The Power of a Full Charged 6s brick... Never let your guard down!!!! Or else.....

[SrC]

I have some old Lipos here. Not worthy of any RC use.
One of these 6s bricks I've been using to power my old 18v Ryobi Leaf blower. Man that sucker blows great with 25 v.
So I charged it, supervised as always. And I heard a POP, POP at about 25v so the charger stated.
It was in a Lipo Bag charging on my ISDT K2 AIr( bag is useless actually) but easy to grab and toss in a quick pinch.
Heard the Pop pop, ran to it, I threw the bag in a SS bucket nearby and ran outside to the Backyard. It sat there popping and expanding, Sweet smell of Lipo. Yet no smoke or ignition. I tried dead shorting the mains. Nothing....
Then grabbed it with heavy Leather gloves outside of the lipo bag , placed it in a safe location and put her out of her misery.

I took pictures and some video. Not that I recommend anyone do this.
But you can see that we should never take these Lipos for granted. Easy to see why these lipos can take a whole house down , hurting property and people very easily. The fireball was over 10 feet tall. 5 feet wide. My car was safely 20 feet away and there was debris all over it from the explosive force.

If you ever smell the sweet lipo , be very weary of that pack. Get it outside. I have even received new lipos out the pack that were strong smelling. DO Not use them or keep them in the house at all. A covered barbeque is a safe place for the mean time or other safe location not near any combustible things. Could even cause a brush fire. Call the seller for a new one. It is in a dangerous state even when they just smell. The cells are breached. Oxygen in the air is the catalyst to ignite it and then it feeds itself until it is all burned out. Nothing else you can do . Enjoy the firework show from a safe location.

 

[Tate1122]

Wow, It is a good thing that you were watching the battery. Could you post the pictures?

 

[Adiabatic]

Good post. I'm the only person I know with a Bat-Safe, couple others who use modified ammo cans, and I just don't understand how people are willing to spend thousands per year on this hobby and then charge out in the open on a table in their house, often with their wife and kids nearby. Insurance against LiPo fires is relatively cheap but often overlooked.

Hope you post the video.

 

[Tex Koder]

Thank you for the PSA!

 

[morrjr71]

Good post. I'm the only person I know with a Bat-Safe, couple others who use modified ammo cans, and I just don't understand how people are willing to spend thousands per year on this hobby and then charge out in the open on a table in their house, often with their wife and kids nearby. Insurance against LiPo fires is relatively cheap but often overlooked.

Hope you post the video.

I charge my batteries mostly inside a Bat-Safe sitting on a concrete block with a concrete paver on top. That all sits on the concrete floor in my basement set in an area that is a minimum of 4 feet away from all combustibles. I have a set of EC5 charging cables that are semi-permanently routed through the top of my Bat-Safe, and I use EC5 adapters for the batteries with different connector types (Traxxas, XT90, and Deans connectors). I store my LiPos at storage charge in two ammo cans with the gaskets removed for venting.

 

[SrC]

Getting some captures of the video I took....

Honestly, it doesn't take much common sense to know that the Lipo bags they push and sell, will NOT do a dam thing to contain a lipo fire like this one.?

 

[#ARRMArcfanboy4life]

Honestly, it does take much common sense to know that the Lipo bags they push and sell, will NOT do a dam thing to contain a lipo fire like this one.?

I use an ammo box.

 

[SrC]

^^^ I keep trying to locate very large Ammo cans. ( like 50 cal. ones?). I have like 18 lipos here at any given time.
Do you also remove the seal on the cover??? I do have a Bat-Safe. Not large enough though. And I doubt it will contain a fire from just 4 6s bricks inside.

 

[#ARRMArcfanboy4life]

I keep trying to locate very large Ammo cans. ( like 50 cal. ones?). I have like 18 lipos here at any given time.
Do you also remove the seal on the cover???

I bought a 50cal can on amazon. I charge it with the lid cracked (because the connectors don't fit between the seal). When I store it, I have it fully sealed.
I don't remove the seal. Should I?

 

[Adiabatic]

Cut a piece out of the seal so it can vent but also latch properly, and you can probably route wires through the gap as well. You don't want it sealed in the event of a thermal incident or it will pressurize and possibly explode.

 

[SrC]

Yes, remove the Ammo can seal.!!! Trust me on this one!!
Because the pressure inside needs to vent. If not, the pressure will make the ammo can like a Bomb/Grenade. Can will become Shrap metal, metal will go flying. Projectiling everywhere.
The Bat-Safe is designed to vent this way, letting pressure and smoke out , but contains the fire from within. And from spreading fire to comustibles nearby. Lipos emit a white smoke, then it ignites in miliseconds. The more cells and the higher the mah Capacity.... the greater the force.

