Battery explosion, house nearly burnt down

[Skywalkerair]

Thanks for sharing this. Just ordered some Lipo bags

 

[BobN2Tech]

I normally keep my Mini2 batteries in the charger and many times I leave it my car so I will have it if I am driving near a place I would like to fly. This story makes me quite nervous about keeping in the car. Are there any Lipo battery containers that can be used to hold the battery/charger that would be safe if exploded?

 

[Jbizzle]

I am still curious about the age of the batteries. OP has not come back and provided this info. Maybe I missed it.

I have been lax at times when charging but 95% of the time when charging I place them inside of my fireplace. I am going to pick up some lipo bags for storage.

 

[RoboticTundra]

First, I'm glad nobody was immediately hurt in this incident and hopefully no longer term harm from fumes.

What realistically is the risk of this happening?

I just did a quick count and I've well over 100 lithium based battery 'packs' in our house. Included are two Tesla's, three Tesla Powerwalls, 13 yard tool packs (EGO, Echo and Toro), 14 Milwaukee M18's, about 20 Nikon camera batteries, one APC 1500kw UPS (two others are lead-acid), a handful of DJI drone & gimbal, Garmin bike computers, and probably 30-50 other misc items w/ rechargeable lithium batteries. And then about 25 Apple devices w/ batteries.

We've at least 43 chargers of various sorts plugged in around our house (not including about a dozen USB-C outlets that are used to charge various things).

I'm guessing that we might have a bit more than average but probably not by too much.

So,... What's a reasonable course of action? What, if anything, should be charged in a fire proof/reduction bag or case? These bags/boxes are, honestly, a PITA.

Wearing a hard shelled crash helmet when in a car in the U.S. could be considered a reasonable course of action as well. But a PITA. We have the most dangerous road system of all developed countries and see about 40,000 deaths per year but we don't seem too concerned even though it is well known that safer road designs based on CROW would likely reduce deaths and injuries by about 80-97%.

People in the U.S. and OZ wear foam bicycle helmets which statistically are largely ineffective.

 

[JSchneid]

WOW !!! That is a scary situation. I purchased charging bags and i fail to used it. I will start doing it again.

I too bought a charging bag that I don't use.

 

[bensellers]

I used to teach Apple hardware repair and one thing every certified repair location must have is a bucket of sand for battery runaways, along with proper ventilation. Also battery fire safes were recommended.
Glad to hear OP didn’t have more damage could have been worse it seems. Still a sobering reminder as I and many others are very casual about charging and trusting the safety of these batteries. I travel alot with my drone and can’t bring a fire extinguisher or sand or a safe with me everywhere, but I’m definitely going to look into some solutions to increase safety. I have individual lipo bags for when I’m flying, but I haven’t been putting them on during charging.

 

[kamviclance]

So for those of us who live in Condos or Apartments, where we have no place to charge batteries except on the kitchen shelf or the counter in the bathroom or by the outlet near the floor in the office or bedroom, we would really like as much detail as to the age of the battery, the number of charging cycles, whether you ever noted heat, bulging, swelling and anything else you can think of to provide us with things to look for, be careful about, etc. This is scary stuff and while we know that ANYTHING can happen, we'd like some assurance that this is an anomaly.

Hi Jim,
I don't really know if this will prevent a fire from spreading, but when I charge my batteries
(as crazy as it sounds), I put them in the oven. The oven door will close without any problem
on the charging cable. I am confident that the oven would contain any explosion and fire that
could occur. Also, the batteries while resting on the middle oven rack would also receive the
benefit of addition cooling from underneath. Every little thing to help keep the battery cool
will help. This again, is what I do, who knows, maybe this is not a good idea? The one fact is though...
never charge a battery without being present at all times.

 

[Chaosrider]

I absolutely do not trust the batteries for my Mavic 2 anymore. I’ll continue to fly my Mini 2, but after experiencing what I did, I’m done with the Mavic 2.

The battery didn’t just start on fire, it was shooting flames like a jet. Something like a firework is my best explanation. It even sounded like it wanted to launch - I was seriously expecting it to explode by how hard it was out gassing, the sound it was making, and how the flames were jetting out of it, and the sheer volume of smoke it put out.

When the flames slowed down and I could see through the smoke, I grabbed it and put it in and old frying pan and took it outside. I’m guessing that was 20 to 30 seconds after it started.

