Poor sod,everything toasted!

[450man]

This is a sad event and I feel for those involved and hope it all works out fine. I have forgotten that I have Lipos charging and gone out. I got away with it but that could have been me... or most of us I suspect from time to time.

If there was adequate insurance cover will they pay out? I do hope so but I expect that they might consider leaving a Lipo discharging unattended as some degree of negligence and so I would not be at all surprised if they do not pay out on any claim.

Re extinguishers... See Fire extinguisher - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I would have thought that lots of sand might be a good option?

[Rotorwheels]

I feel for the guy, no one wants to see this, but I do have to raise an eyebrow at the paranoia train with regards lipo fires. As far as I can tell most Lipo incidents seem to be caused by Human error. Not to be the elephant in the room, but all this talk of "I'm going nitro" and " I'm changing all my packs to Life" doesn't help - those can be just as dangerous in the wrong hands. A little education on Lipos and not being complacent with charging/discharging/storage is all it takes. It amazes me that a house full of scented candles burning away unattended is deemed fine, but a lipo being charged unobserved has us running for the hills - A bit of perspective is needed I think.

[matt jenner]

Hi
I am the 'Poor Sod'

I would like to just correct some misinformation

As some are seeming to guess without knowing the full facts

Petestewarson

There's a couple of things in the videos that don't make sense though, but hopefully this is all a genuine mistake.

It wasnt a cheap crappy Charger,
They were all brand new Lypos,
I was not discharging I was doing an Auto Store charge as I go away on holiday.
The reason the shed door was opened, was I always leave it open when charging, my wife shut it, as a few weeks earlier I had one of my turbines stolen from the shed whilst I was taking a leak,
I told my son, who phoned me to tell me smoke was coming out of the shed, to just have a look and tell me what he saw, I did not know at this point the door had been closed, once he said he opened the door and smoke came out I said " RUN, and warn the neighbours "

At least the neighbours wont be able to steal anything now LOL.

Its a shame, but things happen, one of my machines has done work for the BBC, Top Gear, One Show, and a couple of film and advert shoots.

As to insurance I have an Accidental damage clause on my policy so I am hoping I will get something back. The shed/outbuildings were covered, I normally keep my helicopters in doors and work on them outside in the shed, as spray paint and other stuff is a bit too smelly to keep also indoors.

I have been using Lpos for nearly 6 yrs and have never had any issues apart from the odd puffed pack. All power systems have their risks,whether its Electric, Nitro, Kero,Petrol.

It was just one of those mistakes that has cost me dearly. There was no other motive, it was just a genuine mistake,

[buzzbird]

Just watched a couple of your vids, some really nice flying there.
Hope the insurance pays up, and sees you back in the air soon mate.

[dillwhacker]

It was just one of those mistakes that has cost me dearly. There was no other motive, it was just a genuine mistake,

Sorry, I'm not quite clear Matt. Do you mean a genuine unexplained accident, or a mistake? What mistake was made? Leaving them unattended or something else?
Cheers & good luck.

[matt jenner]

Sorry, I'm not quite clear Matt. Do you mean a genuine unexplained accident, or a mistake? What mistake was made? Leaving them unattended or something else?
Cheers & good luck.

A mistake, leaving them, I completely forgot about them.. but technically they were not unattended as my family were still nearby, (6 ft away)

[Vikki]

Aye, but a gently guttering scented candle doesn't have dreams of becoming a smoke fetishist, flame throwing wannabe jet engine

I've had one puff on me and for no good reason. That's all it did - thankfully.

[Mark_T]

A mistake, leaving them, I completely forgot about them.. but technically they were not unattended as my family were still nearby, (6 ft away)

6 ft away in a different building and unable to see them is 'unattended'.

I was sorry to hear about the incident, it must be devastating to lose that much value, but even if the insurance pays out in full, nothing replaces the time you have lost as well.

However I just don't understand how you can forget about them being on charge, unless you have already left them unattended.

When I'm charging or discharging I remain in the room where I can see them and react immediately to any problem. Impossible to forget about them and if I have to leave the room I terminate the charge and check temperatures before I leave.

[Rotorwheels]

Aye, but a gently guttering scented candle doesn't have dreams of becoming a smoke fetishist, flame throwing wannabe jet engine

Maybe not, but they do have ambitions of growing into a house candle, doing so as they relax you with the smell of the forrest. There's been more carnage and death resulting ( or should I say user error) from those sticks of aura than lipos- Candle Advice « UK Fire Service Resources

[woodsta888]

Even if the OP was in the shed when that happened if he tried to do something he could have been seriously injured. You could say that he may have noticed something prior on the video before the gaseous release and done something about it if he was in there but unless you are staring at them then you may be putting yourself in danger trying to intervene at the wrong moment when it's too late.

I don't 'attend' my charges and certainly dont watch them. Of course this would be the safest way but how many do that? Before this video and some other recent 'bad news' lipo stories I certainly hadn't respected them enough.
I know when my lipos are on charge and i check them periodically but I don't wait near them. But now they are in the garden on the gravel. If they go up, they go up and I may lose some lipos a charger and an extension lead. But i'm not watching them. I'll mitigate my garage and my house from danger by charging outside and also the need to watch them like a hawk. If they wanna go up during charging they can. I'll manufature or source a steel charge box for outside to keep off the rain etc but I'll never charge indoors again. If it wasn't for temps affecting lipos I'd store them outside to.


I store them in steel ammo tins now from the army surplus store and spread them across more than one tin. They are sealed but someone mentioned a steel case could be bomb like. Oxygen not needed for combustion or can it be purely chemical?

I thought the garden and shed looked familiar and nearly posted it looked like the guy who had the heli stolen by his neighbour.... and it is!!!

Rotten Luck - Hope you get a pile of cash form the insurance so you can have a heli spend up and a shop gives you a helpful discount.

And the little bllx of a neighbour and his mates contract ebola. Karma will sort them eventually.

[Mark_T]

I don't 'attend' my charges and certainly dont watch them. Of course this would be the safest way but how many do that?

Everyone who aspires to not emulate the OP I'd say.

I don't find that this is something where there are degrees of safety. It lulls us into a false sense of security. Charging them in an appropriate location, watching them charge and knowing before hand what you will do if it goes wrong is as safe as we can get.

But only checking them periodically is not merely less safe, it is 'unsafe'.

Only time I'd be happy to leave packs charging unattended is if they were in a location where they could explode, scattering burning debris as far as they wanted and no harm could come to any property or person.

I don't have a location like that available, so I watch them charge.

[james_2k]

sounds fun