Unattended Lithium Ion Battery Charging ...DON"T!!

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TimD

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A lot has been written on the dangers of unattended Li battery charging dangers. Nothing will give you a more clear reason to know your DC power source as the event below.
Please forgive me for some of the FONT..modifications and typos . It is so important not to miss.
Final note comes first
Never leave lithium Ion charging unattended. Please read below

An event last year in California on a Memorial dive charter weekend was cause for me to completely review my own sloppy charging techniques of my many Lithium Ion batteries .
The details of the incident are not pleasant and as an owner and captain of such a vessel from 1992 to 2015 I do not wish to detail it for personal reasons.

I awoke on Memorial day in 2019 to hear of a tragedy at 2 am on Sunday morning the day before Memorial day. One of many in California's large dive boat fleet had caught fire and had sunk.
It simply had never happened, As I could remember, from as far back as 1964.

USCG has not yet closed the investigation, but likley cause is determined (USCG report) as an explosion of lithium Ion batteries during unattended Lithium Ion battery charging, a resulting fire that spread very fast as the chemistry fed itself, expanded and eventually . spread thru the entire boat.

USCG issued some early reports a few months later (ongoing) , but Lithium batteries at an UNATTENDED LITHIUM ION charging station for a camera, underwater electronic flash, propulsion Vehicle has been reported as the likely cause. The purpose for the battery was not n the report.
Over a year later... this has not been changed.

Lithium has been problematic for years and instances of fire and explosion have many headlines. Remember the Hoverboard toys of Christmas of 2017 /18) , So many airlines have restrictions on it's storage that with Lithium Ion gear I had to modify to Ni-Metal or Nicad and leave behind some.... because of the DC power source was Lithium.

We use and charge a butt full of Lithium Battery these days for almost anything that is battery powered. And I know I never gave it any more than a passing thought. They have energy Density that has never been unmatched by Lead acid, Gel batteries, Nicads or Nickel Metal Hydride. More and better and safer chemistry is right around the corner even now.
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I knew of the dangers before this incident and still left my Li batteries on their own ..while I slept or was gone for the weekend. NO MORE!

Read the notes on the battery you are using, especially the charging and storage information.. Consider more than cost when replacing. and purchase on knowledge of the chemistry and where it will be used. Children, toddlers, senors ?
Many YOUTUBES showing too many incidents. Be mindful of the inherent dangers when using this chemistry in a manner not appropriate for it's dangers. The chemistry is safe when it is properly used and appropriately monitored when charging.

Inappropriate is leaving them unattended during their charge cycle. Think how small your Nikon El is. Think of how big your 40 or 56 volt lawn mower battery is.
Removing them when charging is indicated PERIOD. Called attended charging..
LI iION s so VERY DIFFERENT. Safe if you know...maybe not so much if you treat them like AA Alkalines.

BatteryUniversity.com is a technical site to go for if you want more information and detail on all forms of DC storage and chemistry. . There you will find a lot to ponder when you become more educated in this power cell. The answer to safe DC power is just use the batteries as they were intended . chatge themas if they arfe expensive and you want them to last. They are and yes you do.

Tim
 
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Thern said:
The danger is real but looking at the ‘zillion’ of Li-ion batteries charged in the absence of their owners or while they are sleeping the failure rate ,I think?, is very very low.
(Look at those cellphones people tend to charge overnight)

I always charge batteries on a noncombustible surface, but I must admit I leave them unattended all the time.
I will keep on doing that, but I will look into a safer setting for charging.

And I realize I need to relocate the docking stations of the robotic lawnmowers. (At the moment their housing is built against the walls of the house and the other against the wall of the stables.)
Guess I will need to shoot the manufacturer (Stihl) an e-mail regarding the safety of their li-ion chargers/batteries since the mowers are manufactured with ‘the intelligence’ to decide wether and when to charge themselves.

Thanks for the warning.
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Thern.. thank you for the input. . All that you say is so true and I did not relate that as I should have..
On count I have no less than 300 individual cells in power packs ranging from walk around phone (2 cells) to HID underwater video light with 21 in each pack. So a "zillion" is probably not too far from the truth.
I previously had a charging shelf that was set up just to keep them all in the same area with several always charging and a total of 12 pack capability., then I meander around doing whatever it was I thought important at the time
Of course I do not charge in that manner now. I have added to some the electronic table light timers to advance a shut off if I forget. Just for me an hour or so over a normal cycle ...an added caution that will be a standard on the remaining units.
The non combustible surface was NOT in any of my changes. I have a glass and steel office desk which should fit that purpose precisely.

