[Elecraft] Fire in the house li-ion

[Albert Winger]

Thoughts and prayers are with you and your family William

73
Al
W1NGA
Colorado Springs, CO

> On May 17, 2017, at 6:28 PM, Matthew Cook <vk5zm at bistre.net> wrote:
> 
> William,
> 
> We're sorry to hear about your fire, especially loosing all of your
> Elecraft gear.
> 
> If you are washing your equipment with water it's important that you go to
> the shop and purchase *distilled *water like you should use for your solder
> sponge or car battery.  Distilled water will mobilise ions and remove them
> from causing further corrosion damage to your electronic assemblies.  Your
> worst enemy are alkalies like salt and reactive elements like Iron, both
> found in municipal town water.  Keep washing with distilled water and keep
> flushing it for a few days and then let it dry out in a warm dry place. I
> have rescued a few KX3's after having taken a swim in sea water.   I'm also
> luck to work at a semiconductor foundry, so we have 99.99995% pure water on
> site to work with (*grin*).
> 
> I'm also assuming that the fire was a LiPO battery.   The advice you have
> received about not entering your basement is wise.   LiPO fires create
> compounds that are very, very toxic, I would also expect your insurance
> company to have your basement professionally cleaned before going back
> inside.  You may find that after cleaning it may be necessary to seal in
> all the contaminates with paint or sealing compounds.  If in doubt talk to
> your local fire department (seriously) they should have Material Safety
> Data Sheets (MSDS) for LiPO battery and containment after a fire.  Europe
> and Australia are similar in adoption of solar battery systems, so with
> large scale LiPO batteries in homes now, fire departments have further
> health risks to concern themselves with.
> 
> Having had LiPO and LiFePO4 batteries (yes these burn too) that I use in my
> Radio Control Models catch on fire at various times I now charge any LiPO
> battery in a fire bag.
> 
> https://hobbyking.com/en_us/batteries/lipo-safe-bags.html?___store=en_us
> 
> They are cheap insurance that is for certain.
> 
> Mijn beste wensen
> 
> Matthew
> VK5ZM
> 
> 
>> On 18 May 2017 at 06:59, William Lagerberg <pe1bsb at zendamateur.nu> wrote:
>> 
>> Guys,
>> 
>> I want to give you a advice, my shack it (was) in the basement (cellar??)
>> I do all my thing for the hobby there.
>> A collega of mine asked me to take a look at two Go-Pro LI-Ion accu's
>> because they where not loading anymore.
>> 
>> So I put the first one on the loader for 8 till 9 hours and checked it and
>> it was ok  ( with 10% loading current)
>> Then I dit put the second one in same place at 10 in the morning at 3 my
>> daughter called me there is a fire.
>> We rusted to the cellar but I could not enter it was filled with dark
>> smoke.
>> 
>> My shack is gone and 90 % off my house, I have insurance don’t now if it
>> is enough to cover all of my Elecraft stuff
>> 
>> My K1, my own build K2 my K3  and my KX3 are gone, I found my K1 in 20 cm
>> off water really down under, I clean’t it with fresh water.
>> After that flushed it with pure alcohol. It is completely taken apart
>> today as far as is possible.
>> I Hope it will survive I will let it dry for a lot of day’s
>> 
>> My K2 is melted the same as my P3 and my K3 perhaps I can order the
>> outside of both, but a am still not allowed to enter the basement so I
>> don’t know how it looks at the inside.
>> 
>> So finale the message is please take care with li-ion accuse battery’s. It
>> did cost me our house in 1 hour.
>> 
>> http://www.nhnieuws.nl/nieuws/206119/bewoner-vlucht-met-
>> dieren-pand-uit-vanwege-grote-brand <http://www.nhnieuws.nl/
>> nieuws/206119/bewoner-vlucht-met-dieren-pand-uit-vanwege-grote-brand>
>> 
>> Regards William Pe1bsb
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