LiPo Battery Fire

[billdelong]

I understand that you were charging the pack at the 4S rate even though it was only a 3S pack, however I am curious if you recorded the actual voltage reading on the charger when the fire ignited?

[JonathanReichert]

I'm new to Lipo technology... I have a 3s 2200mah Battery, and i have a charger that can go up to 5.0amps. Up until now i have always understood that i should charge at 2.2amps, on the 3s setting of course, and it always take almost exactly one hour. Is it possible to safely charge it faster? Any idea on the settings this would require? For example, can i set it to 3s, 5.0amps and then stop it when it reaches the correct voltage? if so, will it tell me when it is full just like it normally does?

[234mrcool]

this happened to me except i had 2 sky lipos and plugged them together and they started smoking haha

[HamdhanA330]

Is the explosions loud?

[cdickenson64]

People talk about LiPo batteries and how they would never buy them, because they see things like this where the battery is purposely overcharged or discharged at way too high rate. Wake up! Any battery will burn up if you mistreat it like that! I have had NiCad packs catch fire when damaged and overcharged.

[JLawr679]

Also... 1998 called. They want their video camera back.

[JLawr679]

Sit. Rollover. Bark. Good boy.

[SpreadingTruths]

Wow that's a serious fire. Could easily set a house on fire. That's the most intense fire of that size I've ever seen. It's like a little nuclear inferno.

[iwatchfunny]

Its a good time to point out that 90% of chargers automaticly stop charging when the battery is full...

[SawViking]

I have a 3 cell battery, and one of them wires disconnected from the battery, so i surgically sodered it back on. Is that safe? (Can the battery catch fire during use, i.e. not during charging?)

Also i use a smart charger (that can connect to the small wire on the side); is it then ok to leave it unattended?

[hockeydude5122]

if you were to take it off at 2:21 would it still catch fire?

[LiPoBurner]

It would almost definately continue on it's course of self destruction. Once the temperature of the battery pack gets to a certain point, the chemicals inside get into a thermal runaway situation - the heat creates an internal reaction which then creates more heat, more reaction, more heat...... It won't stop once the power is removed. The same end result is almost guaranteed.

[LiPoBurner]

If you catch a battery that has swollen badly but has not yet exploded, I think the best action is to remove power to try to delay the fire and cover the battery pack with sand or some other non flammable material to try to minimise the fire.

This is why you must never charge these batteries on or near any flammable materials.

Some people might tell you to put the battery in water. I would not recommend this as the internal chemicals are highly reactive with water.

[eadthem]

@LiPoBurner For a lipo pack about to blow or starting to blow a dunk in saltwater will quench the reaction. ONLY SALT WATER regular water will not react well at all:p. O and don't bother with a ABC extinguisher unless its to put out something else lit on fire by the pack. It will have no effect on the pack its self.

[128pinkfloyd]

@LiPoBurner

Yeah… the Group 1 elements combust when you put them in water…

[goozyman]

that bug that walked up to the battery got pwned. im calling WSPA

[AmpleLight]

Stop putting fireworks in our batteries china, kthnx bye.

[Spetsnaz1220]

lipos are like make shift c4

[GoaranG]

hehe.. the 3 cells exploded at the same time xD

[fm2h3]

2:33*

[fm2h3]

Haha I thought at 1:33 seconds a thing would pop up saying somthing like "It has exploded causing sparks and flames" Because this whole video its stating the mega obvious.

[lisciu1]

siemens c25 explod in my jacket with lipo battery long time ago

[posinker]

LOL. That's pretty crazy. I knew LiPos caught on fire easily without a it being balanced while charging, but I never knew it was that quick and so furious! This is honestly a very helpful video. Great idea!

[Koolass598]

LOL THERES A FUCKING BUG GOING NEAR THE BATTER AT 0:22 prob dies after it goes on fire

[annihil8ted]

Aww dude, you let the magical smoke out of your battery!

[BNSFME]

whats a LIPO battery someone tell me

[imodatlife]

lithium poloymer battery

[snapdragon69]

LITHIUM POLYMER

[Adamester333]

if you just want to see fire then skip to around 2:30 and watch from there

[skybound1999]

Not all the chinese lipos are bad, I have used the Zippy lipos and they work great. Most of the lipo failures are due to ignorance of the precautions that have to be taken with all lipo batteries.

