Accident waiting to happen?

[paul d]

Saw this up the patch today:

[Masher]

May have been worth chatting with the owner to voice your concerns? Perhaps would have been more effective than posting on a public forum. As responsible flyers we are all safety officers but to be effective we actually need to be prepared to point out potential dangers to others. IMHO

[GrumpyGnome]

I assume the concern is the fact that all the LiPos are in that open tub?

GG

[Frank Skilbeck]

Sometimes it is the less obvious, we had a lipo powered power panel melt down on Monday, the modeller had taped his starter crocodile clips to leads to the power panel, but he hadn't fully insulated them, by sods law when I walked up to the starting table I knocked the leads and they shorted, almost immediate magic smoke from the power panel. Lipo was fine though.

[Nigel R]

Some folks are careful with kit, some are not, we've all seen problems follow people around. Which is far from trying to say problems don't happen to me because of course they do, but the more I take care of my kit the less problems happen with it and the ones that do are less catastrophic.

Best of luck educating in the safety case.

[Andy J]

Probably we are all guilty of this (including myself). Although I probably increase the risk by storing batteries in an old ammunition case. Although I did mod the box to include vent holes to mitigate any build up of gas if a fire starts which would cause an explosion.

Have had one battery fire of a battery in a model, so I am very careful during charging now but don't pay much attention as to storage risk which is obviously wrong. So how should we all store batteries?

Does bring up an interesting side issue is that I have never seen any non conductive caps for the connector types we all use. Do they even exist I wonder.

[Trevor]

Just to play devil's advocate - I agree it's an untidy jumble and it does look as if a couple of the batteries could easily fall to the ground and potentially get damaged but I don't see any damaged or easily shorted connectors.

So, what exactly is the risk being talked about here?

[Martin Gay]

Andy,

I use these non conductive indicator caps:

**LINK**

They fit XT60 and EC3 connectors.

Also available from Hobbyking.

Martin.

Edited By Martin Gay on 02/09/2020 08:53:54

[Andy J]

Thanks Martin, will go looking on the HK site today as there are several other parts I need. Obviously the balance connector is also a risk. Have you seen anything for those connector types?

[MattyB]

Posted by Trevor on 02/09/2020 08:52:25:

....So, what exactly is the risk being talked about here?

1. Large amount of packs in a small space - if one were to experience an issue and ignite they would all go up.
2. Open container - will not slow spread of fire of one occurs, packs can potentially fall over the side and be damaged, on a very hot day packs could get hot due to the sun.
3. Difficult to tell SOC - are they all charged up, discharged, or a mixture? With so many the latter is always likely; that means there is always potential To put a discharger pack in the plane as “full”. Separate containers for charged and discharged packs and/or a system of marking on the packs themselves should prevent that happening.
4. Shorting - The more packs you have together the more chance there is of a short occurring, though in a plastic container with any non-bullet Connector this risk is pretty low IMO.

Edited By MattyB on 02/09/2020 09:24:26

[MattyB]

Posted by Andy Joyce on 02/09/2020 08:31:22:

Probably we are all guilty of this (including myself). Although I probably increase the risk by storing batteries in an old ammunition case. Although I did mod the box to include vent holes to mitigate any build up of gas if a fire starts which would cause an explosion.

Ammo boxes are absolutely great for storing lipos providing you remove the rubber seal at the top to allow any gas to vent and insulate the insides of prevent shorting. For the latter I take old 2 pint milk cartons, cut them so they are just below the level of the lid and insert them in box - batteries go in with their leads pointing downwards to further reduce the chance of shorting. Finally I pack the top with bubble wrap and voila. Cheap and works a treat.

[Peter Miller]

I use a Bat Safe for storage and a special Lipo bag for transporting them to the field as I take a maximum of four batteries.

I have to say that I have never seen a lipo fire on the field inspite of some crashes that made the lipo mushroom shaped.

[Andy J]

Think it best to avoid any LiPo battery fire as the stench of the gas released is terrible, so intend to purchase some protective caps at the first opportunity. Unfortunately they seem to sell for silly prices on the auction sites. HK have nil stock in the UK or Eu.

