Fire Safety with Lithium Batteries

[titusmc]

Hi ES,

I came across this article that I think gives a good overview of fire safety for lithium batteries and thought I'd share it (we should all have this knowledge and practice our craft with safety in mind).

http://laserpointerforums.com/f53/fire-safety-lithium-lithium-ion-batteries-55214.html

Most important message IMO:

In the event of fire:

* Cut power to the charger/device first.
* Never use water or CO2 - only DRY sand or salt.

Enjoy your creations and be safe!

 

[okashira]

Hi ES,

I came across this article that I think gives a good overview of fire safety for lithium batteries and thought I'd share it (we should all have this knowledge and practice our craft with safety in mind).

http://laserpointerforums.com/f53/fire-safety-lithium-lithium-ion-batteries-55214.html

Most important message IMO:

In the event of fire:

* Cut power to the charger/device first.
* Never use water or CO2 - only DRY sand or salt.

Enjoy your creations and be safe!

I dont think a laser pointer forum is a good source of liion batter info

Water is always recommended these days for a lithium ion pack fire by the pro's.

 

[titusmc]

Water is always recommended these days for a lithium ion pack fire by the pro's.

Care to provide a source or explanation for your claim? Who are "the pro's" you speak of? Not necessarily disagreeing, but I'd like more info.

I agree that forums of any kind are generally a poor reference, but my goal in posting was to start a discussion to raise awareness about best practices regarding handling lithium battery fires, should they occur.

 

[Jon NCal]

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/safety_concerns_with_li_ion

 

[okashira]

Water is always recommended these days for a lithium ion pack fire by the pro's.

Care to provide a source or explanation for your claim? Who are "the pro's" you speak of? Not necessarily disagreeing, but I'd like more info.

I agree that forums of any kind are generally a poor reference, but my goal in posting was to start a discussion to raise awareness about best practices regarding handling lithium battery fires, should they occur.

Teala, Ford, GM battery engineers
Water only. Lots of it

 

[okashira]

Water is always recommended these days for a lithium ion pack fire by the pro's.

Care to provide a source or explanation for your claim? Who are "the pro's" you speak of? Not necessarily disagreeing, but I'd like more info.

I agree that forums of any kind are generally a poor reference, but my goal in posting was to start a discussion to raise awareness about best practices regarding handling lithium battery fires, should they occur.

Forums can be an amazing reference. Just not a laser pointer forum for a lithium battery.
Hell even diy electric car is a crappy reference for battery stuff.

 

[Alan B]

A high power laser pointer is often/usually powered by non-rechargeable metallic lithium batteries.

So fire safety recommendations are different than for rechargeable lithium ion.

 

[circuit]

I'm amazed that lazer pointers is actually a thing.
But yes, water is only bad for lithium-metal primary batteries.
Everything we use is actually quite friendly to water. Water is also very good for bringing the temperature down and stopping chain reaction.

 

[Punx0r]

Alan is correct: some people think a lithium-ion battery fire is the same as a metallic lithium fire. The latter is something much more scary and does require the proper technique to fight.

 

[okashira]

Alan is correct: some people think a lithium-ion battery fire is the same as a metallic lithium fire. The latter is something much more scary and does require the proper technique to fight.

The laser pointers use lithium ion not lithium metal.
Maybe the cheap pocket ones, but anyone on a laser forum would use lithium ion

 

[Punx0r]

Yes, and some people incorrectly believe those secondary lithium ion cells have to be treated as metallic lithium in a fire.

 

[dogman dan]

Still damn hard to put out a battery fire. It may just have to burn till it's done either way. Meanwhile, it's trying to catch the house on fire.

The main thing is it's not going to make it worse putting water on it, and it's definitely going to be worse if you don't put out the pile of newspapers next to the curtains in the baby's room, that you foolishly put the battery on to charge it.

Ok, with less sarcasam, Put the garage fire out with lots of water, if your battery catches your garage on fire. Don't tell the fireman it's metallic lithium, just put out the house fire. The water may not do much to stop the battery from burning, it's spewing hydrogen gas out as it burns. But you can cool off the backdraft that's forming on the ceiling of the room.