Explosion of e-bike battery caused fire, man's death at downtown eastside rooming house: SRO owner

HK12K

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https://theprovince.com/news/local-news/man-dead-hotel-fire-dtes/wcm/d29e1f2d-b8ad-45f2-a79e-e2c57de74295?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1654979921
 
Eastwood said:
Yeah crazy! I would like to know the details like what type of cells, did he bypass the bms etc.

It could’ve been just another cheap E bike from China with a ticking time bomb for a battery.
Considering the location it wasn't a quality unit, and if it was it was guaranteed to be stolen and likely charged improperly
 
I doubt he did anything wrong, like using the wrong type charger. Cheap bms's are ticking time bombs. When they fail, the charger can be perfect, yet overcharge a cell group starting the fire.
 
Eastwood said:
It could’ve been just another cheap E bike from China with a ticking time bomb for a battery.

No liability = no incentive to make it even remotely safe. You can't sue a rusty metal warehouse in China. :lol:

I recently bought a Ryobi tool and the BMS and charger circuit boards look like they have more processing power than a super computer from the 1970's. They also talk to each other non stop through a serial link.
 
Just like my new e go mower. 400 bucks for the mower, battery, and charger. So don't tell me it costs too much to give a battery a less stupid bms, and charger that actually interacts with it.

But like the ford pinto, someplace there is a let them burn memo.
 
Of course if it had been an ICE assisted bike that burned, it would have been in the middle of the local paper below the fold.
 
Because of cheap BMS, what should be done about that? Is there a way to "verify" a good BMS (or battery)? Should we just outlaw all the NMC batteries and only allow LFP batteries?
I guess it's kind of impossible unless all people are informed to use volt meter to tell the ~0.5v difference per cell (and how to do that when many are in series)?
I know they're about 30% heavier, but they last a lot longer, which kinda makes up for that.
 
I can’t see how a faulty BMS would allow overcharging with a correct voltage charger.

Say you had a 14s battery with a shorted cell group at 0V and dud BMS that didn’t stop charging- the other cells would maybe see 4.5V but surely that wouldn’t be enough to cause a fire
 
Because of cheap BMS, what should be done about that? Is there a way to "verify" a good BMS (or battery)? Should we just outlaw all the NMC batteries and only allow LFP batteries?

I prefer LFP batteries myself. They are heavier and take up a little more space but also have 5 to 10 times more charge cycles.

They are more $$$ but if you order the cells from Battery Hookup and spot weld them it is about the same or less than a comparable 18650 e bay pack. Also if you build two or three 6S packs no BMS is needed as can charge with or without a balance board. A board would be quicker however.

shark.
 
HK12K said:
Considering the location it wasn't a quality unit, and if it was it was guaranteed to be stolen and likely charged improperly

Those were my exact thoughts when I heard of this.

I've been watching the news for fires hoping to find my stolen battery. I've had feelers out to the local shops for anyone buying a 52V charger but nothing yet. It's an inevitability that accidents like this will continue happen because 95% of the people stealing them don't know how to handle them.

Perhaps it will force the police to be more proactive in recovering stolen ebikes once they realize they're ticking time bombs in the wrong hands.
 
electric_nz said:
I can’t see how a faulty BMS would allow overcharging with a correct voltage charger.

Say you had a 14s battery with a shorted cell group at 0V and dud BMS that didn’t stop charging- the other cells would maybe see 4.5V but surely that wouldn’t be enough to cause a fire

Let's say that actually happened, You have 13 cell groups being charged to 4.5V, If the batteruy was cycled like this for several months, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the cells became heaters and went into thermal runaway during a charge cycle.

Or say that discharged cell group sat at 0 V, slowly forming dendrites. Now you go to charge the whole battery and the BMS allows current to flow, The bad cell groups takes a charge and then has an internal short circuit. More thermal runaway.

I've had failed BMS, maybe one out of five is DOA when I installed it. I had one run the cells down over the winter. Don't believe any others have failed in use.
 
everyone must needs experience e.hastings&main once in their lifetime.
it's a gd 24 hour street party & they all have nicer bikes than i.
that because every spring for the past 12 running had a bike stolen, invariably within a week of my spring tune-up/overhaul.

it doth occurred to me that spent Li ion could be better repurposed rather than wasted in a land fill in the form of a baitbikebomb. :kff:
but twas only a passing fancy.
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the hotel even gots a mugshot on wiki.
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