[mtnflyer]

I read with great interest Mr. Chikmoroff's article in the MAAC magazine; about an electric plane that crashed and the lipo started the model on fire after the plane had been collected off the field.

Got me wondering: Hmmm, I wonder when the first major, law-creating, lethal, electric model caused fire is going to take place. After all, there must be millions of lipo powered models out there. Out of those millions, I would suppose that only a percentage of the owners belong to any site-specific organization (like MAAC), or know anything about minimal safety requirements.

I can understand why electrics are popular, but, prefer the brutality of gas because I believe it's a whole lot safer in the big picture.

Just trying to get some thoughts and discussion.

[williame3590]

Have a few small lipos but have to admit.....they scare me. Probably cause I know very little about them. They do seem unperdictable from some of the stories I've been told.
I do know when flying electric powered models they are a must if you plan on having any long lasting fun.

Bill

[Helno]

Laptops have had lipo batteries in then for ages and a few burn up every year yet there are no special laws regarding them.

I would say that safety wise despite the possibility of catching fire they are still safer than gas or glow because you don't have to have your fingers near spinning blades every time you start one.

Like any technology there is potential for danger but with proper charging you should never have a lipo fire. Storing them in an old ammo can totally eliminates the fire hazard.

[waylander]

There have been 2 major incidents in the US this year that I know of. One was a charging lipo in a van which caused a fire and took out the entire van. The other was a charging lipo in a garage which burned down the garage. As you can see, in both cases the lipos were left to charge unattended, don't know which chargers were used but a lipo bag, or other safety charging container, would have saved the van/garage.

If you remember the big laptop battery recall a couple years back where dells were spontaneously going up in smoke caused a big recall of many dell and sony laptop batteries.

If you follow the safety guidelines then hobby grade lipos are no more dangerous than most other batteries. This is one reason I don't use cheaper chinese lipos regardless of how many good reviews they get.

[vettster]

Great! Lets make more rules

just cant get enough useless rules.

[Tyler P]

I can't believe this topic is coming up again! LiPos are perfectly safe unless you are completely uneducated in their care. Most of the fires that have happened have been due to someone not paying attention to charger settings, and as was stated, leaving their packs unattended.

You know that it's perfectly possible for a gas plane to go up in smoke too. And Jets can explode in a fireball. Electrics are definitely no less safe than gas, nitro, or kero. It's all about educating yourself to use them properly and safely, as is the case with any of the other types of fuels.

I fly both electric and gas and have yet to have any sort of catastrophic battery failure due to a crash, and I've destroyed a couple electric planes. One was a 12s, and the packs escaped completely unharmed, and another was a 5s where the pack was thrown from the plane on impact and one that actually got punctured on the prop shaft of the motor.

If you have a crash with an electric, you disconnect the pack for the rest of the system and put in a safe place, such as an Ammo box or LiPo sack, and monitor it to make sure that it isn't heating up or swelling substantially. If it is in said safe place, the battery won't cause any damage if it goes up in flames.

Tyler

[OICU812]

These posts kill me! Scared of lipos, like they are just going to go into a blaze with no warning! OMFG people seriously!!

Here are reasons lipos 99% will start fire

#1 ) Bad quality lipos with not so good soldering and tabs, aka HobbyKing, cheap for a reason
#2) Crap charger, ex: Astro have been known for bad cell topping technology, go past, woof!
#3) Uneducated electric user, leaves fully charged lipo to long or stores improperly
#4) User buys crap components to save $5 dollars and loses lipo and model due to some cheap crap esc going in flames etc...

Bottom line I see this all over, and almost 99% of the time it comes down to what the user did or how the user saved money then cost himself these horror story endings a vehicle, house or something or that person made a mistake. I understand we are human, we make mistakes. BUT

Up front!!

#1) Educate yourself, understand the guidlines of handling lipos safely
#2) Educate yourself on "PROVEN" setups for your plane or heli that are "reliable"
#3) Match your lipo decision for your use, make sure to get the quality you need and the right lipo period!
#4) If you are buying pricey lipos, get a decent charger and a balancer for sure!

Anyhow there are more but you can see what I mean.

I have over 3K easily of lipos being into large electrics, I've learned allot over the last few years, and the biggest lesson is you the user have to be smart, make smart choices and decisions, if you do you are 100% FINE!!

I laugh as the nitro - gas guys speak, then they forget what powers their recievers, ooooops! Is that going to blow up now for no reason??!! RUN!!... LOL ..fak...

[NorseHammer]

That's the skinny Tyler, good post.

[Tyler P]

Don't go scaring people away from HobbyKing for no reason. I currently have about 12 HobbyKing packs of varying sizes (2s to 5s, and I've used the 6s packs too) and I've yet to have one fail on me except where I had a one get punctured. I fly them pretty hard, too. None have gone up in flames.

I've also had very few problems with my cheap ESCs, except for an over-temp shutdown on one. Probably my own fault for using a motor that wasn't rated for 12s, though.

The rest of your post is pretty accurate, though. Education is the key.

Originally Posted by OICU812

These posts kill me! Scared of lipos, like they are just going to go into a blaze with no warning! OMFG people seriously!!

Here are reasons lipos 99% will start fire

#1 ) Bad quality lipos with not so good soldering and tabs, aka HobbyKing, cheap for a reason
#2) Crap charger, ex: Astro have been known for bad cell topping technology, go past, woof!
#3) Uneducated electric user, leaves fully charged lipo to long or stores improperly
#4) User buys crap components to save $5 dollars and loses lipo and model due to some cheap crap esc going in flames etc...

Bottom line I see this all over, and almost 99% of the time it comes down to what the user did or how the user saved money then cost himself these horror story endings a vehicle, house or something or that person made a mistake. I understand we are human, we make mistakes. BUT

Up front!!

#1) Educate yourself, understand the guidlines of handling lipos safely
#2) Educate yourself on "PROVEN" setups for your plane or heli that are "reliable"
#3) Match your lipo decision for your use, make sure to get the quality you need and the right lipo period!
#4) If you are buying pricey lipos, get a decent charger and a balancer for sure!

Anyhow there are more but you can see what I mean.

I have over 3K easily of lipos being into large electrics, I've learned allot over the last few years, and the biggest lesson is you the user have to be smart, make smart choices and decisions, if you do you are 100% FINE!!

I laugh as the nitro - gas guys speak, then they forget what powers their recievers, ooooops! Is that going to blow up now for no reason??!! RUN!!... LOL ..fak...

[g-manz35]

It makes one wonder. All of our electronics and electric devices are certified for use in Canada so what about batteries? The dangers are just as great. I assume you cannot produce and sell batteries without them passing some sort of test to certify them as safe. Or can you

I fly all HobbyKing cheapos. I charge them in a safe location with my HobbyKing cheapo charger and store them in a safe spot when not in use. No problems whatsoever.

George