Forum Discussion

Tom_Barb's avatar
Tom_Barb
Explorer
Jul 06, 2021

Fire in the coach.

We recently had a near miss, the Inverter circuit board decided to over heat and catch on fire.
We were home and smelled smoke, and found the electrical compartment was on fire, we park next to the house, where the junction box is, so my reaction was to unplug the 50 AMP chord and deploy the extinguisher.
The fire was quickly put out.
Things that saved our A**es was Newmar has a firebox built in the coach. we were home when it happened.
Facts - no circuit breakers were blown, the circuit board simply malfunctioned, causing the inverter /charger to short circuit.
The cure, we removed the 4 lead acid batteries, the inverter, and all heavy cables. to make room for the up grade.
we installed 4, 200 AMP hour Lithium batteries, and a Victron 3000 watt inverter/charger, and a 500AMP smart shunt, and a Victron 30 amp 12to12smart charger we eliminated the ability to do a boosted start.

The folks at Battle Born talked thru it. they are great, and provide the videos to show me how.
we now monitor the system with my phone,- blue tooth connection
Class A

9 Replies

  • Ivylog's avatar
    Ivylog
    Explorer III
    Jul 07, 2021
    Tom/Barb wrote:
    Ivylog wrote:
    You could add a 1200A starter solenoid ($25) as your boost solenoid.


    In 20 years of service I have never use the Boosted start system.

    Until I replaced the gear Delco starter on my ISX with a gear Denso, I used the boost on every start.
  • Tom_Barb's avatar
    Tom_Barb
    Explorer
    Jul 06, 2021
    rgatijnet1 wrote:
    The cure sounds good but do not discount the fact that lithium batteries carry their own fire hazards. Another thing to consider is that putting out a lithium battery fire is a little different than putting out a regular fire. The lithium batteries create their own fuel and oxygen so certain types of extinguishers may have little affect.


    Show me an example of a Li battery type in use as a motorhome??

    If my Laptop ever catches on fire, I'm throwing it out the window and taking pictures. :)
  • Tom_Barb's avatar
    Tom_Barb
    Explorer
    Jul 06, 2021
    Ivylog wrote:
    You could add a 1200A starter solenoid ($25) as your boost solenoid.


    In 20 years of service I have never use the Boosted start system.
  • Tom_Barb's avatar
    Tom_Barb
    Explorer
    Jul 06, 2021
    Ivylog wrote:
    Glad you were home and got things under control. A MH fire is one of our concerns since we store it IN our home. Did install a fire sprinkler system in the MH bay…hopefully it never gets hot enough in there for them to go off.

    Battle Born only sells LiFePO4 batteries which are not fire prone like the type used in laptops. I recently built 600AH of Lithium’s for $1200…cheaper than AGMs.
    You could add a 1200A starter solenoid ($25) as your boost solenoid.


    Exactly --- LiFePO4 are very safe, and are a better deal than lead in the long run.

    when doing a change over to BattleBorn, remember the Chassis batteries are Lead Acid, and you must separate the 2 systems.
  • Ivylog's avatar
    Ivylog
    Explorer III
    Jul 06, 2021
    Glad you were home and got things under control. A MH fire is one of our concerns since we store it IN our home. Did install a fire sprinkler system in the MH bay…hopefully it never gets hot enough in there for them to go off.

    Battle Born only sells LiFePO4 batteries which are not fire prone like the type used in laptops. I recently built 600AH of Lithium’s for $1200…cheaper than AGMs.
    You could add a 1200A starter solenoid ($25) as your boost solenoid.
  • folivier's avatar
    folivier
    Explorer
    Jul 06, 2021
    LiFePO4 batteries are definitely MUCH safer than Lithium Ions. The recommended procedure is to flood the batteries with water IF they catch fire. Please do your research these are two completely different chemistries.
    Not sure what the batteries Tom/Barb is using but if LiFePO4 there is no concern for safety.
    I have 3 Battleborn 100 amp batteries in my motorhome and in a previous motorhome built a 1000 amphour system using Winston cells. Very safe systems, no concerns with fire.
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Jul 06, 2021
    rgatijnet1 wrote:
    The cure sounds good but do not discount the fact that lithium batteries carry their own fire hazards. Another thing to consider is that putting out a lithium battery fire is a little different than putting out a regular fire. The lithium batteries create their own fuel and oxygen so certain types of extinguishers may have little affect.


    While it is true LI batteries have a bad rep of Flame On

    There are several types of LI batteries and some are more likely to flame on than others.

    Interpreting this chart https://www.fire.tc.faa.gov/pdf/TC-16-17.pdf
    Is a bit above my pay grade but to me it APPEARS LiFePo4 is safer than some of the older Lithium Metal Hydride types. that set so many laptops aflame. But I stress "Appears" and "Above my pay grade"

    Still I present the chart for consideration by folks who are above my pay grade.
  • rgatijnet1's avatar
    rgatijnet1
    Explorer III
    Jul 06, 2021
    The cure sounds good but do not discount the fact that lithium batteries carry their own fire hazards. Another thing to consider is that putting out a lithium battery fire is a little different than putting out a regular fire. The lithium batteries create their own fuel and oxygen so certain types of extinguishers may have little affect.
  • noteven's avatar
    noteven
    Explorer III
    Jul 06, 2021
    A trailer fire beside the house would have been bad news...

    Glad you controlled it.

    I often wonder if a fire suppression system in the electrical room wouldn't be a worthy project.

    DC amps are happy to flow to the earth until everything is welded, melted, on fire or all of the above...

    I just bought a vintage truck camper for fun - seller had a pristine healthy fully charged grp 31 deep cycle looking at me, direct wired with no fusing whatsoever to an inverter in a garment closet between the bed and the door....

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