Charging Drone Battery causes house fire on ABC News this AM

[TrayBoz]

Just saw a story about a Phantom 3 this morning on ABC - someone was charging its battery on their pool table during the night and it caught fire, setting the house on fire. No one was injured.

Of course the news story took a pretty negative tone, quoting a neighbor who said, "It's a good thing they [owners] were home or it could have burned our house down too!"

I've always been to paranoid to leave my battery on the charger overnight or unattended. I always watch it and remove it as soon as it's charged - maybe too overcautious, but stories like this scare me.

 

[BCMoto]

Your right about being cautious when charging any Lithium battery TrayBoz!

There are many many factors that can lead to fires when charging batteries - so go with the old saying of "Better to Be Safe Then Sorry!"

 

[SeaComms]

Been using lipo batteries for years in model aircraft. For this reason I always charge them on the garage floor on concrete with nothing flammable around them.

 

[apu]

Makes me pause and think as I usually plug into the closest outlet and park them on my sofa. Might have to borrow one my wife's baking pans as charging base...she thinks I'm nuts already anyways.

 

[ElGuapo]

The manual clearly states not to leave the batteries unattended during charging.

I never leave my batteries unattended when I am charging them, not to mention that I charge them in a cemented, ventilated area away from flammables just like one of the previous posts.

 

[its2loud]

And never, EVER charge them on any fabric covered surface or carpet.

 

[tom.cruisin.for.a.bruisin]

for my soft case LiPos used in my other RC toys, I use a LiPo bag while charging. for the hard case batteries like DJI stuff, I place it in a ceramic coffee cup. probably not the best solution but will it definitely gives me more time than just leaving it on my hardwood floor.

 

[Spanishcop]

I wonder if they were charging batteries on a different kind charger. I haven't read or seen the article.

 

[newnan3]

Out of an abundance of caution I bought the Bat-Safe lipo charging box from a kickstarter campaign. Its supposed to suppress lipo fires and actually filter any toxic fumes. Theyre probably available for regular sale at this point.

I would never under any circumstance leave a lipo of any kind charging out of sight and not in arm's reach. NEVER!

 

[AlanTheBeast]

I charge them on the floor in the kitchen - porcelain tile. I do leave them unattended though. Maybe I trust too much?

 

[Robbyg]

If the Mavic batteries had a problem we would have heard about it by now.
I charge mine during the day when I am home but I get no more paranoid about it than I do for my IPhone or iPad.

Rob

 

[Mavić_Legenda]

Yes Mavic LiPo batteries contain the most dangerous combination of chemistry in consumer batteries BUT this has also made them the most safely constructed batteries with many safety features, monitoring and overrides integrated into it - every single cell is automatically monitored. Still, I would not charge them unattended under any circumstance, learning from own mistakes is fine but not with this battery

 

[newnan3]

I nicked a racing quad lipo once with a razor knife trying to cut the wrapper off (one cell had gone bad and I wanted to turn it into a 3-cell for tuning). The second I nicked the cell something scalding hot shot off of it and began to smoke and get hot. I threw it into a lipo bag. It continued to get hotter and hotter until i dumped it out of the lipo bag and into the fireplace. It finally cooled down. No actual fire but a lot of smoke and scary enough for me to learn my lesson.

Best case scenario leaving batteries unattended is theyre ready when you get back....worse case scenario is your house is burned down.

 

[Blucenturion]

Much to think about here. Thanks all.

 

[TrayBoz]

If the Mavic batteries had a problem we would have heard about it by now.

I disagree. I hadn't heard anything about the phantom batteries having a problem, but it was clearly a 1/2 melted Phantom battery they showed on the news last Friday. And the mavic has only been out about 6 months.

 

[tom.cruisin.for.a.bruisin]

there's a lot of third-party cells out there for the phantom series that may not have as strict quality control as OEM. my view is that this highly complex and expensive piece of technology that we send into the air should have the batteries that are the best match for it.

 

[dbyantis]

I have had a small LiPo fire, so charging anything unattended, is not done here, however I would hope that the internals of a "smart" battery would reduce the risk, but failure of a battery while charging can be the issue.

 

[jlemond]

I always charge my lipos on my granite counter or for 3s and bigger in my metal sink or on concrete and I never leave them alone for more than just a few minutes. I know a guybthat lost his house, car and harley to a lipo fire.

 

[Dw911]

I wonder if the person in the article was using a cheap Chinese replica battery in his Phantom.
All sensible advice above though, although if your using genuine batteries and common sense, with all the inbuilt protection etc thankfully these things are pretty safe, but never hurts to take precautions when charging them etc.

What's also important to remember with these types of battery chemistry is its not just the fire that is the only risk, the fumes given of when they are burning is highly damaging to the human body especially if inhaled and the damage caused is sadly often irreversible

 

[geigy]

Yikes - thanks for the warning. I've been totally ignoring the issue, tossing the batteries wherever amongst the junk on my work area. No more. I like the coffee mug idea.