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Battery fires

ICE

ICE

Oh Well
Joined
Jun 23, 2011
Messages
12,925
Location
California
It seems really wrong to have a pile of lithium stored under a dwelling.

apnews.com

4 dead after battery causes fire at New York City e-bike shop that spreads to apartments

Authorities say a fire that started in a New York City e-bike shop spread to upper-floor apartments, killing four people and injuring several others. Fire officials say the early Tuesday blaze in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood was an accident caused by a lithium ion battery. It's the latest...
apnews.com apnews.com
 
Repeat violator, previously issued citation. Of course it wasn’t his fault.

A man who said he was the owner of the bike shop told The Associated Press that he made his usual checks of the store before he left Monday night. He denied that any e-bike batteries were being charged. “The shop has been there for six years. I check before I leave every night,” said the man, who spoke in Mandarin in a phone interview and only gave his last name, Liu. “I checked last night, turned off the power besides the ones for the monitor and automatic door.”
 
TheCommish said:
you probably have a Lith-ion battery stored next to your bed every night
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Four and nine more downstairs, Those are the ones being charged. There's another half dozen not being charged. The DeWalt garden tools are 40 volt and could support a pretty good fire. I've never thought about it before now ... thanks for that Commish. Now that I'm thinking .. there's plenty of ammo too!!! :(
 
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The issue here is actually one of standards. There are so many cheap batteries coming into the North American market that have zero safety standards, not even an EU, or CE rating, let alone a UL, ULC or CSA rating.
I just purchased a large, off-grid-suitable LiFePO4 battery. It cost big bucks, in part because it's CSA approved, as well as UL listed. Not surprisingly, its competitors are as much as 50 per cent less.

Guess which ones are more likely to spontaneously combust?
 
I recall a case where a Tesla and the driver ended up submerged in a shallow pond. The bystanders that would have normally entered the pond to rescue the driver were too leery of the batteries to take the plunge.

Might be fake news.
 
admiralArchArch said:
How do you determine the rating requirement for a battery storage room? For example EV car batteries.
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EV battery fires are notoriously difficult to control. What's the highest rating anyone has ever designed for? You can bet that it wasn't enough for an EV battery fire. Outdoors in an open field makes sense. I remember an EV manufacturer telling owners to not park in a garage.

One thing that you can count on is starting over after the fire.
 
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