RunRyder - Had a lipo blow!

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Safety - RC Helis are not toys > Had a lipo blow!

mintaka007

Heliman - Location: spokane, wa usa -

I was in the living room tuning up one of my small heli's, and I had 2 lipo's on 2 different chargers in the kitchen. My good charger was being used in my heli room, so the ones I had in the kitchen were the cheap esky balance chargers. About an hour into the charge I see what looks like a flame thrower start up in my kitchen. I quickly unplugged it and drug the flaming mess into the sink. The batteries were in good shape, charge them all the time with my good charger. Lesson: DON'T USE CHEAPA$$ IMPORT CHARGERS!! I'm guessing the failsafe in the esky charger that shuts it off when the batteries are done never shut it off, and the battery just got overcharged. Scared the shat out of me. I will never again charge a lipo out of eyesight!

Joker cx
Trex se
"Franken"Axe
Addictive as cocaine, but cocaine is cheaper!

01-03-2008 11:46 PM

HOMEPAGE

Dood
Elite Veteran
Location: America's Dairyland

In case no one quite understands how serious a LiPo fire really is,
check out this video to help you understand a little better.

Im not Mr. Lebowski, YOU'RE Mr. Lebowski. I'm the Dood! So thats what you'll call me

01-04-2008 04:12 AM

HOMEPAGE

baddraptor
Elite Veteran
Location: valencia, ca- usa

ALWAYS charge in some type of container. I use an ammo box. There are many kinds of fire safe containers even Lipo Bags. I Highly recommend you get one. It could save your house...

You got lucky, very lucky.

**Unattended children will be givin a shot of espresso and a puppy**

01-04-2008 05:22 AM

JuanRodriguez
Elite Veteran
Location: Rochester, New York

Unfortunately............

All of these "sermons" fall on deaf ears.......

Folks post on these forums "after the fact" By that time, it's too late...... the general attitude is that something like this "will never happen to me"....

<sigh>.........

01-06-2008 12:43 AM

P47 Jug - Al
Senior Heliman
Location: Rocky River, OH USA

I use a LipoSack.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bi...?&I=LXSEA5&P=ML

Al
TRex 450 V2

01-06-2008 03:15 AM

mintaka007
Heliman
Location: spokane, wa usa

I now have a charging station set up. I can't stress enough to lipo flyers to use extreme caution. Like I said in my first post, It was nothing with the battery but the charger. Take necessary precautions for the worst case scenario.
Question for experienced guys: Is heat retention while charging, like in a lipo bag, a problem? I am now charging in a large metal trex case with the flammable liner removed, but leave it cracked because I was worried about too much heat building up in the case. I thought about creating airflow with a small "computer" style fan, possibly through a ducted pipe with small holes drilled in it to make it harder for flames to escape the chamber if a batt did go off. What have you guys seen in fire safe charging stations?

Joker cx
Trex se
"Franken"Axe
Addictive as cocaine, but cocaine is cheaper!

01-06-2008 04:02 AM

HOMEPAGE

BigguyOz
Key Veteran
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

In my experience, unlike NiCds etc, LiPos generally don't get heated during charging (unless there is something extremely wrong, in which case you might well need the Liposack!) so there seems no reason to make special provision for cooling.

Tony Stott
Scenefromabove.com.au
Trex 450,AP2000i,Askman
8m mast
hot air balloon
kite

01-06-2008 06:07 AM

HOMEPAGE

P47 Jug - Al
Senior Heliman
Location: Rocky River, OH USA

Even my EVO Lipo that can be charged at 2C, does not get at all warm while charging.

NiCd's and NiMh's will get warm toward the end of their charge proess. If they get hot then they are being overcharged and in danger of being damanged.

Al
TRex 450 V2

01-07-2008 02:52 AM

mintaka007
Heliman
Location: spokane, wa usa

Good to hear

I haven't experienced them heating up, just wanted to be sure it was ok not to be vented. Thanks all.

Joker cx
Trex se
"Franken"Axe
Addictive as cocaine, but cocaine is cheaper!

01-07-2008 03:02 AM

HOMEPAGE

P47 Jug - Al
Senior Heliman
Location: Rocky River, OH USA

Quote
just wanted to be sure it was ok not to be vented.

As mentioned, I use the LiPo Sack. When charging, a smoke detector is above it. I have seen Lipos get hot after a crash - battery is most likely internally shorted and must be discarded. You can search on lipo's and get plenty of good info. My best advice is to read and understand the manufactures info. Have fun.

