Precautions for cordless power tool batteries?

[coopec43]

Well I consider I have been warned......

Fire and Rescue NSW recording Lithium-Ion battery fires at a rate of five a week - NSW

FRNSW has recorded 63 Lithium-Ion battery fires to date in 2024, subject to review, at a rate of 5.7 blazes a week. Seven people have been injured in the fires. There were 272 Lithium-Ion battery-related fires in 2023, at a rate of 5.2 a week. Thirty eight people were injured last year.15 Mar 2024

https://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/incident.php?record=rec19mr6yzVvSQqQ0

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Given the BILLIONS of rechargeable batteries in use..................this topic seems massive paranoia

It is and it isn't. If you purchase name brand tools and only use the recommend battery, I think it is unlikely you will have a problem. If you buy replacement batteries from some unknown source off ebay or Alixxx, you are about as safe as hoverboards and cheap scooters are.

Originally Posted by coopec43

Well I consider I have been warned......

Fire and Rescue NSW recording Lithium-Ion battery fires at a rate of five a week - NSW

FRNSW has recorded 63 Lithium-Ion battery fires to date in 2024, subject to review, at a rate of 5.7 blazes a week. Seven people have been injured in the fires. There were 272 Lithium-Ion battery-related fires in 2023, at a rate of 5.2 a week. Thirty eight people were injured last year.15 Mar 2024

https://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/incident.php?record=rec19mr6yzVvSQqQ0

San Francisco too:
https://sfstandard.com/2024/01/09/sa...s-legislation/
Keep in mind that NSW has 10x the population of San Francisco. So the per capita rate is about the some.

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by Uncle Bob

Hi, I have to ask, was the problem battery a genuine product or a flea bay aftermarket purchase?

Bob

I have now examined the five batteries.

X1 (Not Hitachi made in China probably one year old) Failed -about to explode.

X1 Hitachi. Appears to be on way out.

X3 Hitachi. All working well. One has "2011" on the decal. Maybe that was the year of manufacture?

What about the L ion battery in my VHF Radio? Is that a consideration?

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by coopec43

Bob

I have now examined the five batteries.

X1 (Not Hitachi made in China probably one year old) Failed -about to explode.

X1 Hitachi. Appears to be on way out.

X3 Hitachi. All working well. One has "2011" on the decal. Maybe that was the year of manufacture?

What about the L ion battery in my VHF Radio? Is that a consideration?

Can't comment on the radio's battery, is it original?, I can definitely recommend the batteries from the business that I referred to earlier, I have used them for my makita tools and I believe that they can supply many other battery products as well, and they deliver Australia wide.

[coopec43]

It is easy to be sucked in by unscrupulous Chinese sellers on eBay. Take this for example.


"Genuine for Hitachi" That doesn't mean the batteries are genuine Hitachi batteries. It means the battery is compatible with Hitachi.

"Brand .......... For Hitachi" That doesn't mean it is manufactured by Hitachi



Do they offer a 5 year warranty or a 10 year warranty? Will they still be around in 5 or 10 years?

[dannc]

Originally Posted by ohgary

With Lithium-ion batteries, the time from funny smell and all flames is often a few seconds. A damaged Lithium-ion battery will go into thermal melt down in seconds.

Yep. Watching the video of Lithium batteries "catching fire," which look more like explosions, is why I only charge where if the battery has a problem, it won't burn down the house. Once charged the batteries are removed from the charger.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by wholybee

It is and it isn't. If you purchase name brand tools and only use the recommend battery, I think it is unlikely you will have a problem. If you buy replacement batteries from some unknown source off ebay or Alixxx, you are about as safe as hoverboards and cheap scooters are...

I had three Dewalt NiMH batteries. Two aged out and the third shorted out and was melting down when I tossed it out of the house. That is a high failure rate to me. While that is very small sample size, it was a learning experience that is for sure.

We looked at an AirBNB years ago, and the owner did not want people charging laptops unattended because his family had a battery catch fire which almost burned down their house.

I think I had a near miss with one of my old cell phones. It was in a case, and the case was not quite right, but I did not pay attention to that as I should have. Eventually, I noticed the case was not the problem but the cell phone battery had swollen and damaged the case.

We don't buy non brand batteries and we are still having issues.

When we charge our portable batteries, I put them in a place I can watch them and if they have a problem, won't burn down the house.

We just looked at a boat that had an unusual "stateroom" that only had one way in and out. Now the space is rather small so one would THINK one could escape out the hatch if there was a fire but I did not like that there was only one way in/out.

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by dannc

I had three Dewalt NiMH batteries. Two aged out and the third shorted out and was melting down when I tossed it out of the house. That is a high failure rate to me. While that is very small sample size, it was a learning experience that is for sure.

We looked at an AirBNB years ago, and the owner did not want people charging laptops unattended because his family had a battery catch fire which almost burned down their house.

I think I had a near miss with one of my old cell phones. It was in a case, and the case was not quite right, but I did not pay attention to that as I should have. Eventually, I noticed the case was not the problem but the cell phone battery had swollen and damaged the case.

We don't buy non brand batteries and we are still having issues.

