Fire This Weekend in Team 5871 Chickadees Work Space

[ctt956]

Originally Posted by xtine

The fire marshal has declared that the cause was most likely a lithium polymer battery that was in the room. It belonged to a university student group that also used the space.

Originally Posted by cbale2000

So someone had a "hoverboard" they left plugged in right?

Probably not a hover board/gyroboard. Those usually have lithium-iron phosphate batteries(LiFePO 4), which are safer, but the hoverboards' designs have improper charging and ventilation setups, or undersized batteries(or all 3). LiPo batteries are most commonly used in RC aircraft and RC cars, which is probably what that one was for. They should not be plugged in unattended, and they should be charged in one of these.

[RoboChair]

Originally Posted by ctt956

They should not be plugged in unattended, and they should be charged in one of these.

I hate to break it to you, but those bags don't really do squat. I agree about the not charging unattended however, I know from experience >_>

Any lithium chemistry battery is capable of catastrophic failure resulting in fire and/or explosion, some are just harder than others to induce that failure mode in.

[ctt956]

Originally Posted by RoboChair

I hate to break it to you, but those bags don't really do squat. I agree about the not charging unattended however, I know from experience >_>

Any lithium chemistry battery is capable of catastrophic failure resulting in fire and/or explosion, some are just harder than others to induce that failure mode in.

Wow, those are ineffective! Looks like they could actually make it worse! In that case, it's probably not worth buying. A timer for the charger might not be a bad idea, though.