Lithium-ion batteries represent a new technological hazard that one fire science expert has said keeps him awake at night, as fire service chiefs warn the ubiquity of the batteries in everyday products is outpacing public understanding and safety regulations.
The blaze that devastated a historic building in Glasgow and resulted in the closure of Central Station, Scotland’s largest rail interchange, is believed to have started in a shop selling vapes, which are powered by lithium-ion batteries. Glasgow’s Central Station has since reopened.
The latest data reveals a sharp increase in battery-related fires across Scotland, while firefighters in London attend an e-bike or e-scooter fire every other day.
Paul Christensen, a professor of pure and applied electrochemistry at the University of Newcastle, underlined that, while the probability of a fire from a lithium-ion battery is very low, the hazard is “very, very high, as we’ve seen with this fire in Glasgow”.
Whenever it’s relevant, I will always remind people that lithium batteries are essentially little bombs.
They are tightly packed energy cells, and the only thing keeping them from causing serious harm or death, is quality of manufacturing, and quality of care once they’re in the consumer’s hand.
Never cheap out on anything power related.
Buying a cheap motherboard or buy cheap SSD’s might mean your computer may break more easily, but buying a cheap power supply, means you might burn your house down - and the same logic applies to lithium batteries, and products that contain lithium batteries.
I work in waste processing, and we have daily fires because of these things. Fortunately, our fire supression works extremely well.
This month I ordered a sample of 30 mass produced lithium ion protection circuit boards straight from the factory. Every single one in the batch has failed testing. They don’t lock the battery out at low voltages (where it becomes a bomb when next charged), they don’t protect against over current (where it causes a fire), and no surprises at all the over voltage protection didn’t work either. Only short circuit protection “worked” because it blew up the protection board so bad it didn’t pass electricity through in anymore
