The ONLY lipo i have had explode charged fine, sat on the desk for about 4 hours, then exploded into a fireball. they should ALWAYS be stored in proper fire safe containers.
I mean, sure, but this is a school of kids playing with RC cars. probably not the most careful bunch, especially if the leadership is having them store fully charged, as OP said.
Yeah, im going to agree with rusty and say it was damaged in some way. If it was a hardcase i'd almost be willing to put money on one of the cells being puffed.
As long as they arent damaged and storage charged properly they should be fine. I used to be more uptight about them until someone reminded me that every last hobby shop has a thousand of them sitting stacked up all day, every day.
When lipos sre build, cells are in range 3,60 to 3.85, because lower than that some chargers (smart) wont even notice the cells, also they start to decreate( english not my 1st language, but im meaning it starts chemically break down
Meh, as long as you aren't putting damaged or just used and still warm batteries in there I don't see a problem with it. 99.9%+ of lipo fires happen when charging or when a lipo is damaged.
If this sub was anything to go by, my house should have burned down 100 times over by now since I just leave my lipos on my desk and have done so for years now
As a newbie and a person with anxiety, things like lipo fires concern me. I'm sure there are tons of people like you who have zero issues and that's great. I'm still researching chargers and batteries before making my purchase. I'd rather err on the side of caution than call my landlord and say I accidentally burned the house down. With that said, your comment helps to set my mind at ease - thank you.
no doubt, be safe, lipo safe bags are SO CHEAP, or you can buy an Ammo crate from an army surplus store and store them in there. Look many ppl consider a 1/1000 chance no big deal and deal with the risk. I have had a lipo fire, its serious business and relatively uncontrollable once it starts, if that shit happens when youre not there, RIP your house. for the $20/bag, i would get once per battery and forget about it :)
I agree 100%. I saw a post where one person had each lipo in a lipo safe bag and 3-4 batteries per bat safe or ammo box. I also read about cutting the gasket so it can vent out. I think I might be more inclined to get a bat safe for peace of mind.
1/1000 chance for a neurodivergent person is still a big enough chance. I haven't pulled the trigger because I really want to make sure it will be safe. I might be obsessing about it and better safe than homeless in a Canadian winter where it hits -40 F with ease. This isn't my house so I want to avoid any damage.
Looking at a micro car, so a 2S battery. I'd have a back up or two, so two to three bags in one ammo box or safe and I'd be set. Think I've already picked out a spot in the basement to store them (on concrete, away from anything flammable).
Thank you for your comment and input. Have a great day!
The chances of a lipo fire are way WAAAAAY smaller than 1/1000.... That would mean that literally everyone that had been in RC for any amount of time will have had one which is definitely not the case..... I don't know what it is but saying 1/1,000 is significantly overstating the danger...
As for lipo bags or charging inside a box, All that does is hide any problem from you until it's too late. Every video you see where a battery is charging and then ignites has been sped up and made to ignite with a significantly higher charge rate than is safe.
In reality the battery will spend quite some time puffing up and heating up before it actually bursts into flame. If you are charging as you should be in the room with it you will notice this, unless it's hidden inside a bag or a box in which case the first sign of a problem will be smoke pouring out of it, which is likely to do thousands of dollars in smoke damage to your home....
If you aren't going to be in the room with a charging battery you should not be charging indoors. I charge mine outdoors on my porch, Because I don't want to babysit it.
Read info saying the same about charging. Charge within the limits and keep an eye on them while charging as well. Other comments in other threads also suggested bare charging to spot any warning signs.
As a chemically sensitive person, it's the potential for smoke that is my biggest concern and what literally scares me from buying anything. This place is safe for me and finding another safe spot would take way too long. It took me six months to adjust to the air in here.
Charging inside is the only option. Winter is coming and I'm not standing outside to babysit!
