charging lithium ion batteries

[knotflying]

A house in our community had an extensive fire yesterday. I do not have all the particulars, but I do know the owner was charging some lithium ion batteries in the garage and they have determined that that was the cause of the fire. Just figured I would post this as a precaution for those who use those batteries.

 

[baz]

Ocheeeee..... that is not good at all. It would be informative to know a little more about the type of batteries (brand, size, etc) and what charging device was being used.

Was it just a burst of flames or an explosion ?

Was some flammable material nearby the battery while it was being charged ?

 

[ixlr8]

Lithium batteries can provide, or accept, large amounts of current. Which can cause them to overheat rapidly. Remember all those two wheel stand on 'things' that were burning up and were finally taken off the market a year or two ago? In those the discharge currents were too high, the batteries overheated and caught on fire. A few years ago when the Boeing 777 first came out, they had a few battery fires. If I remember correctly it was due to charging them too fast, too much current going in. Again they overheated and caught on fire. Lithium batteries must be treated with respect and charged/discharged within the limits of their cooling design. Accidentally shorting the + and - terminals on a lithium battery can make things get real interesting real fast.

 

[baz]

Lithium batteries can provide, or accept, large amounts of current. Which can cause them to overheat rapidly. Remember all those two wheel stand on 'things' that were burning up and were finally taken off the market a year or two ago? In those the discharge currents were too high, the batteries overheated and caught on fire. A few years ago when the Boeing 777 first came out, they had a few battery fires. If I remember correctly it was due to charging them too fast, too much current going in. Again they overheated and caught on fire. Lithium batteries must be treated with respect and charged/discharged within the limits of their cooling design. Accidentally shorting the + and - terminals on a lithium battery can make things get real interesting real fast.

I'm an Ex-Boeing engineer and that incident was very embarrassing indeed. 🙁 I have a 2017 Prius 4 and when my grandkids are in/on the backseat I always ask them to let me know if their bums are getting hot.... :lol:

 

[knotflying]

Ocheeeee..... that is not good at all. It would be informative to know a little more about the type of batteries (brand, size, etc) and what charging device was being used.

Was it just a burst of flames or an explosion ?

Was some flammable material nearby the battery while it was being charged ?

The only thing I know is that they heard a large pop in the garage and they went in and the garage was in flames. From what I saw there was quite a bit of things in the garage, so I can see how it went up fast. What makes it even sadder is that later that night the fire ignited again around midnight and the place became a total loss. I guess the fire department missed a hot spot.