*attention all lipo users liposack saves my house*

[BakedMopar]

I just had a very bad Lipo fire in my garage screwing with a battery that I should of just thrown away. Long story short I put it in my lipo sack and set her on the ground. I was checking on it every 5 minutes. Just as I went to sit down I heard Boom! and another and I saw out of the corner of my widow a glow of fire. I ran down stairs to find the bag on fire along with my charger and the cooler that it was sitting on. If it wasn't for that liposack i don't think I would of been here writing this. Besides some chared fingers and electronics no damage to my home.


Please be very carefull with this thing and practice safety when using them. Right now my fingers are too chared to post pictures but I will tomorrow.

[Team FFRB]

Glad to hear you came out of that with out burning your house down and or killing your self from the fumes!!!!

[maxmekker]

Each time I get sloppy with lipo's I take a tube tour, ore read one of this stories.
Thanks for sharing.

[line6]

Wow scary glad to hear it turned out ok. So what was up with the lipo. I think that would be worth telling so others no when to just dispose of one the proper way.

JAson Sims

[BakedMopar]

First off it was a little puffy BUT i think the real cause was that the balance tap was not working so I tried to charge it up to a safe storage voltage ( it was dangerously low 11.98v for a 4s pack) without the balancer. About two minutes from my last check the pack was at 12.9v before she let go.

Upon further inspection I am really lucky. Some of the brning debris burned the ATV covers on two quads. If those things ignited for sure it would have not been good. I'm glad today was raining here all day and I have an open carport so everything is pretty damp. My fingers are felling better and my palm is pretty good, the only thing hurt is my morale.

*EDIT* The battery was being charged at .5 amps.

[simo71]

Just think, if you had of not attempted to play with what you knew was a bad pack it may never had happened.

[Chuck E Cheese]

well i am sorry to hear about your experience. i am sorry you got burnt and glad you, your home and family are ok. this makes me think a little. i am the worst with charging lipos. i have a fire safe that is set up to charge them in, as well as lipo sacs. usually you can find 2 chargers and batteries sitting on top of the safe charging. i dont mess with puffy batteries at all. a little puffing and i quit using them. but as sad as it is i just got rid of a box that was on my lani that had about 25lbs of old lipos. they were all in a box with no protection on the 5.5 bullets. even now i have a box with about 15-20 4-5000mah 4s sitting on the living room floor in my apartment... this is for sure an eye opener for me... i have always heard about lipo fires but never knew anyone that has had one. at the pond one day one of the guys put one in a back pack and it starter fumeing but i have never seen one actually go up in flames...

[Chuck E Cheese]

yesterday i also had a lipo experience but i threw it right in the pond to soak in the salt water. it was a 4s 5200mah 40c thunder power that busted right open while running. nothing happened it is just what i found when i opened the hatch

[Steven Vaccaro]

Sorry to hear this. But thanks for sharing, its going to open some peoples eyes to playing with a damaged lipo pack.

[Basstronics]

Can someone compile, post & sticky a topic about how to appropriately/safely store lipos. Also what bad lipo's look like as well as how to dispose of them.

Ive had two packs which I would consider "slightly puffed" and to be honest- I dont know where they got to. Kinda scary. I think the G/F threw them in the trash...

[skellyo]

If the liposack caught on fire, it didn't do what it was supposed to do. It may have kept it from being as bad, but the whole point is that they are supposed to contain a fire.

[Doby]

Just think, if you had of not attempted to play with what you knew was a bad pack it may never had happened.

Bingo:buttrock:

[Chilli]

I always balance charge and monitor individual cell voltage closely while charging. Twice, I have had cells that I could tell were going bad because they were having a hard time balancing. I kept a close eye on them and eventually they started to puff (at which time they were disposed of).

[westbeach]

Sorry to hear George, but glad that the family and house is ok. This is a good reminder for us all.

[SweetZ28]

Have a ? what happened with all the black smoke that comes out of a lipo is that stuff toxic what does it do to the room that the pack burned up in also is it a big mess when this happens?

[Chuck E Cheese]

i also would like info on storing lipo's properlly. something tells me this probablly isnt it.

[BakedMopar]

Just think, if you had of not attempted to play with what you knew was a bad pack it may never had happened.

As stated in the first post it was MY fault. I should've just thrown it in a bucket of salt and let it be done. But in denile cause you just bought it is where I as many others will go wrong.

In life theres a lot of thing we shouldn't do but do anyway. My sharing is to help prevent the next guy from doing it.


If the liposack caught on fire, it didn't do what it was supposed to do. It may have kept it from being as bad, but the whole point is that they are supposed to contain a fire.

True. But the bag itself was not on fire. It actually split the seam. The bag itself moved about four feet from where it was sitting from the concusion. It slide up against a milk crate that was in the garage.

[Chuck E Cheese]

wow eye opener.... call me george

[skellyo]

True. But the bag itself was not on fire. It actually split the seam. The bag itself moved about four feet from where it was sitting for the concusion. I slide up against a milk crate that was in the garage.

