So, the today incident left me a little bit shaken, if someone else hadn’t noticed it would have ended badly, and usually there isn’t people around here to notice, so it was luck, at best I would have lost the board, at worst at least some furniture if not more
So, any of you guys use fire alarms or something like that? Ideally I would want something connected to the internet so it could also warn me on my phone
I haven’t started looking yet, just throwing this here in case someone already found and also as an PSA, you never thing it will happen to you until it happens
A fire alarm or smoke detector inside the enclosure would be an awesome addition, though once we start talking about tying it to the internet things get more complicated. Does it need an LTE connection? Just WiFi? Would we need to build a whole app or webhost just to run the notification side of things?
I really like the idea, and I would be very interested to see folks implement it.
Unless you have an airtight enclosure, a smart smoke detector would work great. Install one directly above where you store/charge your board. Always store/charge it there. Tie it into your home wifi like normal. Setup notifications / connect it to whatever fancy home server you already have. Good to go.
A lot less likely you need a smoke detector permanently installed on your board with LTE.
Just looking through the Amazon equivalent I found one that has WiFi, kinda expensive but I’m thinking in saying screw it, just waiting the vendor to confirm it it actually has notifications alarming you instead of SMS
I feel like for most reasonably well sealed enclosures, by the time enough smoke got out to trip the alarm, the battery would already be melting down. And while I’m not worried about saving my board if the battery catches fire, I would love to have as much advanced warning as possible to get the board out of my house before it’s well and truly ablaze.
I agree. I made the suggestion for an LTE smoke detector as a hyperbole to get the creative juices flowing I think that a module installed in your enclosure that automatically connects to your wifi when you are home (sorta like the DaveGa) would be excellent. That would give you the same connectivity benefits as the smart smoke detector, and hopefully give you more advanced notice.
I’m actually curious why no one’s ever tried wrapping batteries in that fire resistant fiberglass material that LiPo bags are made of before sticking them into an enclosure. Maybe have strategically placed seams that channel any venting out a certain direction, away from the other packs.
That’s what nest protect is. I have 2 of them in my house. It connects to your smarthouse system and can notify through Bluetooth and wifi. If you have more than one, a trigger sets them all off regardless of which got triggered
WTH…they only show a low-energy paper fire as a demo of the “extinguisher”? That was an utterly and completely useless test. Why the hell not use a full pack fire for the demo?
Oh…wait…a full pack fire is HUGELY more energetic than a little bit of paper.
Having that tiny “extinguisher” on the opposite side of the PCB, not even near the cells, means the tiny amount of whatever it spews out will be even more worthless. No possible way that little thing can put out even a single cell li-ion fire much less a pack in full runaway.
Lipo flamethrower :o
I feel like this could save some of your parts, but if it was a big pack like some 12ah lipos, there’s no stopping that fire from spreading or catching other packs near it.
I think this is less intended for pack runaway moreso something else nearby on fire, idk like everything around it in a building fire…
Just making some attempt at preventing outside fire from melting something inside that could lead to pack short, although I imagine the layout inside Is resistant to wiring shorting even if melted.
If fire crept in this might prevent something bad happening inside.
Mooch how much do you need to heat up a fully charged cell before it goes ?
Overall I think any battery stored where it can’t meltdown without creating a disaster is a bad idea.
I mean look at every phone and laptop though. I wonder how people who have had a phone or something go wrong treat their battery powered devices.
But the extinguisher would go off, not having any effect on the inside (since it’s not on fire) and not having any effect on the outside of the case (since it’s inside the case). An external fire would be unaffected and continue to heat the pack.
That device has to be for an internal fire IMO. Even their video shows it being used on an internal fire, not as something to prevent overheating from an external fire.
The lowest temp I’ve ever seen mentioned is about 100°C but it’s usually stated as higher, perhaps 130°C for LiPo’s and higher for other chemistries. This temp can be easily reached in hotspots inside the cell though if short-circuited or the cell was very old/damaged from lots of use. But for external temps on a cell not being used it’s gotta’ be a ways above 100°C. IIRC for “standard” li-ion round cells it’s above 200°C.
But for cells in a pouch, LiPo or a different chemistry, the pouch might melt at a lower temp and cause a short-circuit that could lead to runaway.
But if fire worked it way in then the outside is probably already at hundreds of degrees-C, toasting the cells long before any flames enter through slots or melted connector openings.
The extinguisher would go off, not really cooling anything, and then the hot walls of the box would still continue to fry the cells. There’s just nothing that little spray of foamy stuff can do for an external fire.
Agreed.
Personally, I have nothing against BigBattery.
That video is the only thing I am violently ranting about.
I think that a module installed in your enclosure that automatically connects to your wifi when you are home (sorta like the DaveGa) would be excellent. That would give you the same connectivity benefits as the smart smoke detector, and hopefully give you more advanced notice.
?