So I had a bit of a scare the other day

[G+_Donald Burr]

So I had a bit of a scare the other day.  I was out in my back yard test-flying a new quad, and hit the ground a bit on the hard side.  Didn't seem especially hard to me, as I've had hard crashes before.  But as I was putting the quad into safe mode, in preparation for picking it up and trying again, I suddenly heard a loud POP! which was followed by a billowing cloud of evil-smelling smoke.  I thought to myself, "Oh crap, LiPo fire!" and then promptly ran away.  (you know what they say, discretion is the better part of valor :) )

 

The good (comparatively speaking) news is that it was NOT a LiPo fire, rather one of my ESCs decided to release its magic smoke.  Aside from a few scorch marks and pieces of melted heat shrink tubing stuck on the frame, the quad itself, including the LiPo battery, appears fine.

 

But this got me thinking, what if it had been an actual LiPo fire?  What should I do?  I have seen crashes where the pack immediately starts emitting smoke and bursts into flame, but I've also heard of crashes where the pack seems fine, only later to do the whole smoke-y-burn-y thing.

 

What should I do if I suspect that the pack is damaged?  Sites I read online say "get it out of the quadcopter NOW!" but that seems kind of risky, since a damaged LiPo pack is rather unpredictable, and could go off after 8 hours, but also could go off at any minute (like, while I was in the process of disconnecting it from the quad.)

 

Similarly, what should I do if an actual LiPo fire starts up?  Is there anything I can do  to put out the fire and/or prevent it from causing other fires?  (within reason - I can't exactly afford a commercial-grade fire suppression system or a fireman's outfit or anything like that)  I'd assume that in in the case of a LiPo fire, the quad itself is probably a write-off, so in the event of an actual fire, I'd prioritize saving lives and preventing a brush fire of doom over saving the quad.)

[G+_Jeff Brand]

A few weeks back I found this super helpful video from the FliteTest guys:

 

The short answer: sand.

 

These guys explain the scenarios that cause LiPo fires, building a battery bunker using sand, cinder blocks, and ammo cans in various combinations to control the damage should a fire occur.

 

They point out that the biggest risk is charging unbalanced batteries, because a safe-looking battery could post the biggest risk.

 

Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ  mentioned that they would be guests in the near future. Their videos are entertaining and educational and I find myself referring to them frequently when talking to other quad-a-holics.

[G+_Donald Burr]

Good to know, and  if there's one thing I have surplus of, it's play sand.  We have pet hermit crabs and use play sand in their tank, so we always have two or there bags of the stuff on hand.  And it's cheap too. :)