Don't leave chargers unattended in an earthquake prone area

Hi all,

This is something some of you may not have considered, I didn't until just now.

We all know that while we are charging lithium batteries, we should attend to our chargers and cells - making sure that the batteries are not overheating, there are no fumes and being sure to remove the cells in a timely manner once charging finishes. That's just common sense.

While typing out another post here on CPF we just had a small earthquake here and it got me thinking. If you have a charger loaded with high capacity 18650 cells and a large earthquake hits it is very likely to fall off the desk/table, smash on the floor and scatter cells everywhere. These cells may even be damaged on impact and will roll around - perhaps ending up in places where they are hard to reach in a hurry like behind a TV cabinet or bookshelf. Imagine damaged cells that may now be at risk of shorting out rolling behind your TV cabinet, and starting a fire while you are busy taking cover under a table yourself from the earthquake!

Some of you may think I am being too cautious - I mean, your mobile phone or some other device could also get smashed but I think they are less likely to start a fire as the cells would be fairly well protected inside the device. I wouldn't worry at all about a flashlight with an 18650 cell locked+loaded hitting the floor (other than feeling bad for it getting scuffed).

I was born in England where earthquakes do not happen as a rule (okay, I know they can but it is extremely rare) so it didn't occur to me.

Most fires that occur as a result from earthquakes happen because of broken gas lines, burners/heaters that topple over while switched on and damaged appliances. Lets not have our li-ion charging contributing to this. Don't put your charger right at the very edge of your table if you live somewhere with frequent earthquakes

At the risk of being a little too critical, this is overthinking at its best. If Li-ion batteries were THAT dangerous they wouldn't be used by millions of people. I agree there are dangers if mistreated, but worrying about an earthquake damaging your batteries and causing a fire should be the least of your worries. The odds have to be so astronomically remote that this would even happen.

If you're worried about earthquakes, make sure you have extra food and water on hand. It's good to think of all scenarios and take precautions, but sometimes we worry about the wrong things and don't focus on the things that are more likely to happen.




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I lived for 40 years in California and actually gave this some thought as you did. I have a charging station on a low table on top of a thick Persian carpet that I use. The table isn't that high, and if anything did fall to the floor, the thick carpet would cushion it.

This is probably overthinking a bit as Berneck1 said but I'm a bit of a worry wart so that's what do. Also I keep flashlights on the table so this setup is as much for them as the battery stuff so they won't get damaged if they fall on the floor.

I think that makes sense to consider. Yes, it might only be a remote possibility, but if the problem can be easily avoided it's probably worth doing something about if it isn't too much of a hassle.

As a side note, I took a trip to Japan recently and thought it was pretty cool that in many of the hotels I stayed at there was a flashlight attached to the nightstand in case of power loss. The lights were set up so that they had a cutout on one side of the body, and when they were docked on the nightstand the dock separated the batteries and turned the light off. As a result, when someone picks up the light, the batteries go back together and the light automatically turns on. Of course I had a nicer EDC clipped to my pocket at all times, but I thought that was a great idea.

I think that makes perfectly good sense for places like Japan and the west coast of the U.S.

Also, I didn't mention in my first post that one of the things I did in my long and checkered working career was to work in the disaster recovery area for a few years. You develop a sort of disaster mind set, and my charger setup reflects that. Also, it took all of maybe ten minutes to set up so it was no big deal really.

Why not just throw them on some kind of protected table? Have it so the charger/cells won't fall over and have something protecting over the charger so if anything does collapse on that table (like the roof) it'll be protected from that sort of thing. It's what i would do even with just my NiMH chargers if i was in an earthquake prone area.

That would work too.

My table isn't anything special, but it works fine for what it is. But it's not near anything that could fall on it or cause a problem, unless it's a really severe quake and the roof falls in. But in that case my battery charging table will probably be the least of my worries.

blah9 said:

As a side note, I took a trip to Japan recently and thought it was pretty cool that in many of the hotels I stayed at there was a flashlight attached to the nightstand in case of power loss. The lights were set up so that they had a cutout on one side of the body, and when they were docked on the nightstand the dock separated the batteries and turned the light off. As a result, when someone picks up the light, the batteries go back together and the light automatically turns on.

Click to expand...

I've found one of those in every hotel I have stayed in here and I also think it's a great idea as most people don't carry a light and we all know that a light could be the difference between escape and death in some situations. I think it might be law but don't quote me on that. Some hotels also "hide" emergency provisions for their guests in each room for shelter-in-place events. If there is a small couch in your room, the front panel might actually be a drawer. Last time I encountered that they had stored long life water and dehydrated food.

Back on topic, I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking about this. I won't think too far into it but I like to be safe, and I feel taking some precaution if it doesn't go too far/too much hassle is a good thing.

Very cool!

blah9 said:

As a side note, I took a trip to Japan recently and thought it was pretty cool that in many of the hotels I stayed at there was a flashlight attached to the nightstand in case of power loss. The lights were set up so that they had a cutout on one side of the body, and when they were docked on the nightstand the dock separated the batteries and turned the light off. As a result, when someone picks up the light, the batteries go back together and the light automatically turns on. Of course I had a nicer EDC clipped to my pocket at all times, but I thought that was a great idea.

Click to expand...

You would think they would lose LOTS of these lights from theft.

I guess they would just charge the person if the light is gone? And they aren't the best lights to have at home because they are always on unless you take the batteries out or separate them yourself. I don't know.

The lights are incandescent like an old 2xAAA penlight. You can't switch them off once you remove them from the holder unless you jam something into the cutout. Not very appealing I think.