Cannot allow my hobby to burn down my home

Using the Bosch box to charge my batteries makes me feel a bit safer; I also have a fire extinguisher nearby, but just hope I never need neither of them, box or extinguisher ever...
I have however inserted a temperature probe in the box and have noticed the temperature rise to 35ºC (91.4ºF) when charging the big LiitoKala battery, So I have decided to install two small fans on the lid; one pushing air and one extracting.... The idea is to run both fans while charging, using the battery charger to feed both fans.... My doubt comes from how that can affect the charging process. Could this extra power drain from both fans affect the charger behaviour and not stop the charging process and end up overcharging the battery???
I know the BMS should avoid any overcharge, but you never know... Can anyone help me here?
The other option would be to use an extra charger for the fans, but that would end up making the whole setup rather messy and cumbersome.
Best regards,
Spanish Flyer
 
7C154D26-2106-4E42-8FB3-62A31A31CBBE.jpeg

A picture from the front of my house. The building in the distance is my garage/shop where the bikes are stored. I’m lucky in the fact that if this building burned it would be a big loss but most likely no one would get hurt. That said I use timers and wouldn’t be afraid to charge at tge house using common sense.
 
JES2020 said:
To help me sleep at night , ( batteries can burn even when not charging), I put a smoke detector right over the bike ,( most fires happen gradually with smoke preceeding the fire).
Then I have a extinguisher right next to the bike and finally I have a large 90% wool blanket to throw over the bike to keep the fire contained, ( wool doesn't burn).
Recently I added a battery powered, voice connected, 3 smoke detectors ( when one detects smoke, it alarms the other two as well and indicates where the fire/ smoke is).
Click to expand...
Oooh. That would be hard. Which of my beloved Pendleton blankets to sacrifice? They are beautiful blankets.

Was told third hand of a bike battery fire and teller of the story said it was a "good bike". That's all. My Gazelle is on the charger now.
 
the solution to the battery worries buying UL rated batteries and systems. the rest are on a timer to just make sure.
IMG_0275.jpg
 
JES2020 said:
A fire can happen with ANY lion battery, remember the Tesla fires? Those are top of the line batteries.
Click to expand...

Every Tesla fire I've heard about has involved a collision or other serious damage to the vehicle and battery packs. If you have a bad wreck or even drop your batteries you should replace them.
 
Mr. Coffee said:
Every Tesla fire I've heard about has involved a collision or other serious damage to the vehicle and battery packs. If you have a bad wreck or even drop your batteries you should replace them.
Click to expand...

insideevs.com

Tesla Model Y Catches Fire While Driving, Driver Struggled To Escape

A Model Y posted an error notification, powered down, started smoking, and suddenly caught fire. The driver broke the window to escape from the burning vehicle.
insideevs.com insideevs.com
Mr. Coffee said:
Every Tesla fire I've heard about has involved a collision or other serious damage to the vehicle and battery packs.
Click to expand...
Wish that were true, fact is, lion's are predisposed to ignite. You can't have flammable liquid and heat with out the strong possibility of fire.
insideevs.com

Tesla Model Y Catches Fire While Driving, Driver Struggled To Escape

A Model Y posted an error notification, powered down, started smoking, and suddenly caught fire. The driver broke the window to escape from the burning vehicle.
insideevs.com insideevs.com

 
Last edited:
Cowlitz said:
Oooh. That would be hard. Which of my beloved Pendleton blankets to sacrifice? They are beautiful blankets.

Was told third hand of a bike battery fire and teller of the story said it was a "good bike". That's all. My Gazelle is on the charger now.
Click to expand...
LOL , well you will still have them after everything else burnt down .
 
Cowlitz said:
That would be hard. Which of my beloved Pendleton blankets to sacrifice? They are beautiful blankets.
Click to expand...
Check out this car fire, at the end you can see the fire dept has a fire proof tarp they were ready to cover the burning care with.
I just bought a cheap military surplus wool blanket for the purpose.
 
Last edited:
SpanishFlyer said:
I could't sleep well thinking that I could be one of the unlucky e-bikers that burned their garage or even the whole house due to a faulty battery or a bad overcharge. I always charge during the day, but even then, there couldn't be much I could do if one of the batteries set on fire and exploded.
I have two batteries, the standard one that came with the bike and an added more powerful battery that I have it in a carrier bag on the rear rack. I have arranged it so I use one till it is almost empty and then via a three way switch I select the second one. I basically have doubled my distance I can ride in one go.
Anyway I set up to fabricate a safety container where I could charge either battery with a 50% chance of saving my home. The way these batteries burn/explode, is something no one would like to experiment in their garage, because the ammount of energy originated during such an event is quite impossible to control, let alone if you have no barrier between the battery and the surrounding elements.
For that reason and seeing how others tackle this problem I purchased all the necessary elements, being the container or box the most important barrier. It cannot be totally sealed because in case of fire and explosion, the case would also burst, allowing the internal fire to reach all the surrounding areas. I purchased a Bosch tool box, big enough to fit both my batteries if needed. Made 6 x 33mm dia. holes on the lid and then proceeded to use the mesh to avoid the ceramic matt to just blow through the holes. I used high temperature silicone based glue to old the ceramic matt in place and that was the worst part of the job, bacause the matt tends to peel into several layers. Finally I covered all sides (except for the lid with a thin coat of fibreglass and teflon, designed to use on to of grills and barbacoas,
If at some stage the whole thing catches fire, in the end there won't be much left to salvage, but cross my fingers in the hope that my garage and home are not badly affected.
I include images of all I used to make this little bunker.
Best regards,
Spanish Flyer

View attachment 125265View attachment 125266View attachment 125267View attachment 125268View attachment 125269View attachment 125270View attachment 125271View attachment 125272View attachment 125273View attachment 125274View attachment 125275
Click to expand...
Check out this EV fire option...can use wool blanket for ebikes.
 
Thanks but I just got rid of some blankets and linens. I have a small house and need to get rid of more stuff instead of getting more stuff.
 
Can't say I don't think about this. I do. Disturbs me a bit. Did not think of this stuff before buying.

I also don't have a garage to store stuff in, further away from people. My bike is in a closet with battery inside, and my spare is in a drawer.

Have thought about a battery box at least.
 
About the only thing that would withstand a battery fire is a kiln. Ultimately, the boxes sold and the likes of what was built by the OP is to stop the explosion of fire from spreading.
 
Cowlitz said:
Thanks but I just got rid of some blankets and linens. I have a small house and need to get rid of more stuff instead of getting more stuff.
Click to expand...
Well, regular blankets or liners would not do the job, you need a specialty fire blanket or a 100 % wool one.
 
Here's what I use to charge my LiPo's for my RC helicopters and cars
 

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