Charging Lithium Batteries November 18, 2018, 04:59:04 pm I am usually the last to know. Have heard of explosions/fires involving lithium, but I never considered them to be a hazard to me. Don't know if this is to be taken as literally true or not. It came to as a forward from a "fire chief". If this turns out to be bogus, I hope Chris will delete the thread.Just worked a fire in Detroit involving lithium batteries in a hoverboard caused extensive damage to home. Daughter left board connected to charge overnight and when at school and family not home, a fire developed. We get 3-4 lithium battery fires a year involving all sorts of devices (laptops, remote control items, sport paint guns, tools, etc). NEVER leave the item charging unattended with lithium batteries. Use only battery charger supplied by the manufacturer of the item and do not replace the battery pack with “knock-off” type. 2 Likes
Re: Charging Lithium Batteries Reply #1 – November 18, 2018, 05:24:46 pm Lithium polymer batteries used in consumer products are different from lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries used in RVs. The former are vulnerable to fires and explosions. (Cheap hoverboards are notorious.) The latter--which is what we RVers are interested in--are not.Here's a good discussion--scroll down to the heading "Chemical stability and thermal runaway". Summary: "LiFePO4 is the safest, most chemically stable battery on the consumer market. It would require extreme negligence or willful abuse to cause a fire in one of these batteries."Bottom line: the LiFePO4 lithium batteries used in boats and RVs are not the ones we're seeing scare headlines about. However, the caution against leaving consumer items such as laptops and phone charging while unattended is well taken. These devices use lithium polymer batteries and can potentially be dangerous, especially if overcharged. I've been casual about this myself in the past, but have gotten more careful lately after a friend pointed out the potential hazards. 5 Likes
Re: Charging Lithium Batteries Reply #2 – November 19, 2018, 06:14:31 am I had batteries used in laptops in mind. I never considered using lithium house batteries. Only someone like Andy would go in that direction. So leaving your laptop on charge while you are away is a risk. Good to know, as we could have several devices on charge at home or in the RV and had never considered it a risk. In fact, we normally charge them while away while the sun shines. It's nice to come back to fully charged house batteries and laptops. We need to change our charging schedule.
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Topic: Charging Lithium Batteries (Read 131 times)
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