Thank you
Tim
 
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Nikon battery chargers (other than for the EN-EL18, which has a calibration phase) automatic stop charging when it is complete. You can tell because even when the light is still on the charger and battery will cool down. That said, if the charger happens to malfunction or you use a cheap off brand charger that may not have overcharge protection built in, that could be a serious issue. This is true for any high quality charger from any well known manufacturer.

The coming solid state lithum battery tech will reduce or prevent this threat, but until that time comes we do have to be mindful for sure.
 
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JANuser said:
Nikon battery chargers (other than for the EN-EL18, which has a calibration phase) automatic stop charging when it is complete. You can tell because even when the light is still on the charger and battery will cool down. That said, if the charger happens to malfunction or you use a cheap off brand charger that may not have overcharge protection built in, that could be a serious issue. This is true for any high quality charger from any well known manufacturer.

The coming solid state lithum battery tech will reduce or prevent this threat, but until that time comes we do have to be mindful for sure.
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JANuser. Thank you. I have see some of information on the topic you speak of on batteryuniversity.com as well. The concern of a faulty charger is another great input that I hadn't considered....battery..or faulty charger.?
I follow this event thru my own USCG connections. Maybe there will be a day when something other than a SWAG is published..
 
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Thern said:
Our house is ‘automated’ with domotics so it wouldn’t take much to program such timer,
Good idea! Love it! thanks Tim.
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I only came across this idea as a suggestion from my granddaughter. I asked her to just watch my larger video light batteries while I was preparing dinner and I would give her a buck. She wanted to Roblox (?) with her neighbor online and came back with a small timer from her bedroom. It didn't work out ...but ...the idea stuck.
Damn at the age of 10 she has already been replaced by technology.
 
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TimD said:
JANuser. Thank you. I have see some of information on the topic you speak of on batteryuniversity.com as well. The concern of a faulty charger is another great input that I hadn't considered....battery..or faulty charger.?
I follow this event thru my own USCG connections. Maybe there will be a day when something other than a SWAG is published..
Click to expand...
Yes, I've had battery chargers go bad before. A Nikon MH-18a died on me, all that happened was that it would not fully charge the battery for a while, then it outright died. I cannot say I've heard of issues with Nikon chargers specifically. Tends to be poorly made aftermarket chargers and cables.

A charger with poorly soldered connections, or faulty/cheap capacitors could lead to a fire. It's unlikely to have that kind of fault, given the low voltage of camera battery chargers, they only push 0.2A (MH-25a -> EN-EL15x battery charger) for example. A more likely scenario is a cheap aftermarket charger that lacks overcharge protection, proper gauge internal wiring, or a poorly designed PCB being used with a cheap aftermarket battery that also has poor or underrated wiring.
 
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The dive boat fire was blamed by the boat owners on battery chargers so as the divers were dead and could not say otherwise. The fire needed fuel to burn and happened to start in the galley or kitchen area of the boat where there also happended to be gas as cooking fuel on board. It is clear that the boat lacked any kind of automated fire suppression system for the galley and most likely the crew had not shut the stove off properly. Not surprising as the crew did not even maintain a watch as is required by regulation or even good seamanship.

On a boat the fuel from an exxternal propane tank needs to be cut off with a special solenoid activated valve at the tank and then the gas in the line going to the stove is allowed to burn itself out and then the stove is turned off. If someone does not know how to properly operate a boat stove then they will turn off the burner or oven and neglect to purge the fuel line. I have sailed on many boats and this procedure is critical as with a boat fire one cannot run outside to safety. Even on my small 27 foot sailboat I had a gas powered engine and installed a heat activated halon fire extinguisher and it was not at all expensive to do.

I have been on many dive boats over the past 30 years with my underwater photography and only the converted fishing style boats have below deck cabins but even these have exits to the rear deck of the boat. On the Truth Aquatics boat the divers who were crammed below had only one available exit and it was through the galley of the boat. The owners were negligent with their design of the boat and the U.S. Coast Guard was equally negligent in allowing these commercial boats to take passengers out to sea. I did one charter on such a boat that went from Ventura up the California coast to Big Sur. But having seen how the boat was designed and the sleeping quarters with 5 bunks stacked up on each side of a two foot wide companionway to get out of the hold of the ship and up on deck. It was clearly a death trap and I never chartered with one of these boats for an overnight trip again. Sadly there are too many people that believe that they are protected by government agencies when the reality is that they are captive of industry and put profit ahead of people consistently.