[MattyB]

Posted by Andy Joyce on 02/09/2020 10:02:11:

Think it best to avoid any LiPo battery fire as the stench of the gas released is terrible, so intend to purchase some protective caps at the first opportunity. Unfortunately they seem to sell for silly prices on the auction sites. HK have nil stock in the UK or Eu.

TBH you can make some up using foam and Duck tape in less time that it would take to navigate HK's oh-so-user-friendly website! I use offcuts of that low density grey pipe lagging foam wrapped in tape, works a treat and costs next to nothing.

Edited By MattyB on 02/09/2020 10:59:31

[ken anderson.]

over the years I've seen one or two pop, the most memorable was in a heli in the air...got it down and quickly yanked the battery out......some damage to the heli….

ken anderson..ne..1.... lipo on fire dept.

[Bob Cotsford]

My concern would be that if the owner intends to fly all of that lot (why else bring them all along?), how soon before fatigue sets in? That is one keen flyer!

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Martin Gay]

Andy,

I don't know of anything to protect the balance plugs.

However, there are XT60 caps available on Thingiverse if you know anyone with a 3D printer:

**LINK**

Martin.

Edited By Martin Gay on 02/09/2020 11:09:44

[Jason Channing]

I have plenty of 3D printed balance caps ranging from 2 to 6 Cell batterys , if you want some message me.

[leccyflyer]

Posted by Andy Joyce on 02/09/2020 08:31:22:

Probably we are all guilty of this (including myself). Although I probably increase the risk by storing batteries in an old ammunition case. Although I did mod the box to include vent holes to mitigate any build up of gas if a fire starts which would cause an explosion.

Have had one battery fire of a battery in a model, so I am very careful during charging now but don't pay much attention as to storage risk which is obviously wrong. So how should we all store batteries?

Does bring up an interesting side issue is that I have never seen any non conductive caps for the connector types we all use. Do they even exist I wonder.

All of my batteries have non-conductive caps, made from blue Sullivan snake outer, colour coded blue for used, green for charged. Been doing that for many years.

[leccyflyer]

Posted by Peter Miller on 02/09/2020 09:39:57:

I use a Bat Safe for storage and a special Lipo bag for transporting them to the field as I take a maximum of four batteries.

I have to say that I have never seen a lipo fire on the field inspite of some crashes that made the lipo mushroom shaped.

I also now use a couple of Bat safes, on the rare occasions of charging at home, four of the original Lipo sacks for transport and charging at the field, plus two Sentry fire safes for storage of the lipos which are not getting a day out.

I haven;t yet started to routinely charge at home, rather than at the field, so the BatSafes have only been kitted out and tested once. I'm not super impressed with the provision for attaching the charger and also had to invest in some longer balance lead extensions to get them inside the BatSafe, whilst keeping the charger mounted on the lid.

[Peter Miller]

I charge outside on a table at home.

Charging on the field is totally impractical for various reasons and anyway I normally only have three or fpur flights in an afternoon.

[leccyflyer]

I've been charging at the field for more than 20 years, so it certainly isn't impractical for me.

Charging at home has up to now, for me, carried an unacceptable safety risk, since I encountered an exploding NiMh pack before Lipos were a glint in their daddy's eye. I've seen a lipo fire at the field and personally know two people who have had lipo fires at home, luckily without very serious damage to their property, other than the destruction of mulitple lipo packs

I believe that it is possible to put sufficient mitigation in place to make charging at home acceptable to me, but I'm sure I will also continue to charge at the field, between flights.

[Andy J]

Posted by Martin Gay on 02/09/2020 11:09:20:

Andy,

I don't know of anything to protect the balance plugs.

However, there are XT60 caps available on Thingiverse if you know anyone with a 3D printer:

**LINK**

Martin.

Edited By Martin Gay on 02/09/2020 11:09:44

Was thinking of buying a 3D printer last week but have no idea what to buy or what plastic types it would need to print. Quickly gave up the idea as unless you are an expert with CAD suspect they are of little use.

[paul d]

Well if nothing else it's provoked some interesting debate, even though I don't actually own any lipo's being a vintage/ diesel enthusiast I could see potential dangers of the carrying a mass of cells around in the manner shown, incedently Mr Masher I did have a word but was met with blank looks.....you can only try!