[HurrSkyline]

Why did ti expolode.

[LiPoBurner]

This battery exploded because I overcharged it intentionally. It was a battery pack that had one cell that wasn't charging properly. I made the video to demonstrate how dangerous these batteries can be if they are not charged correctly or if they are damaged.

[flamarko]

And avoid the chinese manufactured ones.

Bought 2 from Ebay less than 8 months ago.

Used one only once and then stored them in a fireproof box in my garage. Week ago I checked out both and they were completely bloated and swelling. Had to dispose of them properly.

Cheap crappola!

[rifethuskic]

Hi Lipoburner , I got RC plane radian charged battery and used for ten minutes crash ten times turned radio off and vent home, the battery left in the plane over night 11.1 V, 1350 mAH, 3 Cell, 15C, The batt can not be charged any more I assume over night power got lost, the charger beeps ten times and it does not charge it, is it possible to charge lipo batt ones it is dead, when I test probes of batt it is showing 7.5 V, thank you

[jcubano2003]

yes u can . dont let it die complete ever but there is a option ,conect + with + and - with- with other battery similar for abaut a minute or two ,do this save out of the house,just in case,then charge it with the charger normaly that will be enough to active the quimestry backto live i have done it ,but is not recomend it ,be carefull take care

[aerialboy55]

Holy Crap... I thought it was a teeny tiny flame, thats something out of an acme cartoon. They should use those for demolition and the war....

[GeeksRus95]

They Should use that as rocket full! COULD U IMAGINE THAT!

that would be worse than a nuclear meltdown!

[eraserbuddy213]

lol yea look at the bug

[bad0or]

as it swells, it begins to roll over the bug..

[thynecoffee]

haha, did you see the bug walking toward the swelling battery?

[skysurferuk]

Thanks for taking the time to put this together. I'm soo fed up with the words posted elsewhere "Li-Po explosion". Not an explosion, more a spontaneous combustion. I'm thinking of going LiPo when my NiMh & NiCads dry up.

Anyway, seems to me the best way is to charge them with the proper kit, outside, on the concrete floor of the garage!

Cheers.

[hutto102]

was the time shown in the video of 21+ hours the actual charging time the lipo was hooked up for. regardless, those things really swell up before blowing. thanks

[LiPoBurner]

The time on the video is the time of day (9:28pm). The battery pack only took a few minutes to begin swelling. I was overcharging it and the charger was set for a 4-cell pack instead of a 3-cell pack. This could be an easy mistake to make when setting the charger up. Most balancers would have detected the wrong cell count. I always use a balancer normally. The battery pack will last longer and if it helps prevent this sort of disaster, then it's worth it

[hutto102]

thats scary. to have that happen so quick. i recently went to lipo's in my gun and i have been making sure i dont have any screw ups like the fire by looking at all possible info about lipo bats. thanks

[LiPoBurner]

I was charging at just over twice the 1hour rate, but I think the real danger came from the fact that I set the charger for 4 cells instead of 3. This caused the batteries to continue charging at full current past the maximum of 4.2V per cell. Reading about the dangers of these batteries is very sensible. They are very safe if you treat them well. That means charging at the correct maximum rate, setting the charger properly for the number of cells, using a balancer.....

[LiPoBurner]

..... and never using the batteries if they have any visible sign of crash damage or swelling

[helinator]

The funniest part was the tiny bug crawling towards the pack. He never saw what was coming...

[coondogtheman1234]

yeah i was thinking the same thing

[anongos]

Where? I didn't see any bug.

[simpollux]

@helinator haha saw that too- but I think I also saw the bug jump off at one point though.

Guess every bug has its day!

[vanepico]

how did you get it on camera if it was unattended?

[LiPoBurner]

This video wasn't unattended of course, but I was a safe distance from the battery pack and the pack was on a fireproof surface.

Manufacturers of LiPo batteries warn against leaving batteries unattended whilst charging. The outcome of a faulty pack, a faulty charger or setting the charger to the wrong charge rate or number of cells could be very serious if any resulting fire couldn't be put out before it spreads

[LiPoBurner]

As one idiot replied to my reply, but decided to use offensive swear words, I deleted his reply, but I will answer him by saying that you don't need to sit and watch a LiPo pack being charged. Just be sensible - charge it on a non-flammable surface and make sure you can put any fire out before you lose your house and family.