DON'T put batts in pocket!

[RonM]

DON\'T put batts in pocket!

I foolishly put two NiMH AA batts in my front pocket. Also in my pocket was about a $1 worth of coins. Sitting at the computer, I suddenly noticed my leg getting hot. Jumped up, reached in the pocket and pulled out one sizzling battery and burnt my finger. Quickly yanked my pants off and shook out the rest. Glad I work from home, it would have been quite a sight at the office!

Even after falling to the floor, the batteries continued to sizzle and vent gas. Yikes. I'll never do that again.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

 

[UK Owl]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

Also be wary of putting any type of PP3 batteries (the small 9 volt ones) including the low capacity zinc carbon ones anywhere near wire wool (e.g. thrown into tool bag/box). The wire wool can ignite and is extremely difficult to extinguish.

 

[Charles Bradshaw]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

If you use a 2 x 3 inch ziploc or similar, it will protect the batteries from shorting. Still a good idea to not throw them in with keys or change.

 

[lemlux]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

Been there, done that.

 

[shankus]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

[ QUOTE ]
UK Owl said:
Also be wary of putting any type of PP3 batteries (the small 9 volt ones) including the low capacity zinc carbon ones anywhere near wire wool (e.g. thrown into tool bag/box). The wire wool can ignite and is extremely difficult to extinguish.

[/ QUOTE ]
I saw a camping guru on tv when I was about 6-7, that used this as a method of starting a campfire.

Except, he used two D cells and some steel wool. He put the cells in series, and stretched out the steel wool long enough to touch both ends.

I have used this method many times to start a fire. If the negative side is held firmly, and the positive side is gently rubbed on the positive end, the wool begins to burn well. Then I use tissue paper to get the sparks going into a fire.

If you package the steel wool and tissue carefully, you can get it to fit into many flashlights.

 

[Pellidon]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

I had a friend do that with eight AA NIMH's from a camera motordrive did that. He was shooting and his leg got hotter and hotter and then started to sting. By the time he fished then out the Rayon in his pants leg was starting to melt and he had a nice welt on his thigh.

When he told me that I looked at him with one of those "DUH" kind of looks. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

The steel wool trick is spectacular if it is fluffed out like cotton candy. That is basically what flashbulbs were except they were magnesium to burn faster and brighter. and the bulbs exploded on occasion so be careful.

 

[Larry1582]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

I had a cheap dollar store copy of the Pelican Mitylite in my shirt pocket one time at work. I had just started some diet medicine that was supposed to speed up your metabloism. I felt a burning in my chest and thought I was having a heart attack. I reached in my pocket and found that the cheap light had shorted out somehow and the batteries were heating up. The guys in the office got a kick out of it. I let one of them see how hot the thing had gotten so they would not think I was crazy.

 

[Pi_is_blue]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

The little cases that come with energizer AA lithiums are very handy for carrying batteries.

 

[FalconFX]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

I found the Altoids mint can is a good carrier for 6 AAs (go figure why I'd use an aluminum can for battery storage). But along with some alcohol pads, bandaid, neosporin, and some gauges, it makes for a cool little first aid kit, with a splash of flashaholism thrown in...
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[star882]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

My friend Caitlin Williams has helped to install a rackmount server system, and she said that the UPS batteries have to be packaged with plastic caps over the terminals because those huge batteries can deliver enough current in a short circuit condition to melt steel!

 

[Tomas]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

The 44,000 Ampere Hour, 48 Volt battery plant at one of my offices burned about a 6 inch diameter hole in a building beam before the 8,000 Amp fuse let go taking the batteries and the six 800 Amp chargers off line ...

The same type battery plant totally vaporized a 1 gallon can of paint when the painter (idiot) set it on the bus bars for a moment ... Didn't even make a mess except for the pee all over the place and some burn marks on the bus bars, and no fuses blew ...

Lithium batteries in Emergency Locater Transmitters (ELTs) used to burn holes in aircraft on occasion when they first came out ...

My father turned a Craftsman screwdriver to slag with a car battery ...

 

[Ray_of_Light]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

Many years ago, I unadvertently stuck my ringed finger on an Hawker D-size (SLA, 2 V, 2.5 Ah). I'm lucky to still have the finger.

Anthony

 

[IsaacHayes]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

TheProphet: 2V? it takes 40 volts to penetrate skin. No worries. But keep in mind it takes a little less than an amp to stop your heart! That's the main reason I powered all my HV experiments with 9v batteries. Even 1 9v had enough current to burn the legs off of large horseflies when the wires were brought close enough to form a solid orange arc instead of blue sparks. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Don't ask /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Errr: I just re-read your post. I didn't catch the ring part /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif It's recommended that you remove your jewelry before trying to melt it down into gold coins. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

On the topic of high currents and fire, I wonder if you could hook up a luxeon to a line powered HV device run through a capacitor cascasde or capacitive discharge and the high voltage/current would ignite the phosphur on the die! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I've seen guys turn a glass rod conductive by heating it with a high curent/hv arc until it melted!!

 

[Ray_of_Light]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

Isaac,

were not the 2 Volt, but the 100 Amps to make my golden ring incandescent!

Anthony

Sorry - I seen late you realized what I meant

 

[snakebite]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

i remember putting out a fire in someones pocket with a bottle of mountain dew.it seems he had just bought a new battery pack for a 2 way radio.put it in his pocket and then the keys.
the cheap aftermarket battery had no protective devices at all.
at least the guy didnt panic and run when the fire was dicovered and i had the dew handy.he still has a scar from a 3rd degree burn to remind him not to buy cheap crap batteries and to not short them with keys!

 

[sflate]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

I remember the same thing happening to Connie Chung while interviewing John Glenn several years ago. The former astronaut was able to play hero and stop the batteries in her wireless mic pack from burning her.

 

[shankus]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

I would like to have seen that. Actually, I would have like to have done that.

 

[Tomas]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif

 

[yuandrew]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

Yep, not a good Idea. I put a 9 volt battery in a pocket with some pennies and it burned!. A 12 volt DE Walt drill battery has a lot of current. Enough to directly power my pencil lead ARC light that I made!

Anyway, my Uncle accidently reversed one of the Ni-Mh batteries in his Lightwave 2000. The circuit board melted. Now he has an ARC LS.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Re: DON\'T put batts in pocket!

[ QUOTE ]
sflate said:
I remember the same thing happening to Connie Chung while interviewing John Glenn several years ago. The former astronaut was able to play hero and stop the batteries in her wireless mic pack from burning her.

[/ QUOTE ]
If I recall correctly, that happened at a political convention, and the guy who wrestled Connie to the ground and removed her smoldering beltpack was some little-known upstart named Dan Rather... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif