Forum Discussion

Itinerant1's avatar
Itinerant1
Explorer
Nov 27, 2018

Tesla battery pack dyi fireworks

It appears that it was just sitting in the shop when it decided to become fireworks good thing they where there when it happened.

Buying "cheap" used unknown EV donor batteries?

Tesla battery fireworks
  • That's what I though and those little batteries do go flying.
    Imagine if it was after hours in that garage.

    I like my Lifepo4 batteries even more. Maybe safety does come at a price.
  • Itinerant1 wrote:
    Maybe safety does come at a price.
    Yeah, not a great idea to diy (cheap out) on your Li batteries.
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    There are LI batteries and there are LI batteries. Some of 'em like to flame on as the Fantastic 4 character says.

    The others do not. THe letters AFTER Li make the difference and no. I'm not current on the technology.
  • actually if you watched the video and read the comments.

    they were Charging the battery's without a BMS unit which is pretty much a requirement.

    and for the comments on cheaping out. those are prolly some of the highest quality cells you can buy period.

    this was a charging issue, and for the guy who posts this video, to hide the fact it was getting charge at the time is shameful.
  • These guys are experienced and know better. Just failed for being careless.
  • LittleBill wrote:
    actually if you watched the video and read the comments.

    they were Charging the battery's without a BMS unit which is pretty much a requirement.

    and for the comments on cheaping out. those are prolly some of the highest quality cells you can buy period.

    this was a charging issue, and for the guy who posts this video, to hide the fact it was getting charge at the time is shameful.

    Cheaping out is buying used batteries on ebay or scrapyard from an unknown EV source. Was it just retired because of miles, hours on cells, lower voltage for EV standards or a wrecked from an accident. They could be the best batteries they certainly give a great show when going thermal.
    There was no hiding a fact of charging or not. For folks wanting to play with this chemistry of lithium they should know or see what a thermal run away looks like. You did catch the statement they made of using 8 fire extinguishers to just contain it but they could not extinguish the batteries.
    Shameful not one bit I'm living fulltime off Lifepo4 chemistry batteries for 31+ months now.
  • Itinerant1 wrote:
    LittleBill wrote:
    actually if you watched the video and read the comments.

    they were Charging the battery's without a BMS unit which is pretty much a requirement.

    and for the comments on cheaping out. those are prolly some of the highest quality cells you can buy period.

    this was a charging issue, and for the guy who posts this video, to hide the fact it was getting charge at the time is shameful.

    Cheaping out is buying used batteries on ebay or scrapyard from an unknown EV source. Was it just retired because of miles, hours on cells, lower voltage for EV standards or a wrecked from an accident. They could be the best batteries they certainly give a great show when going thermal.
    There was no hiding a fact of charging or not. For folks wanting to play with this chemistry of lithium they should know or see what a thermal run away looks like. You did catch the statement they made of using 8 fire extinguishers to just contain it but they could not extinguish the batteries.
    Shameful not one bit I'm living fulltime off Lifepo4 chemistry batteries for 31+ months now.


    Lithium battery's can be tested to determine life and internal capacity. actually its pretty much standard, most battery packs are built with "balanced" packs. meaning they are load tested then placed in groups with the closest capacity ratings.no different then SOC for lead acid

    most people selling these battery's indicate where they came from and what the internal capacity is, you would be dumb to buy otherwise

    saying your being cheap because your buying a battery pack out of a wreck car is dumb, if the cells are fine, it would be pretty hard to hide the damage, hell every single cell (all 4k of them) are individually fused. i'd have 0 concerns buying them. you just need to understand what your doing. this is a higher level of DIY then most people are comfortable with. to each their own but a 1700 dollar battery is not cheap. it will be cheap when these cars flood the junk yards.

    what is your point about 8 fire extinguishers? you do know that is wrong right? in the event of a thermal runaway on lipo, there is no oxygen needed to create the fire, fire extinguishers work on the principal of removing oxygen to starve the fire. The ONLY approved method currently and this is direct from Tesla themselves is copious amounts of water.

    and lets be clear, the video was edited to remove video of the guy ripping off the cable charging the battery (right at 3:14), its the only place in the video that glitches and the comments are filled talking about. i most certainly believe the video was edited to hide this point.

    not sure what your point about 31 months is? i been doing lipo for prolly 10+ years, its been main stream in RC models LONG before it went mainstream in EV/RV

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