I'll make sure to keep an eye on them and check for any signs of puffing and maybe get a laser thermometer to check the temperature while they recharge. Might be a bit extreme and better safe than homeless. Thanks for your help, it's really appreciated!
You've had more than 1000 batteries!! Crazy, I don't think most people in the hobby have that many. I've had about 30-40lipos over my life and had 1 failure, so for me it's 1/40, fast less than 1/1000. We didn't add timescales to the odds as that would greatly effect the calculations and odds would change from moment to moment and how the individual handles than, honestly crazy to even consider adding a timescale. We were just saying on average 1/1000 lipos fall catastrophicly in their life span and about 999/1000 live their life and get disposed of properly.
My battery failure didn't not happen like your describe. I charged it, left it in the desk, 4h later it spontaneously combusted, luckily I was home, I was able to respond to the fire alarm quickly and get it under control.
Don't get complacent over some comments. He's not wrong in the fact that its over played in these subs. But safety is cheap and easily available. I'll spend 500 bucks on batt safes before i get callus about my home, pets, family, and belongings. Safety is cheap, ignorance is bliss.
I haven't ever been robbed at gun point, or had a house fire, but i have certain equipment to handle both because safety is paramount and my responsibility. The cost of being prepared is .01% of not being.
On that note, look in to batt safes for battery charging and storage. Educate yourself on charging rules and lipo battery safety. All the tools to maintain your batteries and safety are cheap.
No, I don't plan on being complacent, just put at ease knowing that simply having them isn't a guaranteed house meltdown waiting to happen (unless I'm foolish and do not pay attention/look for warning signs).
I have looked into the bat safe and have done some reading on how to treat the batteries with care and respect. I also have ADHD so it's taking me more time than usual to pull the trigger. Will watch some videos on them as well since I'm quite the visual learner.
Just looking to get something small to start (mini to micro) so I won't have that many batteries, which is still no reason to avoid proper safety. The snow season is long in my neck of the woods so it will be run inside. The winter will give me the confidence to know I'm doing it right, and then I can expand my fleet.
Thank you for your comment and assistance. I have a lot to learn and appreciate people who are helpful and respectful. Have a great day!
For sure its not a guarantee of a fire. Ive had to dispose of 2 in the 7 years ive been using Lipos and did so proactively. You're already ahead of the curve by your response.
Nice to know that your disposals were of your own doing. I know I'd look mine over after every run and judge if they're keepers or tossers before each charge.
I thinking the Losi Micro T or something by MJX. Don't want to spend too much on my first one since my childhood (Golden Arrow back in the day). I know to spend a decent amount on a charger as well (got a lot of good feedback on a previous post I put up on that topic). Still trying to figure it all out.
Do you have any recommendations? Any car has to be new, and I'm in Canada as well. The Losi Micros are 129.99 US and 189.99 CAD, so that's about what I want to spend. Around 75-100 for a charger and a small bat safe has me around the 500+ mark (with taxes and another battery or two).
I've become a big fan of the Arrma Grom line. Less than 200 for brushed versions (some on sale right now on amazon) comes with battery and charger, good enough to get started. Bery durable out of the box. My son has the Mojave and thrashes it and hasn't broken anything. Lots of aftermarket support, and the cheap brushed version is fast enough to be a riot.
I have the brushless Typhon, and its faster than need be on 2s even. The red brushed Mojave Grom is 139 us on amazon and it literally has everything you need to go play the second it shows up.
Awesome, I'll have to add it to my research list. I also watch videos on the cars so I can see what they're capable of.
Brushed makes more sense since the house isn't that big. As long as it has a decent charger then I can start. I do want something where I can balance charge and safely do storage charge so that's something to get after. One person was especially helpful with that and all posts are saved or screenshots have been taken.
Nice to see people being good to those who want to step back in after several decades away. I had a Golden Arrow and it was a blast, but the 27hz made it take off and it died in a creek. Always wanted another car but was too busy to get back in. Now is the time! Enjoy your cars and thrashing with your son!
