Lipo safetey/lipo chargers

[hellogoose]

Hi,
Are lipos THAT dangerous?
Do lipo batteries just explode randomly?
Is it that unsafe? I mean I used lipos before, for cameras and camera drones and no one told me to stare at them while they charge; store them in a concrete lipo bunker thing; have sand in a bucket in case the battery decides to go boom
I live in Singapore and yeah, I have no basement or garage, how should I charge/store them? In a lipo bag? Do they even work?

One thing I now is that you need to balance your batteries, can anyone recommend a good charge balancer?
Should I invest or just buy a cheap one?(For example this one)

Thanks so much!

 

[Shurik-1960]

A friend has accumulated several batteries to throw in the trash. We were at the cottage and we were roasting meat. In the end, we decided to check how the old batteries explode and threw them into the campfire... Apart from the very smelly smoke and a small gorenje, we saw nothing.If you're not going to be modeling for a long time, don't buy anything. Or buy a normal IMAX B6 charger, which I have been using for 8 years to charge batteries: car, scooter, flashlight, batteries for models. A miser pays twice is a proverb.

 

[Merv]

...Are lipos THAT dangerous?
Do lipo batteries just explode randomly?
Is it that unsafe?...

No, lipos are not dangerous or unsafe and they don't explode. However they must be respected, they can burn your house down.

I store & charger mine in a fireproof box. For me, that's a metal ammo box that I lined with drywall. Any metal box will work. Then I place plastic sandwich bags filled with sand on top of the batteries. I keep my battery box away from anything that can burn. The idea is, if a lipo bruns, to contain the fire & not let anything else burn.

I also use the iMax B6. If your battery is larger than about 4000 mah, you should consider a larger charger.

 

[MadMonkey]

Randomly explode, not really. The highest likelihood is when you're charging, and using incorrect settings, or in a crash and they get punctured.

But, plenty of people have lost garages and homes to unsafe charging practices, so it's worth setting yourself up to mitigate potential issues.

A charged lipo definitely has the potential to pop and vent violently. Look up some videos if you want to scare yourself.

You generally don't need to stare at camera batteries or similar because they're dumbed down significantly for the most part (plug in thing, thing charges). With most decent hobby chargers, you're in charge (🤪) of the settings, so you need to know what you're doing... and my recommendation is to be very conservative with settings, and don't push your batteries too much at all. I may sound like a fuddy duddy, but I've been around enough lipo fires to know they're no joke (I've seen other types explode on the charger too). I've made mistakes as well that almost caused fires.

I was on an overseas deployment a couple of years ago and the company just assumed that we knew how to use large lipos safely... I was the only one who had any experience with them 🤦‍♂️ Most of my coworkers assumed "plug it in and hit charge and go home".

 

[LitterBug]

I generally only charge at 1C and only with batteries that have cooled down after a flight.

1500mah = 1.5 amps. = 1C

Make sure you are charging at the correct voltage / S rating, and the charger is set for the proper battery chemistry for your battery.

Having a smart balance charger is also safer since they can detect individual bad cells and prevent overcharging of the remaining cells.

Not so smart, and non-balance charging are looking at the total voltage of the cells in series. If one of those cells is dead with a short, the voltage that cell would absorb gets added to the other cells voltage in the pack, creating an over-charge situation for the remaining cells in the pack. Rule of thumb.... ALWAYS balance charge Lithium batteries.

LB

 

[bisco]

i'm thinking of returning to glow

 

[bisco]

spare time index.php

 

[hellogoose]

Lipo bags don't actually work???

 

[bisco]

depends on the size of the battery. the biger they are, the harder they fall.
don't be fooled by all the videos, they are forcing failure, it's very uncommon.

 

[Mr Man]

Yeah, It’s overhyped for sure