What brand of liposack was it?

[SweetZ28]

WOW you know those lipo sacks are not supposed to split at the seams that must have been a faulty one?

[SweetZ28]

i also would like info on storing lipo's properlly. something tells me this probablly isnt it.

Very bad man very bad!
I have my lipos in a brinks fire proof box and then have the box inside a 10 gallon glass fish tank with a screen lid and i lay the lipo sack over the top of the brinks fire proof box also.

[BakedMopar]

It was a OG Liposack. I had it for about a year and a half.

[detox]

Who sells affordable lipo sacks? What prices are you guys paying?

[properchopper]

George !! So glad the damage was relatively minimal & You & Yours are OK. ! :hug1:

[Karfrik]

Gald to hear you are doing fine and that bigger loss was prevented by using a lipo sack.This things are inexpensive and do their work.They are worth every penny.I also always charge with an extinguisher handy,just in case.
Just don`t show us how your fingers look!!!....take care....Always

[Krowbar69]

Man.. that's terrible, glad to hear your ok.. Being new to this hobbie i will now be very careful with these battery's.

[Rumdog]

geez. Scary stuff. Glad you're o.k. bro. Well, besides charred fingers.

[Flying Scotsman]

i also would like info on storing lipo's properlly. something tells me this probablly isnt it.

I store mine in a fire safe.

Douggie

[electric]

I store mine in a fire safe.

Douggie

I store mine in a craftsman tool cabinet, nothing but steel for the drawers.

[dana]

i use an ammo box.

[Rumdog]

Mine are sitting on my desk right now. Has anyone had one spontaneously combust? Meaning, while not in use, or not charging, or shorting?

[BakedMopar]

I've had a few puff while not in use.

[Rumdog]

I have also, but it was over discharged.

[FighterCat57]

Wow. Makes me shudder. I lost an entire garage while using a car battery charger near c16. Blew up 30 gallons, took out the entire garage. (relay sparked near fumes that had built up after closing the doors)

Glad you're OK. I know the charred fingers thing. Heal up soon!

[nomobux]

Paranoia (sp) is total awareness ..... I gotts paranoia

[BHChieftain]

I store my lipos in an ammo box *with the gasket seal removed* to allow it to vent (vs. blowing up), and I keep the ammo box in the fireplace.

I also charge my batteries in a lipo sack in the fireplace.

Chief

[BakedMopar]

Liposack has responded to an e-mail I sent. They said that the seams splitting happens very rarely. They have an replacement sent out free of charge. It was a warranty claim that I never thought I would have used.

BTW Doc said it's second degree burns to the fingers and chemical burns in the palm.

[Fluid]

i use an ammo box.

Several years ago at a race I watched a 6S LiPo pack being charged in a closed .30 calilber ammo box with the charger wires going through a 1/2" hole in the side. The already-fully-charged pack blew and the ammo box shot across the grass for ~20 feet like a rocket. Without the vent hole the ammo box would have exploded. Not a great idea in my experience, that's one reason why LiPo sacks are not sealed.




.

[sjslhill]

Glad your okay.....hope those chemical burns heal. I have an ugly scar from a non r/c chemical burn.

This just points out just how dangerous these darn LiPolys are. Everything can be safe for 2 or 3 years and wham!, a fire can burn your house down. :huh:

[sjslhill]

Jim Phelps, 3rd degree burns from plane Lipo burns. Jim has been in the hobby 30 years. All it takes is one small mistake or really none at all as in this case above

[graill]

You can say you will get around to it but you know...........fate always decides to bite folks in the ass at the most innopurtune times.

I posted this link in the last "omg i almost died due to a lipo fire" thread on a lipo fire. The small investment is worth the piece of mind. use enough refractory (kiln bricks) to make a 3 foot by 3 foot box or even 1 foot by 1 foot is very cheap compared to what you can lose. not even a blow torch will go through the 2-1/2 inch thick ones. you can even take a plastic milk crate and line the inside.

As i have said before i use an old kiln for charging discharching but that can be expensive to hunt down, the alternative are the bricks, and you do not need a bag with these.

a couple as a base and then several surrounding the base make a very nice and safe lipo charge vault, you can even buy a shelf (though they can be around 60 bucks or more) to also have a cover.

I never leave a charging lipo out of my sight, i watch in utter boredom as they charge and then balance hoping my music selection will last the entire time. 2 days of cycling, charging, for 3-12 minutes of fun......the work to fun ratio is off a bit..........:laugh:


http://www.sheffield-pottery.com/Kiln-Building-Refractory-Bricks-s/24.htm

[HYDROJERRY]

Man i have mine in a plastic case,,not good,,? i have one 2s Turnigy 5000 that after i charge it or run it it doesnt feel like a little brick like my others feels like the packegde is just a hair flex like i thought it was just the covering but i gess it could be the battery itself,,,,it holds charge right and the cells ballance is it bad or could it just be the covering????PS glad to here your ok man!!!!could have been much worst..

[Insaniac]

Perhaps OSE should carry a safe charge/store sack or box?