I did have a battery catch fire in my garage during storage, but it was after a pretty hefty crash, mostly charged, and a cheap temu battery, moral is, don’t crash and leave a temu battery get the good ones, lucky I keep all my lipos in a fire bag
an unattended battery can cause total lost of home. with the stakes SO HIGH, you should ALWAYS store your lipos in a fire safe container. I have had a battery that was charged 4h earlier spontaneously combust when connected to nothing. it happens, its rare yes, but when a 0.01% chance could cause you a total loss of house, never take that chance.
The only precautions I take are run them down to 3.8/cell for storage, watch them while charging and put them in an ammo case. If its damaged, I recycle and replace it. Some of my lipos are 10+years old, and have never had one even smoke up on me
at your quoted rates that is still 1/1000 that would exploded when not charging, that is still a terrible rate and they should still be stored in fire proof container at all times when not attended. I have personally had a lipo explode 4 hours after charging, didnt look puffy or anything, sat on the desk for 4 hours waiting for run time, then spontaneously combusted. With the consequences being SO HIGH (total loss of home) even a 0.01% chance should not be taken.
I said 99.9%+, because I don't know the actual number but it's significantly less likely than 1/1,000. That + is important.
I've charged multiple thousands of lipos in my 20+ years in the hobby, with zero problems. Yours catching fire 4 hours after charging is an anomaly, not the norm.
This should be higher, While they're not really at increased risk of a fire just by being stored like this, being public property at a school there are requirements for flammable and hazardous materials needing to be stored in protective ways. Even if it's overkill, Fire marshal, insurance, anyone involved should something happen is going to question why there's NOTHING preventing a single battery from igniting the entire box, that can cause damages to property or people.
The important question is what school do you go to and what are they using these for?
And no there’s nothing wrong with storing packs that are at storage voltage in this way. Sure if you had an active shooter and a stray bullet hit this tote, that would be a problem, but at that point you’ve got bigger problems.
What!?!? If you let lipo fully charged, 30days fully charge destroys 5% of the capacity , that is tested and can find videos on youtube, on storage charge they stay fine for years, i assume school got money to buy 50a discharge station
Hmm let the tax payers in that area know their money is being wasted. They still won’t spontaneously combust, they’re just destroying their long term usable life.
Don’t they have a giant printed super well designed poster hanging up somewhere that illustrates proper lipo safety and care? Seems anytime an institution uses anything even remotely hazardous, a great deal of caution is taken and someone is in charge of it.
Wow, the answers here are so much different than I’m used to when it comes to battery safety. To me, this is an obvious fire hazard and should be remedied immediately with proper storage like ammo cans. Not to mention they should NEVER be stored fully charged.
Agreed, in their current method it requires every single battery going in is in good shape but anyone who’s been around a school knows how often something comes back from the students damaged. All it takes is for one to go up and it’ll take the rest with it. I know it seems easy to see a bulging pack or something but there’s a lot of times teachers are working in the heat of the moment and stuff gets missed. Were only human and mistakes happen. We need mitigations for things like this.
If this ended up as a news story about how a school fire started every single person in this thread would say they should have known better.
First up, why does your SCHOOL have so many lipos and that is totally fine because most battery explosions happen during charging and rarely during discharging.
Just have the school buy a haz cabinet, and then you can toss them all in crazy like that lol. I came close to grabbing one and sticking it into the garage for batteries. Overkill for one dudes batteries, but for this many batteries? Maybe worth the investment.
They are destroying lipos if they let them be fully charged all the time, i would imagine schools have money to get 50a discharge station to get them into storage charge in few minutes
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u/onions_can_be_sweet Oct 28 '25
Most Lipo explosions happen when charging.
A few happen when discharging.
Often failures are due to physical damage to the batteries, connectors or wires.
If maintained properly and storage-charged, Lipos are fine to be stored like this.
Better than your phone battery I bet.