Unfortunately most lithium chemistries do not require extra oxygen to burn because the chemicals inside already contain oxygen, which gets released as it burns. This makes it impossible to suffocate a fire through traditional means.
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At work weāve got an inflamable liquid storage locker we put gasoline and thinner and such in. I think one of them would be a great place to store my boards.
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Want to see what your thought looks like in real life? Specifically in 4k, shot at 120fps and slowed to 20% speed?
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How charged were the cells in this test?
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They were full.
Full of awesomeness! ļ¼¼ļ¼^ļ¼ļ¼¾ļ¼ļ¼
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Willing to try shipping you non-german-guys some Extover. No idea if they sell to me as endcustomers, also no idea how much the stuff or the shipping costs. If anyone is seriously interested iāll try and reach out to Poravor.
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If youāre ever willing, Iād love to see that test or a smaller test at 3.6v and 3.2v.
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I did a puncture test with a cell at 2.6v, and electrolyte leaking from the positive end.
The resulting runaway was almost as substantial as a full cell.
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Ya, we got those too. I looked them up and theyāre like +$2,000 each! Theyāre perfect bc they were designed to keep fires out, which it would do great keeping them in.
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Holy shit!!! Thatās some serious shit!!!
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Definitely learned a lot about this. Looks like that pressure would definitely blow shit off the hinges.
So it looks like thereās two stages to these types of fires. The boom stage where pressure gets released and mini flame throwers happen, and the burning stage where the mini flame throwers chill and the residual fire starts burning shit.
So a fire container needs to handle the pressure from the initial boom and the mini flame throwers from the cells, then contain the fire as it burns.
I wouldnt suppose a one way blow off valve or a type of flutter valve would help the pressure escape in a controlled manner, while the metal container holds everything together.
Shit, idk im just trying to figure out cost effective ways to address worst case scenarios.
I really would like to test a lot of different methods out and try to learn ways to address this. I got an old metroboardx battery that i wanna test this container with to see the effects first hand and gather data. I just dont know how to set it off on command.
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Yes.
One or more cells go into āthermal runawayā where they burn at several hundred degrees-C and generate up to 2 liters of gas for every Ah that burns. That would be about 8 liters of gas from just a single Molicel P42A.
The initial stages of runaway create all that gas and flammable vapor (from the organic solvent liquid in the cell) and then that is ignited, creating the jet of flames and possibly a fuel-air explosion if the cells are in an enclosed space where the right amount of vapor and air can mix before being ignited.
The cells supply their own oxygen so fire extinguishers or sand cannot stop this reaction. Water is great for stopping the reaction though since it can cool the cell down below the thermal runaway threshold temperature. But it is often difficult to get water onto the cells into a pack unless you toss the board in a lake. 
This thermal runaway stage can last a few seconds for a cell but since esk8 packs often use nickel strip that redirects the molten ejecta sideways there is a good chance that more cells will be heated up enough (about 250Ā°C) to also go into thermal runaway, keeping these violent reactions going. For a large pack you can have a couple hundred liters of gas being created and all that needs a place to go.
Exactly.
Once the runaway reactions stop then the (flammable solvents) electrolyte liquid and the plastics in and around the cells continues to burn. But now you have a pretty conventional fire which can be suppressed with an extinguisher.
A huge concern is the toxicity of the smoke and the soot it leaves behind. Itās not just the normal stuff you get from a plastics/paper fire. You can get hydrogen fluoride fumes and carcinogenic cobalt in the soot mixed in with all the other toxic fumes and burnt stuff.
You canāt contain the smoke because of all the gas that is created so you need to have the container somewhere it can burn without the smoke causing any problems during the fire or the soot being a hazard after the fire is out.
LOLā¦the best thing to do might actually be to suspend the board over a large container of water and drop the board in if a hydrocarbon vapor alarm or smoke alarm goes off. That would stop the thermal runaway reactions and the fire.
I guess Iām just saying be careful with your setup and any testing you do. Wear safety glasses, a respirator, and gloves, and treat any container or residue/remains as hazardous material.
@TheBoardGarage would be the man to talk to about reliably forcing cells into runaway.
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Damn good info man!
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Just saw your video, good info bro! Thanks!
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you may want to put in a layer of fire resistant dry wall. shouldnāt be too expensive but it will help prevent the metal from conducting the heat and scorching whatever its sitting on / surrounding
what if the container was designed like a bong so the flames get shot through a pipe into water where it bubbles up
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If a fire broke out what would yāall do? I know a extinguisher is pretty useless except for the things in the surrounding area and that I should pretty much let it burn out. Iām thinking a fire blanket might help to isolate it and maybe a pole to be able to pull the board out of the house, thoughts?
I was going to say, my first thought is getting it out of the house. A pole with some type of grabber makes sense. Otherwise, definitely a fire extinguisher to prevent the spreadā¦ I like your fire blanket idea too. Might be able to cover it and drag it outside in a pinch.
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I was thinking some sort of metal pole and a wired coat hangar. I already have the grab handle so should be able to pull it pretty easily. Yeah blanket to cover and contain the flame. Downside to the blanket is that it keeps the heat in, and Iāve read with these types of fires trying to cool it down as fast as possible is key. Maybe pull it off once isolated outside?
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