When we charge our portable batteries, I put them in a place I can watch them and if they have a problem, won't burn down the house.

We just looked at a boat that had an unusual "stateroom" that only had one way in and out. Now the space is rather small so one would THINK one could escape out the hatch if there was a fire but I did not like that there was only one way in/out.

Then there was the big Samsung recall because of defective batteries that were catching on fire. So, yes, it still can happen even with big brands.

Getting on topic of the thread, I am upgrading the wiring in parts of my boat. I at one time was going to install 12V sockets or USB ports in convenient locations, including berths. I decided against that, as a berth is a really dangerous place to charge anything. Instead, there will be a designated charging area with (although minimal) some precautions to make it safer.

[NorthCoastJoe]

I have never had a battery problem in 25+ years of battery tool use. I leave the batteries on a conditioner/charger all the time.

Teaching high school shop we took some worn out but not dead tool batteries out to play. We hit them with hammers, drove nails into them, torched them with an acetylene torch, and abused them every way a high school student could think of. Guess what, no fires, some smoke and heat. Maybe we didn't beat them up the right way. Or was the low state of charge the reason no fires.

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by NorthCoastJoe

I have never had a battery problem in 25+ years of battery tool use. I leave the batteries on a conditioner/charger all the time.

Teaching high school shop we took some worn out but not dead tool batteries out to play. We hit them with hammers, drove nails into them, torched them with an acetylene torch, and abused them every way a high school student could think of. Guess what, no fires, some smoke and heat. Maybe we didn't beat them up the right way. Or was the low state of charge the reason no fires.

Well I hope for you your luck holds out otherwise you could lose your house and possessions.

"Lithium-ion batteries can be highly flammable. The ACCC saw a 92% increase in reported lithium-ion battery incidents including swelling, overheating and fires in 2022 compared to 2020."

https://www.productsafety.gov.au/pro...-ion-batteries

[CarlF]

I have never heard of this happening to a NAME BRAND tool or small consumer electronic that wasn't severely abused (e.g. nails hammered into it). If it did, there would be wall-to-wall press coverage.

When there is a design problem - such as Galaxy Note 7 tablets a few years ago -it is quickly publicized (Most Galazy Notes were banned from airplanes by TSA).

Large batteries such as those in electric scooters are more hazardous - but again - buying high qaulity name brands seems to remove most of the risk.

Just buy name brands and stop worrying.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by CarlF

I have never heard of this happening to a NAME BRAND tool or small consumer electronic that wasn't severely abused (e.g. nails hammered into it). If it did, there would be wall-to-wall press coverage.

When there is a design problem - such as Galaxy Note 7 tablets a few years ago -it is quickly publicized (Most Galazy Notes were banned from airplanes by TSA).

...

Just buy name brands and stop worrying.

The problem batteries I have had, as mentioned above, were all name brand and in no way abused. My Samsung phone battery that swelled up for some reason did not catch fire but I think it was only a matter of time. Now that I think about it a bit, a family member had a Kindle battery that swelled up as well. No fire thankfully.

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by CarlF

I have never heard of this happening to a NAME

Just buy name brands and stop worrying.

Undoubtedly good advice BUT I think you underestimate the problem:

About 56,400 Ryobi rechargeable battery packs have been recalled due to reports that suggest they may overheat and possibly burst while on the charger, posing https://www.longhillnj.gov/fire/RECA...3-ON-GOING.pdf

8 days ago — Like any product, a small number of these batteries can be defective - they can overheat, catch fire or explode. It is therefore important that .. https://makita.com.au/table/service-support/

24 Sept 2019 — The NTSB investigation found that the most likely cause of the fires was an internal short circuit within a cell of the lithium ion battery. https://hha.hitachi-hightech.com/en/blogs-events/blogs/2019/09/24/reducing-fire-and-explosion-risk-of-lithium-ion-batteries/

Milwaukee Electric Tool Co. announced that about 1 million batteries used with Milwaukee Power tools are being recalled because they can explode.
https://eepower.com/news/milwaukee-e...cks-recalled/#

[lhuff35204]

Here are the cases I use:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Lipo+safe...f=nb_sb_noss_1

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by leecea

I searched and found a bunch of threads that mostly discussed the best tools or cordless versus corded but nothing specific about precautions people take with cordless tool batteries.

I just read an account of a boat that was lost when their cordless drill battery suffered damage from wave action and burnt the boat. I assume being jostled around or repeatedly banging against something was the issue.

I have read about fire resistant containers but the size of container needed to contain the fire from just one large cordless battery is surprising, and I keep more than one onboard. I have no place to put them, even if cost wasn't an issue.

I wonder about impact protection like a layer of camping pad foam to prevent impact damage. But I don't know if impact is the issue or just repeated shaking due to boat movement.

Does anyone have any insights into this or do they take precautions in how they store tool batteries?

Probably not wave action mechanical but salt water in the battery.
Keep them dry. Very important!
Use only high end equipment with integral BMS to protect from overcharging.
You could buy a metal safe bur these are almost all steel = rust
Most of these tools are pretty small compared to E-bikes etc.

My tools all Milwaukee 28 volt lithium including a 1/2 inch right angle drill drive winch grinder.