And FWIW, I’ve never crashed the Mavic, its never had any trauma, always kept indoors so the batteries have never been exposed to any extreme weather conditions, etc. Nothing out of the ordinary in any way.

How old were the batteries, and how many cycles did they have on them?

Let me now if you want to sell your Mavic 2 really cheap!

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

I too would be very interested in knowing the manufacture date of the battery in question. M2Pro batteries manufactured in Aug / Sep of 2018 were from a production run with known issues and very prone to swelling. DJI quietly replaced quite few of those for operators I knew without question.

There is a lot of solid advice in this thread. I personally always charge my batteries in a very large pyrex baking dish. I have not had a DJI smart battery go up on me but I did have a large 4s R/C battery do it’s volcano impersonation on me without warning despite always being treated correctly and showing no signs of any issue and it was being charged on a very expensive multi channel smart charger at the time.

I did have to wash the curtains (and my underware) but the Pyrex successfully contained the conflagration while picked it up and carried it to the balcony and threw it into the pool.

My R/C club has a rule in the bylaws requiring charging bags .. can’t be too careful certainly.

Regards
Ari

 

[Ronny St.]

What a scary experience! Luckily it turned out good for you. Batteries everywhere these times and yes, you read about batteries exploding in electric bicycles, cars, smartphones... One would get scary to use batteries

 

[XcYZ]

This has turned into a huge discussion - and this is exactly what my intention was when posting what happened and the picture of what was left of the battery. I just wanted to bring awareness.

I (had) 3 batteries in total. I have them numbered 1, 2, and 3. I always start with 1 and work my way through them numerically as I use them (similar to my camera battery workflow, studio lights workflow, etc). The battery that failed was number 2. Inspecting the remaining batteries, number 3 has a ever so slight bulge on the bottom. It’s not much, but I can tell by comparing it to number 1.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

2. Inspecting the remaining batteries, number 3 has a ever so slight bulge on the bottom. It’s not much, but I can tell by comparing it to number 1.

Check those battery manufacturing dates, you might have some of the defect batch period.
If they all came with a flymore and the remaining two are in there, DJI might be convinced to replace all 3.
Especially with background story and photographic evidence.

 

[Barbara]

I'm wondering if it would be worth getting a fire-resistant safe as a place to charge/store batteries? Not for the 'safe' aspect, but the fire resistance.

These things do exist, though not all are created equal. Here's one example: Charging box

I've seen a number of home made ones on Youtube. Usually consist of a metal box with a lid you can seal and a way to get power in, also sealed. However, with a sealed box you need a way to vent gasses (smoke) outside should the worst happen. You may also need a way to cool the box. Can get complicated.

I use an amo can, but don't fully close the lid. Also have a fan by the window, should I need to ventilate the room. Also, the floor is ceramic tile on a concrete pad.

 

[Ren57]

So I was putting my batteries on the charger this morning in prep of flying my Mavic 2 Pro this afternoon when one of the batteries suddenly shot out a stream of gas (?), instantly starting smoking then burst into flames. Thank God I was in the kitchen right next to the sink. If this had happened anywhere else in our home, it would have burned the place down. The flames were strong in the sink shooting up almost a foot. The smoke was so bad that I couldn’t see the other side of the kitchen. Now the other two batteries are on the concrete in the garage until I figure out how I’m going to dispose of them. I don’t want them in my vehicle and they are not ever coming back into our home.

I just wanted to share with everyone my near disaster.

Think you need a new frying pan.....

 

[slozukimc]

You are an engineer, I'm a Medical Doctor. Technology helps us every day and always be glad for it. New horizons of treatments and diagnostics that were unimaginable yesterday are real today thanks to technology. This statemen also applies to other aspects of our lives. But if for any reason there is a discrepancy between what a machine (of any kind) says and what I'm able to interpret using my five senses, my knowledge and experience, you have no doubt that I will distrust what the machine says and will follow my reasoning and capabilities. Human capabilities CAN"T be supplemented by machines, reason why we still have F1 pilots, presidents, engineers like you, doctors, teachers, etc.
I trust DJI technology, I use their drones, but I trust myself better.

I call BS. Statement from a good friends surgeon when he was skeptical of a robot performing his knee replacement….”yes sir I can do it myself but I am one of the best in the country and that robot can do a much better job that will allow you to heal faster”. Thinking that you can monitor battery charging better than a well made BMS is simply arrogance.

