Sad Losi news, and a safety reminder

[Bongo Fury]

Some sad news, didn't see it posted here yet.

30 years of history lost in a Gil Losi garage fire.

http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/murrieta/murrieta-headlines-index/20120208-inland-warning-issued-on-batteries-that-can-ignite.ece

Credit to F N Cuda on RCTech.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

Truly sad. I'd love to know more details though. I have seriously never heard of anyone I actually know having any lipo issues. Anyone know of any first hand accounts of fire? Just curious.

[LowClassCC]

that sure don't make me feel any better about the lipos i just bought.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

that sure don't make me feel any better about the lipos i just bought.

I think it will have that effect on a lot of people, but I truly feel safer with lipos than anything else. There are a lot more details to that fire that may or may not come out. I'm not suggesting foul play at all, but more of a major and fluke mal-function of some kind.

[Bongo Fury]

Truly sad. I'd love to know more details though. I have seriously never heard of anyone I actually know having any lipo issues. Anyone know of any first hand accounts of fire? Just curious.

I’ve seen/am aware of a few. Mostly smokers thankfully.

All appeared to be in car damage or short of some sort while running, previous damage, or fat fingers on the charger (nimh mode).

I’ve heard stories of them going off just sitting (some time after use), but don’t personally know of any confirmed cases.

Personally, I’ll stick with hard cases, and continue to be aware of any damage. I look them over good before packing up. If any issues they will be left outside until discharged and disposed of. So far out of over 20 I’ve had one puff.

Reminder, the smoke is toxic and corrosive, as I understand it.

[arf]

I'm sure that Losi has charged more batteries in his career than any of us, and the probability of a mishap was just a matter of the law of averages finally kicking in.

[Bormac]

Lipo's scare me quite frankly. Not because there are any problems with them when they are used correctly but when someone that has little idea of how to treat them, mistreats/mishandles them there is a greater risk of danger than from the old sub-c cells.

I love the fact you can charge them and they hold their charge. I also love the sheer amount of energy they store when compared to their size.

I once got a call from a mate who warned me of lipo dangers as his friend had come off second best to a severe lipo fire. In short the intense flame melted his chest area so badly it almost killed him but also left him with some very severe burns that he'll no doubt have to live with for the rest of his life. When I shared this story amongst the guys on rctech here in Australia and urged folks to use a lipo sack I was more or less told I was a girl.

For me the risk is there and I dont want that risk around my kids. Probably why I am happier fooling around with some old 1700SCRC packs now days. I know there will be no intense burst of flame from a bad cell that simply goes bang.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

I'd love to see some safety numbers (although I'm sure there aren't any that are reliable) from cheap lipos against expensive ones. I abandoned Maxamps years ago due to their over-priced cells, but it makes me wonder if they might be safer than cheap ones. Food for thought anyway.

[Noumenon]

That is a shame. I am afraid to hear what was lost.

[LTO_Dave]

That's terrible news. Imagine the memories that place must have held. I wonder what prototype car he was working on?

Call me a wuss, but I ordered a RevTech LiPo Locker along with a charger to charge my packs in. There's always that chance that something could go wrong and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

[Lowgear]

The good news is that any Losi memorabilia you have is now worth more.

I have yet to go the LiPo route but still fully intend to. I imagine the majority of LiPos spontaneously combusting are because of improper handling. It also takes 2 seconds to open a bag to toss them in.

Whatever happened to those LiFe batteries? Weren't they eventually supposed to be the successor to LiPos?

[EvolutionRevolution]

that sure don't make me feel any better about the lipos i just bought.

I think it will have that effect on a lot of people, but I truly feel safer with lipos than anything else. There are a lot more details to that fire that may or may not come out. I'm not suggesting foul play at all, but more of a major and fluke mal-function of some kind.

I have some trouble believing that a single battery could cause a whole garage to burn down, unless there was some material nearby that could have propagated the fire easily throughout the garage and no proper precautions were taken while charging a battery/storing them. And of course no fire alarm ($15 or so) was present...

Most times I've read of garages burning down, there was some short-circuit or other electrical fault in the main electrics, or foul play.

I always keep an eye on my batteries when I charge them, lipos go in a lipo sack at all times except when in the car.

[Jirka]

Definitely a sad thing no matter in whose garage that have happened. But in case like this when someone lost his 30 year work history it really sad thing rather than losing only stuff like old lawn mower or clothes from that will never fit again. Also same time losing parts of Your current work influence Your own and many others future.

Jirka

[CAT3K]

That's sad new on the history part At least no one was hurt though, that's the main thing.

As for lipos, i've never had an issue personally but i've seen plenty of misuse/mistakes at tracks. I've seen people connect them the wrong way round, using hard cases that have cracks and charging on Nimh mode (accidentally) None of which ended up in fires, but some did puff.

"Most" of these fires i believe to be human error. I remember more dangerous explosions with NiMh/Nicad, at least when a lipo goes it's confined to an area and usually in a lipo sack, containing the fire. When a NiMh/Nicad cell goes you can have shrapnel flying everywhere at high speeds.

[SRTracer121]

first off, wow that sucks for the losi family.

now this lipo fear crap, really? yes s*** happens. but were grenading nimhs any better? shoot i was reminded of that fact a while back when my hotshot 2 popped at 2 in the morning after sitting on the charger friday afternoon till that monday morning (absolutely my fault) the same thing happens when you are stupid with lipos. they bite you in the arse.

now me, personally, ive had 2 lipo fires at the track and purposefully killed quite a few and seen my share of others. i know what they are capable of especially the higher cell count packs which are the most trouble prone. but ya know what? i have no problem, and i lose no sleep over the fact that ive got about 10 lipo packs sitting right in my bedroom/hobbyroom. none. soft cases, hard cases, dont matter. it takes a lot to get one to catch fire (though puffing isnt uncommon and normally means the pack is either being overworked or just getting old) ive had 2 packs run over by a car in my 8th scale and they still run like new, no puffing, no issues (other then the cases being screwed) ive had packs that have been shorted [briefly] and bounce right back.

the biggest killers are user error. they really wont just up and fail on you for no good reason.

• double check your charger settings
  
  dont over discharge them
  
  dont run packs in cars that the pack cant handle (a 15c pack in a brushless 8th scale for example)
  
  dont puncture them.
  
  balance them every charge or as often as you can.

now most of yall delt with nimhs and most of yall remember all the crap you had to do with matched race packs too. infact i do less running lipos then i ever did running nimhs. i charge them, i run them, i charge them. that simple. no discharge racks, no zapping and cycling. they just plug in and work. scary, i know, but youll get over it.


____________

oh and i would never buy a maxamps pack. i dont feel like being stolen from and funding that horrible company. you should have seen the crap the owner of maxamps pulled on ultimaterc, lying, cowardly scum if you ask me.