Help battery caught fire

[Saltystevo]

Idk i have a charger in there with some leads to connect to the charger. Been using the bag since February with no issue. The leads did look a little crisp as well

The battery leads or the charger leads or both?
Look for everything that was burnt or smells burnt and you can maybe figure this out

 

[Wmorgan]

Went to the lhs and they checked the voltage and said all the cells were good. They said it looked like it ark with something in my bag. They said i could put a piece of electrical tape and everything should be OK. They said the only the plastic layer got a little burnt but the cells are covered in 2 layers of plastic. IDK if i trust a piece of electrical tape but they guaranteed me i will be fine.

What's their guarantee? They'll replace the battery AND any damages caused if the electrical tape doesn't work??

 

[arrmadillo]

They told you it was fine??? No way. Once a battery does that it's done and you're just putting yourself at risk. $150 isn't worth burning your house down or hurting yourself over to play with a toy car.

Yeah that figures....just passing the buck!

 

[Castbash]

I feel the same is exact way. I told them $150 is not worth my house n they continued to guarantee me that it will be ok. They did not say it was fine they guareented it. To me that means a lot more than guarantee and idk if i really wanna risk that.

 

[Saltystevo]

So this morning getting ready to take my Outcast to work and and my battery started sparking in my bag. Its a gensacearespammers 6200mah 60c and its only a week old. Called hobby shop and they told me they couldn't help me to call gensacearespammers.

So did you pay cash or card?
If you paid with a card you can do a chargeback through your card company.
First you have to talk with the battery maker and the hobby shop to see if they are going to replace it. After that I'd just do a chargeback and buy a different battery from a different place.
Also never just throw a battery in your bag. Get one of the lipo fire safe bags... 2x for $10 and well worth it

 

[Adamj804]

They told you it was fine??? No way. Once a battery does that it's done and you're just putting yourself at risk. $150 isn't worth burning your house down or hurting yourself over to play with a toy car.

I agree, get rid of battery. I had a rip in one before that Hobbytown told me "was fine". First charge after when I got home, it started smoking in the foyer of my house. Fortunately I was right there and was able to throw it in an old ammo can and fill it with water and store it outside in the middle of the yard for the night.

 

[Wmorgan]

RC is the only industry that I know of where customer service isn't important. Companies charge top dollar for goods, but put no backing behind them. There are a few companies that are good for their warranty - RPM, Arrma, T bone (for the most part). I spend thousands a year at Hobbytown and they at times act put out if they actually have to do something outside of ringing you up. If you buy batteries from Amazon, they will let you get a warranty on them, never tried it, but will the next time I purchase them.

I'd say it goes beyond RC as well. I'm also into archery and trying to find a decent bow shop can be a challenge. I finally found one in Houston (West Houston Archery) and then had to move away. Lol. Back to RC...The Hobby Town in Katy was decent and there was one clerk out of 4 in the RC department that was helpful. Their stock was ok if you had Traxxas. Here in Austin there're 2 Hobbytowns. I've been to both.
The one on the south side is very helpful and has alot of products, mostly Traxxas, but still some diversity. The clerk's I've delt with were helpful and friendly. The north side HT was not the same experience and I won't be back. I can't imagine these shops staying in business much longer when there are better online options available and most of these LHS don't seem to care to do anything about it. Either from customer service or product supply.
In general I can't find what I want at the LHS anyways. So that elemenates the "you can have it today" argument to drive there. Just search Amazon or one of the RC suppliers online and you can get it in a couple of days.

 

[Castbash]

So did you pay cash or card?
If you paid with a card you can do a chargeback through your card company.
First you have to talk with the battery maker and the hobby shop to see if they are going to replace it. After that I'd just do a chargeback and buy a different battery from a different place.
Also never just throw a battery in your bag. Get one of the lipo fire safe bags... 2x for $10 and well worth it

The hobby shop was not trying to replace it. Yup just ordered a lipo bag

I agree, get rid of battery. I had a rip in one before that Hobbytown told me "was fine". First charge after when I got home, it started smoking in the foyer of my house. Fortunately I was right there and was able to throw it in an old ammo can and fill it with water and store it outside in the middle of the yard for the night.