Mike

 

[tiparoch]

Thank you for sharing this story. Recently with other stories of issues with cellphones, rechargable AA/AAA batteries etc. I have been quite aware of not charging anything unattended, especially over night, or when I leave for the day. Batteries are generally our friends but is good to beware of the 'dark-side'.

 

[Torque]

I'll trust the pilot following the tech, don't you? Trust the human being, capable and prepared to follow the tech. Human first, machine after. It's simple.

Not to beat a dead horse, just now reading the responses to your original post (which I agree 100% with) and surprised at how people have responded.
Healthcare professional here, Respiratory Therapist for 35 years. Technology has made our lives so much easier, but the body count and malpractice suits would be astronomical if those of us who depend on the technology trusted it implicitly. Determining a patient's oxygen saturation used to require an arterial blood draw (very painful) and an expensive test, now I can clip an oximeter on the patient's finger and get that information within seconds. But the number of times I've seen caregivers panic over an erroneous reading is worrisome. Being called STAT for an intubation only to meet a patient who is wide awake, no signs of cyanosis, but with poor peripheral circulation resulting in a reading that indicates the person is about to code. My knowledge and experience, and intelligence requires me to double check and analyze every read out on my ventilators, blindly trusting those numbers could be fatal. Every aspect of technology in a hospital setting requires those who use it to know its limitations and fallibility. And we need to know how to not let it outsmart us.
That analogy, I think, works well with lipo batteries. The technology of DJI's smart batteries (and even some of the new RC fixed wing smart batteries) has made them so much safer to charge and store, but the reality is they can still fail. Airlines know this. Everyone of us who charges them in the sink, oven, lipo bag, baking dish, etc., appears to know this as well. Why else are we trying to mitigate any potential damage? I monitor every rechargable battery, whether "smart"or not.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

For an education, go to YouTube and search > drone lipo battery fire

Many soft pack drone lipos going up, both real life vision and tests / demos.

DJI batteries ?
A couple of test ones, mostly on old Phantom batteries, examples below.
Note case penetration required and it’s almost instant result.

This one isn’t as violent and took extra nail blows to react, but the initial puncture did start a chemical process.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

And beware if the out gassing as much as the fire itself.
As I mentioned in a previous post the fluoride gasses given off are very toxic, more here.

Toxic fluoride gas emissions from lithium-ion battery fires

Lithium-ion battery fires generate intense heat and considerable amounts of gas and smoke. Although the emission of toxic gases can be a larger threat than the heat, the knowledge of such emissions is limited. This paper presents quantitative measurements ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Faster]

Not to beat a dead horse, just now reading the responses to your original post (which I agree 100% with) and surprised at how people have responded.
Healthcare professional here, Respiratory Therapist for 35 years. Technology has made our lives so much easier, but the body count and malpractice suits would be astronomical if those of us who depend on the technology trusted it implicitly. Determining a patient's oxygen saturation used to require an arterial blood draw (very painful) and an expensive test, now I can clip an oximeter on the patient's finger and get that information within seconds. But the number of times I've seen caregivers panic over an erroneous reading is worrisome. Being called STAT for an intubation only to meet a patient who is wide awake, no signs of cyanosis, but with poor peripheral circulation resulting in a reading that indicates the person is about to code. My knowledge and experience, and intelligence requires me to double check and analyze every read out on my ventilators, blindly trusting those numbers could be fatal. Every aspect of technology in a hospital setting requires those who use it to know its limitations and fallibility. And we need to know how to not let it outsmart us.
That analogy, I think, works well with lipo batteries. The technology of DJI's smart batteries (and even some of the new RC fixed wing smart batteries) has made them so much safer to charge and store, but the reality is they can still fail. Airlines know this. Everyone of us who charges them in the sink, oven, lipo bag, baking dish, etc., appears to know this as well. Why else are we trying to mitigate any potential damage? I monitor every rechargable battery, whether "smart"or not.

Thanks @Torque for your understanding. I trust 100% more in a good Respiratory Therapist capacity controlling any vent machine settings than what the control says or any Pulse Oximeter being read by a RN instead of being analyzed by the RT. The same way I trust more my knowledge than I trust in the DJI Smart battery controller.
If other disagree, your choice. NOBODY would change my way of thinking that's based on knowledge, studies and experience. Be whatever you wanna do, and be happy with your own decisions, I'll do the same.
Could we continue talking about Op Issue, please?