Lithium-polymer battery explosion

Well I've been building a new electric RC plane and while I was installing the electronics, I accidently cut into a 11.1 volt 910mah Lithium Polymer battery and it instantly vented with flame. Similar to what happens in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OsBc8RqSKU&feature=related

Suffice it to say it freaked me out pretty good. I instantly threw the smoking mess out the back door, and opened up all the doors and windows and set up a fan to blow the smoke out of the house all while holding my breath. I hope the fumes don't kill me.

I did a google search to try to find out the toxicity levels of LiPo batteries and couldn't find much so I'm hoping it's not too toxic.

Lesson, don't mix razor blades and batteries!

Positive thinking! I'm sure you'll be fine.
I'd would have thought a crash landing would be the biggest danger of making
a LI polymer battery burst..and vent with flame. You found another.
Hope the rest of the electronics survived.

Well there's a big melted hole in the side of the plane, but all other electronics were out of plane and safe. I was just starting to cut holes in the plane to install the electronics when I hit the battery. I think I can still save the plane with some creative patch work.

Scottiver said:

... there's a big melted hole in the side of the plane... I think I can still save the plane with some creative patch work

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Well, I don't care what you say about fixing it up, you'll never persuade me to fly in it now, lol.

Joking aside, I'm glad to hear you are OK. By taking prompt action as you did, you'll be fine.

Thanks, I just called the manufacturer of the battery (thunderpower) to see what they had to say, and they said that the toxicity is very low as long as I didn't get a big lung full of smoke which I didn't.
And they offered to sell me a new battery at 1/2 off even though it was completely my fault and I didn't buy it from them in the first place, which I thought was cool. :thumbsup:

Li-Pos have had all sorts of problems since the beginning of its creation. I remember the first production issues: if you underdischarged it it would expand like a balloon, if you overcharged it it would explode...

We now know what "instantly react with moisture in the air" sounds like...glad to see your alright to say the least.

--------
:hahaha:

This also reinforces a good guideline for all kinds of electrical maintenance, construction and repair work. Always work with the batteries removed and the circuit isolated. It is all too easy to blow things up otherwise, be they transistors or lithium polymer batteries...

Mr Happy said:

This also reinforces a good guideline for all kinds of electrical maintenance, construction and repair work. Always work with the batteries removed and the circuit isolated. It is all too easy to blow things up otherwise, be they transistors or lithium polymer batteries...

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+1

Thanks for sharing your story...and I'm glad this had a relatively happy ending.

Scottiver said:

And they offered to sell me a new battery at 1/2 off even though it was completely my fault

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That is wonderful.

Scottiver said:

...and I didn't buy it from them in the first place

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Talk about a company going the second mile!

Illum_the_nation said:

tell your doctor that you may have been exposed to HF (Hydrogen Floride), its an evil liquid/gas that doesn't belong anywhere but inside your battery unoxidated

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I just did a bunch of Googling of Hydrogen Flouride and Lithium Polymer and can't find anything relating to the two. :thinking: I have NO symptoms of HF exposure and there isn't any "cure" for HF exposure anyway so a $150 trip to the doctor seems like a waste of time and $.

The final stage in my safety setup consists in being able to use a tray to throw the thing out of an unobstructed window. I'd need good aim as I'm on the 1st floor and there is a shed to the left, roof to the right. (British English, you enter a shop on the ground floor, go up in the lift to the 1st floor). In the interest of safety I may not use lipo.

:hahaha:

Illum_the_nation said:

well...that was on my check list after I consolidated it from at least a dozen CR123A explosion threads. I'll see if I can pick up a reference thread...

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But CR123A and lithium polymer are entirely unrelated things :thinking:

Mr Happy said:

But CR123A and lithium polymer are entirely unrelated things :thinking:

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yeah...I noticed
give me a minute while I clear my posts off the thread

Illum_the_nation said:

yeah...I noticed
give me a minute while I clear my posts off the thread

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:thumbsup:

The 2010 prius has one HUGE lithium battery. Imagine what will happen during a bad accident. YIKES!

problemchild200 said:

The 2010 prius has one HUGE lithium battery. Imagine what will happen during a bad accident. YIKES!

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It will be a crash like any other accident. They are not using one huge lithium battery. Besides being as ugly as sin, they are using NiMH battery packs.