This lipo was a 6S 6K mah Zeee pack. Zeees suck. Always hard/long to balance them, high IR's etc. This pack started swelling within 6s months. The swelling would contract. So this pack was decieving. But it was over 3 years old now and well used. Probably 30 cycles old. I feel if you got 50+ cycles out of any pack, you did well. Can't see how they can last longer than this. Any Lipo. Even though they say you can charge them 2K times. That's BS.

Not hating on Zeee's just because of fires. This can happen with any brand lipo.

I put this lipo out of its misery dangerously. It was already popping/smelling/outgassing/cells breaching. There was no recycling this one!
Normally, many toss them into a bucket of Salty Brine water for several days. (Snow Melt/Rock Salt and water)

 

[Moirae]

I bought a 50cal can on amazon. I charge it with the lid cracked (because the connectors don't fit between the seal). When I store it, I have it fully sealed.
I don't remove the seal. Should I?

Air needs to be able to escape the can or it will turn into a bomb. I drilled some holes in mine.

 

[morrjr71]

^^^ I keep trying to locate very large Ammo cans. ( like 50 cal. ones?). I have like 18 lipos here at any given time.
Do you also remove the seal on the cover???

I leave just enough of the seal near the latch end of the lid to allow the latch to clamp down properly. I remove the rest of the gasket.

I have around 20-22 batteries in two .30 cal ammo cans. The batteries run anywhere from 2s to 6s. The 2s, 3s, and 4s batteries (all hard case) are stacked three to four high and three wide as you look at the can with the latch towards you. The 6s soft-cased batteries are stored behind the stacked batteries and standing up at the end of the can away from the latch.

 

[SrC]

I need several 50 cal. ammo cans.

 

[Smilinbri]

Mine are all stored in Bat-safes. Probably have about 20 lipos. Got 2 small Bat-safes, a bunch of mediums and 1 of the large tall ones.

 

[#ARRMArcfanboy4life]

I just dremeled a hole in the ammo box.

 

[Hector_Fisher]

I sleep with them under my pillow. Keeps me warm and I know when they need to be taken outside for a midnight wiz.

 

[Tex Koder]

Look for M592 ammo cans ,that should be roomy enough for your needs.

 

[ArrmaFreek2022]

I have some old Lipos here. Not worthy of any RC use.
One of these 6s bricks I've been using to power my old 18v Ryobi Leaf blower. Man that sucker blows great with 25 v.
So I charged it, supervised as always. And I heard a POP, POP at about 25v so the charger stated.
It was in a Lipo Bag charging on my ISDT K2 AIr( bag is useless actually) but easy to grab and toss in a quick pinch.
Heard the Pop pop, ran to it, I threw the bag in a SS bucket nearby and ran outside to the Backyard. It sat there popping and expanding, Sweet smell of Lipo. Yet no smoke or ignition. I tried dead shorting the mains. Nothing....
Then grabbed it with heavy Leather gloves outside of the lipo bag , placed it in a safe location and put her out of her misery.

I took pictures and some video. Not that I recommend anyone do this.
But you can see that we should never take these Lipos for granted. Easy to see why these lipos can take a whole house down , hurting property and people very easily. The fireball was over 10 feet tall. 5 feet wide. My car was safely 20 feet away and there was debris all over it from the explosive force.

If you ever smell the sweet lipo , be very weary of that pack. Get it outside. I have even received new lipos out the pack that were strong smelling. DO Not use them or keep them in the house at all. A covered barbeque is a safe place for the mean time or other safe location not near any combustible things. Could even cause a brush fire. Call the seller for a new one. It is in a dangerous state even when they just smell. The cells are breached. Oxygen in the air is the catalyst to ignite it and then it feeds itself until it is all burned out. Nothing else you can do . Enjoy the firework show from a safe location.

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Man, lucky you acted quickly. I will say that I had one of these batteries and to make a long story short it was off. Do not use these for anything else except light bashing. Anyways I contacted the manufacturer and they sent me another one and same deal. I contacted them again and sent them both back. I know some people are gonna say they are ok cause thats how I felt before, I do however still use the 2s version but I advise you to stay away from these.

 

[SrC]

+1
Good point.
Fire liability increases exponentially, with 6s bricks.
Not as bad with 2s packs.