[Elecraft] Fire in the house li-ion

[Fred Jensen]

I was using a tiny Li-Poly pack about the size of a small matchbox that 
I got from the local RC model store with my KX1 when it began to smoke.  
Fortunately,I had it on a pigtail, was out on the deck in a Spartan 
Sprint, and could unplug it and fling it over the railing to the gravel 
driveway.

There were no flames or major explosions, but there were a lot of sparks 
and quite a bit of smoke for such a small package.  The pyrotechnic 
display went on for perhaps 40-50 seconds, followed by some low-key 
fizzing and popping.  It left a burned mark in the gravel when it was 
cool. NOTE: This happened while discharging the battery, and I wasn't 
transmitting at the moment.

I struggled through required Chemistry in college, but I did learn 
enough about that particular column in the Periodic Table to avoid 
getting the hose. [:-)

I have always charged all of my lithium-ish batteries outside from a 
solar panelso they contain only green and no brown electronsfor events 
where that matters. I usually put the battery in a metal coffee can. 
Ibelieve, but do not know for sure, that LiFePO4 chemistry is quite a 
bit more stable than others.

73,

Fred ("Skip") K6DGW
Sparks NV USA
Washoe County DM09dn

On 5/18/2017 10:27 AM, Chip Stratton wrote:
> I took an old LiIon battery pack out into the back yard, and from a safe
> distanc shot it with a pellet gun. In short order it began violently
> venting gases and gray smoke, no doubt at a very high temperature. I didn't
> see flame, but it was daylight and  maybe too bright. It made a big
> impression on me. The battery pack was heavily charred by the episode. I
> don't doubt they could explode, but I don't think that is the typical
> scenario.
>
> Chip AE5KA
>
> On Thu, May 18, 2017 at 1:03 PM, Richard Fjeld <rpfjeld at outlook.com> wrote:
>
>> Thank you very much for this advice.
>>
>> I have often heard of fires due to Li-on batteries, but I have no idea of
>> the nature of the ‘fire’.  In other words, do  they burn, or do they
>> explode scattering ignited fragments.
>>