If I hadn't been home sick a lithium ion battery would have burned my house down

[Bike_On]

So I've gotten pretty comfortable with LiFePO4 (the "safe" lithium ion) batteries and don't think a lot about them anymore.
Well today, a single 18650 cell rolled off a shelf where I keep them and my dog got it. She took it under my bed and gave it a chomp. It shows slight flattening on 2 'sides' where she bit, but very minor apparent damage.
Well it shorted or whatever happens and in seconds the entire battery was glowing bright red like you held a welding torch to it. The carpet 6" around it was in flames and the flames were licking the bottom of my 14" thick FOAM mattress.....
I was stepping into the shower when this went down and heard a noise and stuck my head out the bathroom door to see my dog running upstairs with her tail between her legs. I went to see what happened and it looked like a police crusier was parked outside the window but with yellow lights on.
I can tell you that seeing your bedroom on fire will get your attention very very quickly.
I dove down and used a magazine to put out the fire and flick the red hot battery across the room and out into the hall (no carpet) where it stayed red hot for another few minutes. 3 places in the carpet where it landed and instantly melted the carpet down to the backing. and melted a nice divot in the old linolium in the hall.
The power in that single cell was amazing. I cannot imagine how bad it would be to have 40 or 48 of them go up.
Any other day I would have been at work and my house would have burned down. With my dog in it.

My single cells are now out in the garage with my bike batteries. All of which will be receiving a combustion containing container real soon!

Great story and relevant! Thanks.

 

[MLB]

Thank you all for the kind words and thoughts.
In reality I wasn't prepared and almost learned the HARD WAY!!
I can say with sincerity that moment changed me and I've stopped taking some things for granted!
I sold fire insurance many years ago and the speed at which a house goes up is simply amazing. 30 or 50 years of drying time makes your wood construction home ALL kindling.
I think the spec time from starting a small fire in one corner of a house until the time when the fire has spread to the whole house is around THREE minutes. And the chimney effect of the hot air rising takes it upstairs in a flash.

The whole time it was happening I'm repeating "oh my God, oh my God" over and over again. I'm sure it'd be hilarious to see it taped.

 

[MLB]

It's unlikely your 18650 cells were LiFePO4. Likely LiCoMn, like the cells in your Bosch/Haibike. Or one of the other hot chemistries. I'm not sure what your Falco has.

I've seen ads for really cheap, low power cells of various sizes claim LiFePO4, but the vast majority of LiFePO4 are large prismatic, pouch batteries.

As I understand it:

• Safest lithium ion: LiFePO4
• Most volatile: LiPo

All lithium batteries can suffer a melt down, fire or explosion. I had 2 S.F. CR123A lithium batteries in a flashlight explode on my nightstand in the middle of the night. I awoke thinking I was being shot at.

I guess the two points I'm trying to make are: 1. All these high tech batteries can fail and we need to respect them and learn how to treat them properly. For me, an explosion, for MLB a small fire. If you haven't had an accident, you don't have to. 2. Learn what cells are in your pack and learn the best way to treat them. There's probably 10 or 12 (maybe more) li-ion chemistries currently in use. I knew nothing at the time of my accident in the early 2000's.

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

Last but not least, @MLB glad you caught it before it got really bad.

Thanks! Well said, going to the website and reading comments further it's clear they are NOT LiFePo4's as you said!
Rule #1 - Read CAREFULLY.

 

[MLB]

Where it happened: (Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

 

[MLB]

spot in the hall where the battery landed 1 - 2 minutes after it 'ignited': (Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

 

[MLB]

Noodles: (Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

 

[Alex M]

So I've gotten pretty comfortable with LiFePO4 (the "safe" lithium ion) batteries and don't think a lot about them anymore.
Well today, a single 18650 cell rolled off a shelf

Well, LiFePo4 have little to do with e-bikes unless you are making a DIY pack of 18650s. (And, like somebody noted, it could be a chemistry other than FePo).

Old e-bike batteries were LiPo.
Today most e-bikes are LiMg - same as in Nissan Leaf. By far the safest Li technology.
The latest buzz is LiFePo, claimed to be the longest lasting, i.e. the highest number of cycles. Not very common in e-bikes yet - don't even know if any reputable e-bike company is installing it.

So... Not something to worry about for e-biker.
Not to mention that opening ebike battery pack - well made btw, in a good enclosure - into separate cells, and then biting them is not something that manufacturers or a common sense suggest

 

[MLB]

Not to mention that opening ebike battery pack - well made btw, in a good enclosure - into separate cells, and then biting them is not something that manufacturers or a common sense suggest

Agreed. I've never done that. Have you?

 

[Alex M]

I've never done that. Have you?

Nope. But somebody did chomp it apparently ...
Seriously though, pets can be a hazard.