Yea i was thinking the same thing to go home and charge it and see what happens but still don't think i wanna risk it. Especially when i just got everything last week

 

[Notorious J]

They told you it was fine??? No way. Once a battery does that it's done and you're just putting yourself at risk. $150 isn't worth burning your house down or hurting yourself over to play with a toy car.

I think the what he's trying to say, is the spark came from the outside, and only damaged the sheathing of the pack. It wan't an internal battery issue. Two leads form a charger arced, and gave the battery a little rash on the outside.

 

[Saltystevo]

I think the what he's trying to say, is the spark came from the outside, and only damaged the sheathing of the pack. It wan't an internal battery issue. Two leads form a charger arced, and gave the battery a little rash on the outside.

Ohhhh...
What kind of charger that's not plugged in does that?

 

[Castbash]

I think the what he's trying to say, is the spark came from the outside, and only damaged the sheathing of the pack. It wan't an internal battery issue. Two leads form a charger arced, and gave the battery a little rash on the outside.

Yup you explained it a lot better. But yea thats exactly what happened. Sorry if i was not clear.

 

[Saltystevo]

Oh well that's kinda your fault then. The battery was checked and is good still. Either don't use it and take the hit or use it with extra, extra care

 

[Castbash]

Oh well that's kinda your fault then. The battery was checked and is good still. Either don't use it and take the hit or use it with extra, extra care

Agreed i don't really do big jumps but the truck does occasionally flip over. Lesson learned could be worse. When i get home from work i will charge it up outside and watch and make sure everything is ok.

 

[Saltystevo]

Agreed i don't really do big jumps but the truck does occasionally flip over. Lesson learned could be worse. When i get home from work i will charge it up outside and watch and make sure everything is ok.

I mean I think the battery is fine... I meant extra battery safety care. There's a sticky here about lipo safety that woodie sends every new member. Read it multiple times. The more you know and learn about lipos the more comfortable you will be around them.

 

[sadlerbw]

I zoomed in a bunch on the picture you posted, and I can kinda see what they are saying. It does look like something tried to burn its way INTO the battery not OUT of it. Also, add me to the group wondering what got so hot that it started to scorch the plastic wrapping of the battery.

 

[L0stB1t]

@Castbash , could you clean the burnt area with some q-tips and alcohol? If you could post another sharp picture I'm sure we could judge if the burn came from the inside or the outside. In the second case the LHS is right and you can cover it with tape and use it safely.

Perhaps the burn came from a full capacitor in the charger; they can discharge with a big spark at a lot of current. A well-designed charger should have a tiny resistor to discharge them, but that can take a few moments. How much time was there between disconnecting your charger, putting it in your bag and the sparking?

 

[Castbash]

I zoomed in a bunch on the picture you posted, and I can kinda see what they are saying. It does look like something tried to burn its way INTO the battery not OUT of it. Also, add me to the group wondering what got so hot that it started to scorch the plastic wrapping of the battery.

I had battery connectors in the bag n they touched and sparked. After i balanced it i guess i didnt disconnect the wires. My mistake i just charged it about to run right now.

 

[Makman]

Have had great luck with gens-ace-r-spam 3s batterys. I really like SMC and they are priced great. 6s 6500mah 75c $104.95. Check them out Danny knows batterys. smc-racing.net

 

[Dauransx]

Yeah as some pointed out, looks like its on the outside.

 

[Castbash]

Yup ran the car yesterday everything is good. It was definitely not the battery it was the keads that my dumbass still had connected. Got all my stuff for the diff but my MIP hex set still hasnt arrived. Off to attempt my first rc diff n change out all the bearing with fast eddys