dubd

How do you know he was careless? I had the same thing happen with a 6S pack and a Eurofighter. I triple checked the velcro strap, but it still came loose during a tumble. S/// happens as they say.

Free Bird

To me, this says a lot about your attitude towards safety. If you have had too many accidents to count, perhaps you should try a hobby that would have less potential of injuring somebody when you do have one of your accidents. Remember, safe flying is no accident!

FB

CraigG

My Feedback: (40)

Now that's entertainment! Probably a better "landing" than if you had done it yourself.

The only thing in recent memory that tops this was when a Lipo cooked off in a foamy during a flight. At first we thought the guy had a smoke system (which I guess technically, he did), but of course, it ended badly.....but with entertainment value. Hey, it's just a foamy.

Please save some of these stunts for KY Jets where we can all enjoy it!

Craig

BaldEagel

I too store my LiPo's in a Tx box perhaps I ought to take my Tx's out LOL.

Mike

3dean

i hate electric foamys ......................

thumbnstick

My Feedback: (169)

Hey Beve, got your point. I visited a guys shop that had big potential for something bad happening last weekend. Great guy, great modeler, and great family man, but Lipo's all over the place in a small basement. We politely explained to him the potential for a disaster in his home. Thats all it took. He understood and took them all out of the basement right then. That is the point you are trying to make here, and thank you for that. You can be looking at what appears to be a normal stable battery one minute and "poof" the next. We have to be careful with all batteries. They all have energy and energy has associated risk. If even one guy reads this and changes his outlook on battery safety then this is a good post. Thanks B.
Oh, I talked to Lewis last night and the fireworks show is on! We talked about some ideas to make it even better this year.
PS....Let me know the exact store you shop at down there.

ticketec

My Feedback: (2)

HAHAHAHA!!!!!

Yeah It's good to get a reminder about Li-po safety every once in a while. I have been flying with Li-po's (YES, especially the Zippy's of late with great success) for so long i can't even remember and never had a drama.

But had my first li-po fire in the boot of the car on the way back home from the field a few weeks ago. Luckily I had the aircon on and it was re-circ'ing the air, so we smelt the plastic burning fairly early on in the piece, pulled over and knew exactly what i was about to throw out of the boot!![X(] I considered myself real lucky that day.

Thanks

dave

bevar

My Feedback: (27)

Jack,

Back when Li-Ions were first coming out, a friend has his house burn down because he had a name brand pack catch on fire in his plane while charging and he was not attending to it. He was not some back woods idiot either, but a Masters Pattern National competitor. Back then the instructions were "just plug it in and forget about it".

The company selling the batteries got sued and went out of business.

I felt that this would be a great example, for safety's sake...to remind everyone how dangerous Lipo's can be if they malfunction.

Craig...I think I will call Details for Scale today and see if I can get a harness and parachute rig I can hook to my battery so at Kentucky I can repeat the flight...over and over...except this time the battery gently floats down to earth like an Apollo capsule.

Yeah...that's the ticket!

Beave

PS. OK...I'm just kidding about calling Details!

BaldEagel

First I have heard of a Li-ion going up, I charge my A123's at 5amps and never had any problems in five years.

Mike

Meesh

My Feedback: (135)

What helmet? I didn't see any helmet! Did I miss something?

bevar

My Feedback: (27)

Duralites, back in 2000.

The Duralites now being sold are different batteries, different company, different owner ETC.

The original owner and company are long gone...

Beave

Couch Potato

I think I will get a metal ammo box and store all my LiPo's in the garden shed.......
....with all the kero, turbine oil, petrol, nitro fuel, ceramic cloth, weed-killer, fertilizer, rattle cans

RCISFUN

My Feedback: (44)

Let's all stand back

bevar

My Feedback: (27)

Is that a pic of Eric at Kentucky after "Chili Night" or Rex at Waycross the day after?????

[X(]

dubd

Were you charging?

bevar

My Feedback: (27)

Or discharging?????

Eeeeeeeeeew!!!!!


Were you charging?
[/quote]

Ron101

My Feedback: (22)

I have been flying all electric planes for many years now and have stacks of lipos, many are big 6s 6500 packs.
Lipos do have a risk, but if you know how to handle them they are very safe.

Few rules I live by:

1. Never charge in the plane, house, or shop... Always charge outside. I charge outside in lipo sacks.

2. Always use a balancer that is connected to the charger, not a free standing balancer.... balancers connected to the charger or built in will shut it down if a problem comes up.

3. Never store your packs fully charged, for one it's bad for them and the more energy the more risk of fire, always store at 3.85 volts per cell. The longest I let them sit fully charged is over night.
This reduces the chance of fire and is better for the packs and is also the reason they are sent to you in this state

4. If pack is getting puffy, becomes damaged in a crash, has a cell that is giving you problems.... fully discharge it outside well away from everything with a auto taillight hooked to it and toss it. Wait until the light bulb is completely out, then it is safe for the trash can.

5. I store my packs wrapped in lipo sacks, placed in ammo cans in my shop away from the walls... drill large holes in the lid of the ammo can or you are making a bomb. Lipos don't need oxygen to make a fire, so if one ignites the preasure will explode the ammo can.

6. If you do have a fire stay away from the smoke until it has all cleared...it is very toxic and can lead to death.

7. This is my own rule, not for everyone but I think it's important.... only by high quality lipos, there is to much risk to buy cheaply made packs.

I have thousands of eletric flights, and just love flying electric... if handled properly lipos can be very safe, but like anything have some risk.
must have much respect for them, I have seen a few lipo fires with large packs at the field and it's amazing the power they have... even small packs can do a lot of damage.
It is extremely rare and almost unheard of for a lipo to ignite when just sitting, unless it has been damaged, dropped, charged wrong, punctured...something

hope that helps guys that aren't up on lipo safety
Ron

osxpro

My Feedback: (51)

It's very unfortunate that some people have to be negative, assuming, and downright ugly. This is a hobby that promotes fellowship, not divisiveness.

flyfanatic14

My Feedback: (1)

Okay. So I'm that one guy who has learned something from this. Maybe I'll stick to NI-CAD? I am such a noob that I don't know if that is even feasable. Because of ampacity or weight does one<u>need </u>to use LI-PO's? Or would another battery chemistry be better for a novice?

RCISFUN

My Feedback: (44)

NI-Cads will ignite also, a friend of mine had his garage burn down when he was charging his quicky 500 radio batteries, he lost his jet also due to the fire

Check out this thread

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_10...m.htm#10199326