LIPO fire at my house- Arghhhh!

[Frank v B]

Just had a battery explode while charging.  A 3S 1200 E-Flite battery exploded while charging.

How I learned my lesson last time.  It was out in 15 seconds. 
Now the lectures will begin.  Will have a pair of ear plugs by morning.

Will post a "lessons Learned" piece tomorrow.... after I clean it up.

One main lesson for everyone: A small fire extinguisher in 10 seconds is better than a large one in 45 seconds or a fire truck in 10 minutes.  Two blasts of the small fire extinguisher aimed at the base of the flames and the fire was out.

Frank

Some photos.

[GuyOReilly]

Glad it was caught fast.
Sorry to hear it happend at all.
If earplugs are un-available, ensure you have a job or contract somewhere far away.
Guy

PS: Please let us know how that happened and any lessons learned.

[VadimKirillov]

Frank we need to have a serous conversation about a good modern charger.  I way too many wires and boxes on your bench.

[Frank v B]

Vadim,  I hear you.

The photo was taken as-is "post-yank".  When I saw the fire I yanked both chargers from the 110 outlet and pushed the flaming battery into the stainless steel sink and unloaded the fire extinguisher.

Frank

[Frank v B]

Here is what happened
- was charging two batteries in the laundry room on the Electrifly Quad charger.  Both batteries were 1300mah 3S.  One was loose, one was in the Taylorcraft 450 (nose is visible).
- I was in the next room on the computer (15' away from the charger).  No door between the two rooms.  Suddenly heard a loud "POP" and whistle (escaping gases).
- guessed what went wrong, unplugged both chargers, raced to get the nearest fire extinguisher (we have 5 in the house).
- popped the safety on the fire extinguisher and gave 2 quick blasts.  The battery blew into the sink. The fire went out immediately after the second blast.
- got two large capacity fans from the garage and set one in the window and one in the open door to exhaust the smoke and extinguisher powder.
- did an initial clean-up, put all the remnants in a bag and disposed of it outside.

What happened:
- the battery was a 3S 1300 mah lipo pack I was charging to donate to Ethan.  It seemed to charge longer than usual when I went in to check.
- this charger is a simple one- connect the battery; set the Mah rating of the battery (1300) on the rotary scale and push "start".  It automatically detects 1-4S and starts to charge after about 15 seconds.  There is no read-out and no track of the charge performance.
- My guess- this battery was donated originally by a member who left the hobby.  I did not check the cell data, whether it was balanced, or whether one cell was bad.  It may have been badly unbalanced, be good enough to select 3S (a sequence of 3 green beeps were visible) and overcharged one or two cells.

What is a LIPO fire like?
- it is quick
- it is intense
- it is complete, not progressive
- a battery becomes a flame thrower while it burns.  Elon Musk would call it "rapid de-construction".
- there is very little soot but red-hot parts launched into space and landed on clothes and burned them about 4' away (1/4" diameter burns on the surface)

What I did right.
- chargers were placed on a 1'x2' ceramic tile- fire- proof
- always put the charger/tile on top of the stainless steel sink- no burns on the countertop, sink or upper cabinets.
- no "fuel" of any kind near the chargers.  No paper, clothing or anything flammable.
- a fire extinguisher close by.

Frank

[Frank v B]

How to add safety to charging lipo batteries:

1) Check the battery with a cell checker if you do not have a balancing charger.  Confirm that all cells are equal or close to it.
2) place the charger in an area without "fuel" (paper, wood, curtains, clothing) and place it on a fire-proof platform (ceramic tile).
3) Place the battery in a lipo bag while charging.  Never have before but I will now.  At least it will eliminate the flame-thrower damage (significant).
4) Have a fire extinguisher at the entry door to the room you are using for the charger, never near the charger.

[Frank v B]

Resurrected the presentation I did to Temac members after my first lipo fire in 2017.  This did $5,000 damage (carpet caught fire, had to clean the whole house) if it were an insurance claim.

Anatomy of a fire
Fire needs 3 things:

Fuel- paper, carpet, cardboard
Oxygen- air, use a lipo bag to keep oxygen out
spark- lipo's are flame throwers!


Fires grow exponentially
2 minutes   - $1,000
5 minutes   - $5,000
10 minutes- $50,000
therefore speed is your saviour


Human Behaviour
you will not be able to think straight
you will panic because you don't know what the future holds
you will not be able to find the fire extinguisher you walk by every day.
Smoke alarms save lives.  By the time you smell a fire it will be too late.  You can never have enough of them, test them! (we have 13 smoke alarms at home)

Lipo fires
most fires start slowly, smoulder and then ignite
lipo's are much different.  Consider them mini flame throwers.


Where to place fire extinguishers

First one: behind the master bedroom door.  If a smoke alarm goes off, take it with you.
Second one: outside (not in) the kitchen.  If there is a fire, you must get out.  Then decide your course of action
Third one: back staircase to the basement
At least 1 per floor

You must hang them up!!!! You will not be able to think straight.  If you don't hang them up it is like trying to find a cordless phone.

In case of fire
   call 911 first.... every time
   get everyone out of the house.  Do a head count.
   Fight it if the fire is contained.  Make sure your family know where you are at all times.
   Crawl out- fire extinguisher powder and smoke will force you out of the house. Stay low.


Develop a Charging Discipline
   mark charged batteries
   store half discharged
   store and charge in a lipo bag
   charge on an inert surface
   charge only when you are in the room.  In the house doesn't count


Frank van Beurden
   

[GordPayne]

Thanks for your experience and recommendations Frank. I'm off to buy a steel ammo box and a charging bag.

Hope all's ok. Shopping for a new tux eh?😳

[WilliamA]

Hi Frank,     Sorry you had a lipo battery fire at home . That was a very close one as it could of been disastrous, but i am happy that you took control of the fire and extinguished it before it caused any damage. Regards, stay safe.

[Frank v B]

Thanks guys.

Just found some photos of my lipo fire in 2017.  Much worse. Two fire trucks and two ambulances showed up in about 5 minutes.  The flames were 3' high before I used the fire extinguisher to put out the fire.

81- the area to the left of the source.  White powder is from the fire extinguisher.
82- the area where the charger and battery were located.  At the base of the stairs.  Note: the door at the top left-hand corner is the entrance to my shop...where the fire extinguisher lived.  Could not get there.  Had to find one upstairs.
98- I cut out the burned carpet and flung it onto the front lawn.
99- the burned bankers box.  The charger and battery sat on top of this box.

Double Arrgghhhh!.

Frank

[bfeist]

Dang, this is way better than your last one (at least it looks that way).

Thanks for reinforcing my decision to only charge outdoors (or I guess never charge if you never make it to the field)