pay attention to other factors like over/under charge, correct settings on a charger etc. This makes it easier to get something wrong compared with "plug adapter into wall socket".

And so it looks like everyone agrees and we come back to @Twinfans original post. If your going to use LiPos make sure you know what your doing and store them safely.

[Ghostpig 468]

2 hours ago, Kowalski86 said:

Well that's 6 of the 7 commandments, what's the missing one?

Use lipo bags/batsafe/etc?

[Frog Jumper 3801]

We all buy car insurance.  Its a monthly payment and we all suck it up.  We all buy health and home insurance too.  Every month forever.  Its a huge investment into protecting ourselves from liability and damage and financial ruin.

Put it into that perspective and buying a batsafe is a good investment.  I replaced my ammo can with one a few months ago.

eta. If you can’t get a “bat-safe”, the manufacturer also makes them for medical purposes.  Might make it easier to get???

https://www.pulsebattery.com/products/bat-safe-lithium-battery-charging-box

 

[alvinlwh 6893]

On 6/24/2024 at 3:25 PM, ad456 said:

Best to not keep them this way!

Was that you?

 

[ad456 457]

Na dude, not me, I’ve more wit than to chuck em in the general waste.
 

I take it some numty did that and now there’s a battery fire at Chingleybraes?

[lentner3 328]

With the BatSafe boxes What are the advantages of these over an ammo box and Kevlar bags?

[alvinlwh 6893]

1 hour ago, ad456 said:

Na dude, not me, I’ve more wit than to chuck em in the general waste.
 

I take it some numty did that and now there’s a battery fire at Chingleybraes?

Nah, that was a while ago and that was not general waste but recycling. I know because I did the fire detection upgrade there.

https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/12/22/fire-at-chinglebraes-due-to-lithium-batteries-in-waste/

 

[ad456 457]

27 minutes ago, lentner3 said:

With the BatSafe boxes What are the advantages of these over an ammo box and Kevlar bags?

With an ammo box all the vented gasses become a pressurised container and with the bags they hold none of the gasses and can only hold up for so long. The batsafe thing is able to beat both those weaknesses I believe. 
 

@alvinlwh I mind that happening indeed. Probly better things than a loadall to be processing batteries with😂

[alvinlwh 6893]

1 hour ago, lentner3 said:

With the BatSafe boxes What are the advantages of these over an ammo box and Kevlar bags?

Neither ammo box nor bags protect against toxic gas.

Furthermore, look at some test videos of bags on YouTube. You will probably not bother with them afterwards. 

[simalarion 2529]

Using Ammo box you should remove rubber seal on lid and maybe also make ventilation small holes.

If its sealed and on top off that have many batteries in there you made a bomb if  💩 happens. 
 

But then again when  💩  happens its usually while charging so bat 🦇 safe have hole wit rubber sealing for charge cable so you also can charge them when they are in the box

[Mokei Kagaku 2909]

The "funny" thing is that people who claim Lipos to be safe provided that you're not stupid and theLipos are handled correctly, have a "slight" tendency to instantly and totally change their opinion once they experience a thermal event themselves.......

Personally I think Lipo is a dead end technology. I work in QA for batteries in the automotive industry, and and I'm convinced that safer technologies will replace Lipo for most if not all applications within just a few years. A few cargo planes have gone down because of Lipo fires, but as soon as a triple digits number of airline passengers become victims of a Lipo fire, legislation will be changed faster than you can spell L-i-p-o.

[nowinaminute 3320]

Funnily enough, I came across this listing on ebay today for a lipo battery:


So he had just left them laying around in his garage for god knows how long.

At least he's honest, I guess?

Then I checked his feedback and saw this:



So it looks like he makes a habit of it!

And these are the kind of people who scream from the rooftops how dangerous they are when the inevitable finally happens.
 

[No Slack 502]

At work we have to inspect safety and environmental aspects of battery storages (mainly bicycle industry). The amount of energy in storage is immense. Of course in the RC world the number of battery's in a shop or in your lipo bag is less but if it catches fire you better beware. A lipo fire is very difficult to fight and will go on for a very long period.

[Juggular 5079]

Wow, it was really fast. (the video was below the article @Twinfan gave us.) 

https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cgllkjexkrgo