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

[Nicklepimp]

A couple years ago, a fellow racer in a carpet league mentioned that he was storing his lipos in metal can for added protection. Even though I never had an issue with lipos, I thought that it was a good idea. Only nimh's have ever let loose on me, but especially because I live in an apartment with other souls at stake I wanted to take the extra step. So I invested $15 bucks in an ammo can from my local sporting goods store. Been using it ever since, in addition to some lipo sacks. Today I can say that the sacks and ammo can were very worth-while investments.

Tomorrow is my club's season Finals. When I went to charge my batteries today, I encountered a bit of a surprise... Opening the can, I was met with a very fowl odor. Instantly, I knew something was wrong.



Nothing looked wrong to me at first glance.


But then...




Irony?


A look inside...




They were stacked in order with left on the bottom, and the right on top. And yes, those two are melted together!


Still Roar approved?








The can held up strong. I don't have any concerns reusing it once it airs out. It does have some character now though.




The outside of the can... No damage.


What about the lipos in the other sacks? Not a scratch, not even on their bags! Since the folded-over side of the Dynamite bag was facing the others, the fire would have had to go through 3 layers of the bag.




I'm pretty good about caring for my lipos. Those batteries were all put to a storage charge, and checked as recent as a month or two back. Nothing in the bags to touch contacts. It appears to me that the fire originated from one of the two post style batteries that are fused together, but I have no idea what triggered it.

Even more, I have no indication as to when this occurred. Everything was cool to the touch when I was investigating everything, so I don't suspect it was today. The tight seal of the can allowed no hint of the odor to escape. For all I know, this happened a week ago, or in the middle of the night. Kinda scary, but knowing that it was all contained is very reassuring.


My final thoughts on this...

-Lipo sacks are a must!
-Metal can, HIGHLY recommended. Ammo cans are affordable. Pick one up!
-Even with proper care of your batteries, there is always the potential for things to go wrong. Properly store them when not in use.
-A little extra protection is worth it. You never know when it may come in handy.

I would also like to add that I don't think anything less of the Dynamite bag. It's the thickest bag I own, and I really think it was best suited to withstand the fire. It does appear that it contained the majority of the fire, but clearly some the heat got out and would have potentially caused more damage if it wasn't in the can. I'll probably start using cans for transport to the comps as well. I just hope the park rangers don't get spooked!

[BoilerUp]

Great post and thanks for sharing! You cannot underestimate the potential dangers involved with LIPO batteries. They are great batteries and offer the performance everyone is searching for but owning them brings on a responsibility that involves proper storage. Glad to hear you didnt have any damage other than a few lost batteries. Let this be a lesson to all who reads. Be safe and have fun!

[djjiz]

Uhuhuhuh.. Sack.

[CrawlCrest]

I keep all my lipos in the same ammo case. Every army surplus sells them. They are great for car rides as well. Glad all you lost was minimal. Ive seen much worse.

[TraceTheDog]

Sold. Which store did you get the ammo can?

[Nicklepimp]

Originally Posted by TraceTheDog

Sold. Which store did you get the ammo can?

Fleet Farm, Cabella's, or Gander Mountain all carry them locally. Sometimes Fleet Farm only has them as a three pack though (all three are different sizes).

[CmdrZod]

Glad everything worked out... Looks like a stop at Fleet Farm on my way home from finals tomorrow!

Sent from the land of sky blue waters.

[Nicklepimp]

Maybe I'll offer the smelly one up as a raffle prize!

[Itali83]

Thank you for posting this! I'm new to rc'ing and especially lipo's. Im stoping by my hobby store on Monday and cabellas to get some storage for my lipo. I've got a house family and pets it's my responsibility to be safe. Thanks!!
Ben

[jamesthe1v]

thanks for post...
i recieved a rig today with lipos.... my first adventure into lipos . in another window i was looking at lipo bags for lipo safe's etc and jumped to rcc to check classifieds and saw your post jumped over bought 2 bags like yours and 2 other lipo safes and dug out a aluminum toolbox off the shelf. mine are in detached pole building but still i want to keep it lol
thanks again

[Sneetches]

Better safe than sorry, I'd imagine a fire while in storage is definitely a rarity though, since most stories involve charging/discharging/plugged in. How old was that top Checkpoint battery?

[Nicklepimp]

A rarity indeed. Never had any other troubles with lipos.

I've had the checkpoint for a few years now. But the cells always balanced.

[Highmark]

Damn I keep most of mine in a ammo can but I have a few smaller packs floating around outside of bags. I need to get that taken care of! Do you have any idea what might have caused it to burn?

[HARDRIVE]

I have never used a lipo battery yet just because of all this lipos catching on fire
But now im planning to get on the band wagon of this lipo batteries
Some say lipos are now a lot safer than before

Is there a place where i can order an ammo can online?
Also which lipo bag is good to get
I have seen yt videos lipos bags catching on fire

[Stormin2u]

Now thats an eye opener, I even have a ammo can I'm not using? The individual bags makes good logic too. Great post PIMP

[Nicklepimp]

Originally Posted by Highmark

Damn I keep most of mine in a ammo can but I have a few smaller packs floating around outside of bags. I need to get that taken care of! Do you have any idea what might have caused it to burn?

No, I wish I did know what caused it so I could avoid it again.

Originally Posted by HARDRIVE

I have never used a lipo battery yet just because of all this lipos catching on fire
But now im planning to get on the band wagon of this lipo batteries
Some say lipos are now a lot safer than before

Is there a place where i can order an ammo can online?

Jump on... There's still plenty of room on the band wagon for you.

GanderMountain
Cabella's has the 50 cal like me and a smaller 30 cal
Sportsman's Guide also has a few options
all three of these places ship. You can also check other sites that carry ammo.

Originally Posted by HARDRIVE

Also which lipo bag is good to get
I have seen yt videos lipos bags catching on fire

Originally Posted by Stormin2u

Now thats an eye opener, I even have a ammo can I'm not using? The individual bags makes good logic too. Great post PIMP

The Common Sense bags in the pics are almost as thick as the Dynamite bag that burned up. I don't know if either is a better, as it's possible they may have a different composition. I'm not aware of any fire ratings on these bags, but then again I've never looked for it.

I do like how Common Sense offers many smaller bag options. LINK At first I appreciated the lessor bulk they provided. Right now, I'm thinking about how smaller groups would help better isolate the damage.

[fla_cracker]

Great thread... Thank you very much for sharing. I am gonna use this to help educate my local group.

[-SCXD90-]

Thanks for posting this man :thumbsup: I'm glad the fire didn't do much damage. Especially in an apartment...

I'm headed to the hobby shop later today to pick up some lipo bags and ammo cans!

[JohnRobHolmes]

It was probably a cell that was slowly venting, and one day just didn't have enough electrolyte and began shorting internally. I've seen a few fires happen in storage, and it was always a hard cell lipo pack. I think they are more dangerous because you can't see the puffing, and so they just burst a seam and vent out the good stuff.


Ammo cans in use here too, or a stack of cinder blocks. I feel like I need to round up my loose packs now and re-store em properly.

[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?