Drone Battery Causes House Fire

[DanMan32]

Which could pretty much be anyone's laptop, cellphone, tablet...? Same principle, right?

My thinking as well

 

[DanMan32]

DJI battery auto-discharge shouldn't generate much heat. The energy dissipation/watts is quite low: 40% SoC in 48 hours. The charger transfers way more watts than that. However if the battery is insulated, I suppose there could be heat buildup.

I hope that the battery smarts cuts off charging if an overheat condition is detected and the overheat threshold is way below flashpoint.
If there's a short in the main mosfets though, there's nothing the electronics can do.

 

[lightbg]

I just came back from a trip to BJ’s and saw a three pack of these for $19.99. It’s rated ABC, but it is foam. Made by Maxpro in the USA. it’s got to be better than nothing, so I’ll keep one by my charging stand next to the Lipo bag, one in my field kit, and one in the kitchen for my home made chili.....




Jake

 

[Mossiback]

I am doing this- mount a smoke detector over your charging station as well as using a metal cart, box or cabinet for it too. Also keep an extinguisher next to it as well.

I would put the extinguisher by the exit door. The powder cloud that a dry-chem extinguisher creates combined with a smoky fire can make it very hard to see and breathe. If at all possible you should have your escape route behind you.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

one in the kitchen for my home made chili..

That stuff can be pretty hot !!

 

[Andy Cl]

When I charge my batteries in my workshop I do so by putting them on a 1m x 1m fire blanket and then fold the blanket over the batteries whilst charging. This protects the surface you are charging on and acts as a damper when folded over the batteries. 1m square provides ample charging space so you can charge quite a few at once. Fire blankets are also inexpensive to buy.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I charged 4 batteries last night to fly this morning, deliberately felt each as it was in the middle of a 50% - 100% charge, and each were cold to touch, which is great !!
I am sure the discharge temp is quite a bit higher (still warm to touch only), and though the charging temp would be at least the same.

Suppose with no swelling whatsoever, I should be a little more pleased with condition of my batteries, and just be cautious when charging to be there.
Trolleys aren't here yet, next week I'm sure, but I'll be away for a few weeks from Tuesday so will set up for Mavic and Spark storage and charging when back.

 

[Tony Weller]

I had a 5000 go off in the kitchen when I was building quads which was shocking the rate it burned so now I charge my 2X1500s for little racer on the gas cooker under the heatproof glass and store them in the microwave.

 

[RobH2]

I had my lipo scare with an Inspire 2 battery. I dropped it in a puddle by accident. I put it in my car with my gear and drove home as I was getting out of my car I noticed it was hissing and steaming. I quickly dropped it on my brick patio and within 30-seconds it was burning like a World War I magnesium bomb. It even melted the previously "good" one sitting a foot away that I had to get rid of too. It didn't explode but the fire was big, intense and hot. If I had missed just one more stoplight coming home I might have lost my car as the batts were in the rear.

I have a lot of respect for these batteries now. I never leave them out of sight charging and I store them in a heavy ammo box. If one burned it would ignite all of them in the box, but I think the box would contain them. At least, I hope.

If you ever have a battery that shows any irregular signs, swollen, unusually hot, smell, etc., I strongly urge you to get rid of it. A $150 battery is cheaper than a new house.

 

[HK!]

I didnt read the thread, But
Did anyone suggest..

RC Battery rule No.1: Never leave any Battery charging unattended.
(Picture your Tamiya Hornet Manual w' the Anime guy Wide eyes in foreground, house burning down in background)

I use a safety bag for RC Lipos id rather contain than extnguish.
DJI charger I don't truth be told, but i def dont ZzZz/leave the room, house etc

 

[svickstc]

I never charge my batteries if I’m not going to be around to be able to monitor them frequently

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I had my lipo scare with an Inspire 2 battery. I dropped it in a puddle by accident.

Hmmm, so be careful if caught in a light precipitation too !!
A short like that is possible to short it out.

I wonder about humidity with long term use too, thinking about how muggy it can be in some climates.

 

[VouilEz]

Hmmm, so be careful if caught in a light precipitation too !!
A short like that is possible to short it out.

I wonder about humidity with long term use too, thinking about how muggy it can be in some climates.

Adelaide is as Dry as a Nun's Nasty

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Adelaide is as Dry as a Nun's Nasty

Eloquently put ? ?
Exactly, good thing we don't have things like planes to take us to humid regions, hey ?
At least at home I don't need to worry, and time spent in humid places is usually limited to weeks at a time.

 

[DanMan32]

The funny thing is we don't seriously consider taking the same precautions with our phones, tablets and laptops. They have the same type batteries, we rapid charge now and with phones, you can feel the heat with rapid charge.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

The funny thing is we don't seriously consider taking the same precautions with our phones, tablets and laptops. They have the same type batteries, we rapid charge now and with phones, you can feel the heat with rapid charge.

Very true, but the Airbus doc was pretty much written for all those types of fires.
I know my iPhone in my pocket gets very hot sometimes, and there have been many hundreds of phones and laptop battery incidents.
Phone batteries spontaneously going up in pockets, laptop batteries in airline bags, etc . . . this link in post #16 . . .

https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/resources/lithium_batteries/media/Battery_incident_chart.pdf

Hadn't really thought previously about the usually stringent recycle needs of lithium batteries.
Always thought it was the environmental factors (and it may well be part of it), but when you think about it, a lithium battery fire in a landfill site would be pretty hard to stop, as many would get damaged in the process of disposal / exposure.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Just to be clear, the battery involved in the video was NOT a DJI battery, and there are no similar reports of any DJI batteries left on a charger ever catching fire!

 

[zocalo]

Just to be clear, the battery involved in the video was NOT a DJI battery, and there are no similar reports of any DJI batteries left on a charger ever catching fire!

I'll agree that DJI's batteries definitely seem less prone to fires than other, perhaps more generic, drone batteries, but there are definitely a handful of credible reported incidents of DJI battery fires, including some that caused more serious house/garage fires. I think part of the perception problem is that a lot of the YouTube footage related to DJI battery footage is deliberately ignited clickbait, but it would have to be as it's pretty unlikely that someone would be filming their battery charging when it just happened to combust. On the plus side, it does seem like many of the reported incidents are from older DJI drones so it does look like the safety technology embedded in the batteries is improving over time. However, just because DJI batteries might be more forgiving doesn't mean it's OK to be more complacent.

 

[Drgnfli]

IMHO - you have a better chance of winning the lottery or being struck by lightning than having a DJI battery burn your house down... IMHO!

 

[4wd]

I notice that things like e-cig or drone battery fires get news coverage but laptop & phone fires don't.

If its a minority hobby that causes fire or injury the press jump on it but if its a main stream device, phone or laptop they know they don't get the same “they should be banned reaction” from the public.

Yes the risk from phone and ipad batteries if not laptops is similar, even though they are smaller, far more likely to be charged near flammable items and charged almost daily, also banged about rather carelessly no doubt.