Al
TRex 450 V2

01-07-2008 03:33 AM

gmebey
Veteran
Location: Fort Collins, CO

I also use a LiPo Sack, but then I try to follow some simple rules.

1) Be in the same area while charging. I don’t care how great a charger is it can still fail.

2) Understand the condition of the pack, life, damage, over stressed or not

3) My charging area is not overly cluttered if a fire was o happen I would have a chance to clear the area fast of any burning material.

"Once you are in RC you are in for life. You may go away but it will draw you back." By an

01-09-2008 12:29 PM

HOMEPAGE

flyboy0413
Senior Heliman
Location: CT, USA

In the video, what did he do exactly to initiate the explosion? Did he just short out the leads or did he hook it up to something else?

01-09-2008 01:25 PM

gmebey
Veteran
Location: Fort Collins, CO

he over charged the pack

"Once you are in RC you are in for life. You may go away but it will draw you back." By an

01-09-2008 06:05 PM

HOMEPAGE

kryptik
Heliman
Location: South Carolina

I charge mine in the small box my TRex came in. Shouldn't that be enough? I had wondered about the lipo bags...

Latine loqui coactus sum, quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur...

01-09-2008 06:46 PM

flyboy0413
Senior Heliman
Location: CT, USA

From the video, it looks like he was attaching an AC line cord. Granted, lipos can be dangerous, but I think the magnitude of the explosion was greatly increased due to the gross overvoltage.

01-09-2008 06:47 PM

mintaka007
Heliman
Location: spokane, wa usa

By the looks of the video, the fire was not larger than a standard lipo fire. The one that happened to me was just one cell of an 11.1v 1250. Looked the same, and what caused mine was a cheap esky charger that continued to charge the batt when it should have shut down. I was charging the batt on my kitchen counter top, figuring it wasn't flammable, and I could see it the whole time. I now charge, just like the other guy who posted, in a trex aluminum case with the lining removed. Even with that, I charge it in the same room I'm in so I can get to it quickly if anything goes wrong. There is plenty of info on correct charging not only on these forums, but also if you google "lipo fire" or "lipo charging safety". I read these before I began charging when I bought my esky lamav4, but like so many others I had the "That stuff is surely exaggerated, it can't happen to me" mentality. It can and it did.
Safety first kids!

Joker cx
Trex se
"Franken"Axe
Addictive as cocaine, but cocaine is cheaper!

01-10-2008 01:48 AM

HOMEPAGE

HeloMech
Heliman
Location: Running Springs, CA - USA

When my buddy and I first bought our trex 450's, he had a pretty decent crash which took out some parts. Among the parts, his lipo pack flew out and was struck by the main blades. It didn't appear to short out, but there was a pretty serious crease across the pack. Obviously, we didn't fly it again. So, after watching the lipo fires online, we decided to inflict the pack with a series of shorts. This was done outside in a clear area on bricks. All I can say is that I'd not want those things to burn in my house or garage. CRAZY how much intensity there is in a lipo battery fire!!

Oddly enough though, this was a 3 cell pack and we had to short and create three separate fires... Weeeeeeeeeeeeee....

01-10-2008 06:58 PM

Raffy
Key Veteran
Location: Chicago, Illinois

The airlines had just banned carrying any type lipo battery in luggages - they must have seen a video like this one.

01-10-2008 07:02 PM

helicrack
Senior Heliman
Location: Laporte, Indiana

Quote
The airlines had just banned carrying any type lipo battery in luggages - they must have seen a video like this one.

Reeeeely? Does this mean I can't check my T450 with the rest of my luggage when I fly Southwest Airlines? If this is true, then bummer!

".........said the joker to the thief"

01-15-2008 04:19 AM

Dood
Elite Veteran
Location: America's Dairyland

Quote
Reeeeely? Does this mean I can't check my T450 with the rest of my luggage when I fly Southwest Airlines? If this is true, then bummer!

The way I read it, is you cant have SPARE batteries checked.
The ones that are installed in the device are ok.

So, as someguy had a brilliant idea, you can make a string adapter, to plug ALL of your packs into, running in series.
Put a switch on it, and plug it into the heli.

Could you imagine a little 450 running on 30S?

Im not Mr. Lebowski, YOU'RE Mr. Lebowski. I'm the Dood! So thats what you'll call me

01-15-2008 05:01 AM

HOMEPAGE

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Safety - RC Helis are not toys > Had a lipo blow!

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