The lithium battery caused fires have mostly been ill designed cell phones that were left inside cars to charge. The ambient heat inside the car meant that the battery would overheat as the designers did not expect their phones to be recharged when the air temperature was 120 degrees or hotter. The only camera battery initiated problems were with a batch of counterfeit Canon video camcorder batteries where the manufacturer left out vital components needed to safely regulate the battery pack charging.
 
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Don't forget it was overheating Lithium Ion batteries that caused fires on Boeing 787 Dreamliners, leading to the entire fleet being grounded. I've been wary of the batteries and tried to fly on Airbus operated sectors since :)
 
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Calson said:
The only camera battery initiated problems were with a batch of counterfeit Canon video camcorder batteries where the manufacturer left out vital components needed to safely regulate the battery pack charging.
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It's things like this that stop me from buying "grey imports". What might be cheaper short term just isn't worth the risk long term. That's not to say buying cheap is a bad thing, but just on a case by case basis, especially with electronics.
 
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@Thern. You are correct, but in recent years I have often heard the two being used basically intertwined where people are comparing these two plus bootlegging and black market as all being very dodgy and don't like the chances of getting any true warranty. Perhaps I could have worded my statement a bit better, clarifying that I will only buy (expensive) goods from reputable dealers with genuine warranties. I will blame it on Covid lock down. Well, I can't blame climate change for this. :):)
 
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You do realise that English is made up of 80% foreign words, the vast majority being European. The sad part is that imported words always end up being mispronounced. And spell & grammar check in these modern times is often woeful. But you can always get a good belly laugh out of Google Translate.
 
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Yes, Li-Ion batteries are more dangerous than other types, but I think as with every technology manufacturers and users have to go through a learning curve. The incidents seem to have come down if you just take the number of reports made public in terms of burning cell phones.

But also Yes, for the rechargable batteries and the chargers the same things apply as for other technical equipment:

If they are produced, something can go wrong, but in these days that is pretty much covered by QM at te manufacturer.
If someone uses them something can go wrong and that's pretty much out of control of everything - apart from the user's own thoughtfulness.
If you want to minimze your risk on the user side, first of all don't go cheap, buy quality products - which do not necessarily have to be original. Companies like Nikon normally don't produce the battery packs themselves.

Personally I am happy using third party rechargable batteries and see the main problems at the chargers. Thus, at home I leave the charging process unattended, but always use the original or high end 3rd party chargers from BOSCH, Nikon, etc.

When travelling with my photo gear I prefer to carry some small USB chargers with me, but these will only be operating if I am around.

One of the more interesting questions is what to do , IF one of these Li-Ion batteries starts burning, because normal fire extinguishing methods won't work, because they are burning so hot.
 
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I know from first hand experience. My wife is the office managers at a used car dealership. Everyone left for the night and they left a golf cart plugged in to recharge its battery. The battery exploded causing a fire. A 2019 BMW was in the same area as the golf cart. It was totaled. That was the first part of February of 2020. They are just in the process of moving back into the dealerships offices., 8 plus months later.
 
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It is a question of scale with any battery and comparing the massive lithium-ion battery packs used on the Boeing 787 that each weighed in at 63 pounds, to a 6 oz. EN-EL18 battery pack like that used in a DSLR is ludicrous. The problem with lithium-ion batteries is thermal runaway and this required circuitry that senses this is happening in a cell and shunts power from it to adjacent cells.

The first Tesla car, its roadster, has thousands of lithium-ion batteries and extensive measures to allow excluding a battery that was getting too hot. In point of fact all the Tesla cars, of which there are close to a million on the road, use lithium-ion batteries. No one worries about their house burning down whent the car is recharging overnight in their garage. Sansung's engineers for its smartphone made compromises to be able to increase operating times with the power from the battery and this did result in them going up in flames and they were banned from aircraft.

The owners of Truth Aquatics and their equally negligent friends in the Coast Guard used the battery chargers as an excuse for a fire that started in the galley or kitchen area. If a fire started in a restaurant's kitchen and the only exist was through that kitchen and dozens of customers died, should one assume that it was a cell phone being charged by the restaurant staff that caused the fire and ignore the gas ovens and gas stove cook tops entirely? That is what the Coast Guard and the boat owners are expecting us to believe.

I do avoid third party battery packs for my cameras and sound recorders as the savings are not significant nor worth the risk of damaging expensive equipment.
 
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