Lipo Fire... Fortunately Contained! (Pic Heavy)

[viper6171]

i have always used an ammo can to store my lipo's , never had a bag till recently .........have seen plenty of lipo fire videos and posts ( cough cough .....harley....cough cough ) never hasd one of my own yet

[rex21]

Thank you for posting this Nicklepimp. I have an empty can sitting at my feet, soon as I go out to the shop I'm rounding up the lipos to put in it.

[phillyb]

Well now I have a use for all my empty ammo cans! I buy the factory reloads that come in cans, I think I have at least 3, going to drop all my lipos in now!

[Prime]

Wow! Thanks for sharing. Storing lipos have always made me a bit nervous. I am definitely getting an ammo can or two now.

[phillyb]

Done, three smaller ammo cans. Hard to believe I have soo many. Quite a few now, between micro copters, 400 heli, 1/8 and 1/10 I should have done this sooner. Off to get some lipo sacks for charging and separating the nicer ones.

Any other sources on lipo bags? Gonna need a few I think!

[Nicklepimp]

Originally Posted by phillyb

Any other sources on lipo bags? Gonna need a few I think!

Most any hobby shop or website that is selling lipos, or even Amazon and Ebay. I've been seeing some that are barely bigger than a full size 4s or 6s lipo. Those would be great for isolating each pack while charging.

Originally Posted by JohnRobHolmes

Ammo cans in use here too, or a stack of cinder blocks.

I found a video where they erupted a lipo in a cinder block with a sand bag lid, cinder block with just another block for a lid, and third an ammo can with the charging wires drilled into the top. All three seemed to contain the flames, but all smoked like hell. The part most interesting to me, was how the pressures escaping the ammo can were more violent because of the small vent. Like a pissed off volcano. The video said it shot 8 feet high. That's enough to hit the ceiling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNxLGDwGw-k

[JohnRobHolmes]

I charge in ammo cans with the lid cracked open, but had considered holes for the wires and didn't because I feared jets of flame. That seems to be an actual problem!

[KEVLAR]

Wow, new to the hobby and have bags that I was only using during charging. I just went and put them in the bags for storage now too. Thanks for sharing, I figured fire risk was only during charging. I will get a ammo can or metal tool box this weekend, and now I am only going to charge on the patio. A lot less risk when it's out on the cement patio. I'd love to store them outside, but in TX I'd be worried about the heat killing them.

[phillyb]

Originally Posted by derekstadnick

Hey guys. Just dropped a soft case lipo from about 5ft. Put a decent dent it the corner. It was a fully charged 5000mah 3s. Threw it in an ammo can and sitting on concrete blocks. Is this the end for that battery?

Honestly I have no idea, but personally I would never use that pack again. A new pack is usually less than 100$ and seems most stock RC's are over 200$, with some of these custom rigs costing big bucks. Not to mention the personal time investment, or memories.

[Outlawaresee]

Good post. Makes me feel a little better about ammo cans also. I've always kept my lipos in ammo cans, but I've always wondered about the pressure build up when they turn into flares with a sealed lid on the can. Doesn't look like yours burnt completely, but at least it seemed to contain whatever pressure it did build up inside the can.

[new2rocks]

Great post. Also worth remembering that Lipos aren't the only high energy density batteries that most of us have in our homes. Laptops, cell phones and tablets now all have Li Ion batteries that can go south in a hurry. JRH is spot on about the likely cause. Lipo and Li Ion fires are caused by internal shorts, which can happen for a variety of reasons even under normal use. Minor manufacturing imperfections (e.g., including metallic dust particles getting into the pack during the manufacturing process, minor surface imperfections in one or more foil layers inside the pack, etc) can be benign for an extended time until a normal charge/discharge cycle (or even a change to ambient air temperature) creates just enough swelling or shrinking in the wrong place inside the pack to trigger an internal short between foil layers of the pack. The high energy density that we all love (because it gives our devices and toys lots of use time between charges) will then cause the short to create a lot of heat very quickly. If the batteries are in close proximity to fire fuel (e.g., sitting on a sofa or carpeted floor), things can easily go from melted plastic to worse.

That's the bad news. The good news is that if the packs aren't close enough to a fire fuel source to set something else on fire when they overheat, the shorts usually run their course pretty quickly and leave you with a dead pack and some melted plastic, but nothing worse. The ammo box idea is a good idea, as are cinder blocks and ceramic flower pots.

One thing to keep in mind with all battery packs is that the risk is much higher if you have aftermarket batteries for any of these devices. Most aftermarket batteries don't have all of the internal safety features that the major OEMs include in their packs. And there's no telling whether an aftermarket pack was made in a facility that takes the kinds of precautions (dust control, thorough equipment inspections, etc) needed to minimize hidden imperfections that can cause internal shorts. Of course, in our hobby, almost all of the packs are "aftermarket," which is all the more reason to be careful (but not afraid).

[derekstadnick]

Originally Posted by phillyb

Honestly I have no idea, but personally I would never use that pack again. A new pack is usually less than 100$ and seems most stock RC's are over 200$, with some of these custom rigs costing big bucks. Not to mention the personal time investment, or memories.

Well I have done some draining and charging tests on the battery while contained and had no issues. I have since took the risk and ran it through my yeti 5 times and no issues. Keeping a real close eye on it though.

[JatoTheRipper]

It looks like the Team Checkpoint battery started it.

[alank]

I am late to this thread. Thanks for posting.

I've got my LiPo is a bag, but I have an empty ammo can in the garage which I am going go get ASAP.

Do you charge your LiPos in the can too, or just in the LiPo bag?

[phillyb]

Originally Posted by alank

I am late to this thread. Thanks for posting.

I've got my LiPo is a bag, but I have an empty ammo can in the garage which I am going go get ASAP.

Do you charge your LiPos in the can too, or just in the LiPo bag?

I usually charge mine on my desk, store in the ammo can. Might be better to charge on something that won't melt or burn, maybe I need a ceramic pot or metal plate. I have also doubled up on the lipo storage bags, I found two at my LHS that fit inside each other, so double fire protection when I carry extra lipos. I am mostly scared (thanks to this thread!) of them catching fire in storage, when I am not around. At least if I am charging, I am never more than 5 feet from the desk.

[snapon boy]

Was the ammo can sealed or vented?

[phillyb]

All the ammo can's I have seen are sealed? Don't want your ammo getting wet, thats for sure.

[FloridaCrawler]

Originally Posted by phillyb

At least if I am charging, I am never more than 5 feet from the desk.

That is probably the best thing you can do out of all the aforementioned safety procedures IMO.

[Nicklepimp]

Originally Posted by alank

Do you charge your LiPos in the can too, or just in the LiPo bag?

I haven't been charging in a can yet, only because my wires aren't long enough. It's taking a while, but the plan is to mount my charger (4 port) onto the back wall of my work bench high enough so the wires can drop into an ammo can. Until then I've been charging them in a lipo bag, on a piece of diamond plate, with an ammo can nearby.

Originally Posted by snapon boy

Was the ammo can sealed or vented?

Fully sealed. The rubber seal is unmodified, and it was clamped shut.

[snapon boy]

Thank you. I keep getting and reading different opinions as to store with the seal or to remove it