How can Li-Po's blow up and how does one prevent it?

[Prog]

I was reading some worklogs and found out about batteries overcharging, blowing up, causing fires, etc.

Are there safety measures to take other than protection circuits, which seem like they sometimes don't work?

 

[Hermaphroditus]

Don't overcharge, don't get too hot, don't submerge in water.

 

[Prog]

How do you prevent overcharging? Can you automatically stop it from charging?

 

[hailrazer]

You need a protection circuit for the battery, and a smart charger that has a built in protection circuit.

That way you are protected from over/under charging and over discharging.

 

[vskid3]

A properly used protection circuit and a smart charger are about as safe as you can get.

If you are referring to this thread, I am guessing that he completely f'd up when wiring his batteries. You can use the batteries without protection circuits, they're just there to keep them from going too low or high in voltage. So in normal use, the protection circuit shouldn't do anything until the batteries are dead (a good charger should keep them from overcharging).

 

[Prog]

I'm actually referring to his subsequent thread where he overcharged his batteries and nearly burned down his house.

And SS's battery swelled with a protection circuit on his SLGC.

 

[vskid3]

I'm actually referring to his subsequent thread where he overcharged his batteries and nearly burned down his house.

Refer to where I said he probably f'd up his wiring. His is likely not a case of doing everything right but still having something go wrong.

Sure, sometimes stuff just goes wrong, but there are a lot more cases of Li-ion batteries being used in portables and not blowing up than blowing up. If you're really worried about it, use NiMH or LiFePO4.

 

[TheChemist]

I'm actually referring to his subsequent thread where he overcharged his batteries and nearly burned down his house.

Refer to where I said he probably f'd up his wiring. His is likely not a case of doing everything right but still having something go wrong.

Sure, sometimes stuff just goes wrong, but there are a lot more cases of Li-ion batteries being used in portables and not blowing up than blowing up. If you're really worried about it, use NiMH or LiFePO4.

Nickel metallic hydride and lithium iron phosphate batteries aren't necessarily more safe than lithium ion batteries, although their voltage and current tolerances tend to be higher depending on the specific electrochemistry. Statistically, the number one cause of lithium battery explosions is manufacturing defects, although faulty wiring certainly doesn't help...