Lipo Charging Fire

MikeSeale wrote: Can you confirm the following, Jon.

What program were you using on your charger (normal charge, fast charge, balance charge...)?
Did you have the balance lead attached?
Did you check the voltages of each cell as soon as it started to charge? ie. all cells were about the same voltage before you left it charging?

Hi Mike

Standard balance charge at 1c using a Thunderpower charger, 610C. I didn't specifically check each cell voltage but the charger will not start if the individual cell voltages are too different, I know this as I have had this warning come up on some old packs previously, the charge wouldn't start until I had reduced the imbalance.

Dante wrote: Well for what's worth, Phil Williams has had two batteries go up in the last few months, that's taking a rare risk a little too far!! There are now LiIo (lithium Ion) batteries that have an internal circuit inbuilt that do not need a balance board - Jeti for one - furthermore think of all the LiIo batteries on rechargeable tools, drills especially, which have used LiIo batteries for many years now and no balance leads required. That technology has been around for years. Maybe it's time we all looked more seriously at using LiIo batteries instead of Lipos?? Not sure how high capacities go to but an investigation would be sensible.

Dante - think you will find most power tool Liion batteries have built in PCB balancer / low voltage cut out. However that technology has historically not delivered the equivalent Power / weight / volume advantages as Lipo. This is changing but at a cost.

Jon - Sorry to read of your incident, lucky you were able to minimise the damage.
The video is scary but enlightening, following other forum discussion l decided to remove the seal
from my ammunition boxes & the video confirms this to be best practice.
However my main concern was containing the fire but the amount of smoke generated was staggering, presume this
smoke contains the horrible black bits coating your sheds contents.My lipos are in the shed stored in an ammo box & others in a firearms safe , so this needs rethinking to avoid the smoke damage.
The only safe option appears to be charging & storage in an outdoor facility.
Colin

JonTappin wrote: Standard balance charge at 1c using a Thunderpower charger, 610C. I didn't specifically check each cell voltage but the charger will not start if the individual cell voltages are too different, I know this as I have had this warning come up on some old packs previously, the charge wouldn't start until I had reduced the imbalance.

Thanks, Jon. I always get the charger started and then check the voltages to make sure they are all similar before I leave it. From your description, it looks like I'll need to make my practice safer so that if it goes up I'll still be OK.

The trouble is, how do you make it safe and reasonably convenient. Charging outside is not feasible in the UK climate. Inside means a shed or a workshop or your house...and it's clear to see that lipo bags, ammo boxes and other containers are not going to prevent significant damage. So how are we all going to make it safe(r)?

Yeah, I've just had to run outside and stop charging as it started raining, by the time I got it all in, the rain stopped, so I got it all set up again and then it started to spit with rain... I love the British summer weather it's so totally predictable.

Chris001 wrote: Yeah, I've just had to run outside and stop charging as it started raining, by the time I got it all in, the rain stopped, so I got it all set up again and then it started to spit with rain... I love the British summer weather it's so totally predictable.

Guys - What I'm considering is to make up long charging & balancing leads so that the charger stays in the shed
with the battery outside. The battery would have waterproof cover over it, large tin etc. & the only item
exposed to the weather are the low voltage cables.
My only concern is voltage loss in the cable - about 4 ft long - anyone know a source for suitable 4 & 5 core cable ( 3S & 4 S ) ?

Thanks
Colin