Power tool batteries and fire safety

Trevlaw

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So I saw a reddit post the other day where someone had a Milwaukee battery explode in their toolbox overnight and it got me thinking.

I've only got three batteries, they're probably 5+ years old but still work great. They're pretty much always at my shop 20 miles away from my house. On the off chance one of those did go up in flames I'd basically be screwed as most of my money is in all of the tools and machinery at my shop along with my truck.

Just thinking you guys might help be brainstorm a good way to store these batteries from a fire safety standpoint.

Currently I was thinking of using a bigger ammo can I have and removing the gasket from it so in the event of a fire it won't turn into a bomb.

Not sure if maybe it would be wise to drill some extra vent holes or maybe line the box with some fire retardant material? Or maybe I should get a box for each battery instead of three in one box.

Just kind of spit balling here, what do you guys think?
 
Ammo can is fine, it wont turn into a bomb. Batteries made of hard cells like 18650s are pretty stable. The poly bags are the dangerous ones. It's normally pretty easy to tell which type you have, most of the M12 and M18 batteries I've seen are 18650. Failures of those cells are very rare and in my opinion not something to worry much about especially stored in a hard metal case.
 
Fire needs three things. Fuel. Oxygen. Heat. If the battery shorts you got the heat. You got the lithium for the fuel. Put it in a sealed ammo box and you’ve got no oxygen. Just my opinion.
 
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Ammo can is fine, it wont turn into a bomb. Batteries made of hard cells like 18650s are pretty stable. The poly bags are the dangerous ones. It's normally pretty easy to tell which type you have, most of the M12 and M18 batteries I've seen are 18650. Failures of those cells are very rare and in my opinion not something to worry much about especially stored in a hard metal case.

Ok cool, I might try and find three smaller cans then to at least keep them separate. I know there's not much risk, but it'll be pretty easy to just throw them in a can before I leave for the day.
I had a buddy that had an 18650 short on his keychain in his pocket, never seen someone get out of a pair of pants so fast lol.
 
Fire needs three things. Fuel. Oxygen. Heat. If the battery shorts you got the heat. You got the lithium for the fuel. Put it in a sealed ammo box and you’ve got no oxygen. Just my opinion.

I'm pretty sure lithium fires don't require any oxygen to burn
 
So I saw a reddit post the other day where someone had a Milwaukee battery explode in their toolbox overnight and it got me thinking.

I've only got three batteries, they're probably 5+ years old but still work great. They're pretty much always at my shop 20 miles away from my house. On the off chance one of those did go up in flames I'd basically be screwed as most of my money is in all of the tools and machinery at my shop along with my truck.

Just thinking you guys might help be brainstorm a good way to store these batteries from a fire safety standpoint.

Currently I was thinking of using a bigger ammo can I have and removing the gasket from it so in the event of a fire it won't turn into a bomb.

Not sure if maybe it would be wise to drill some extra vent holes or maybe line the box with some fire retardant material? Or maybe I should get a box for each battery instead of three in one box.

Just kind of spit balling here, what do you guys think?

With the huge number of these batteries floating around, it seems that If it was more than the rare occurrence it would have caught attention the way those hoverboards did a few years ago.
 
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Will an M12 or M18 battery burn hot enough and long enough to escape the ammo can or ignite nearby items?

I'm no expert in lithium fires. I do know that they release a good amount of toxic gasses. You're likely to create a bomb if you lock them up in an ammo case.

There are storage containers for lipo batteries. You can look them up on Amazon. You'll notice that they advertise themselves as fire proof and explosion proof. You'll also notice they are soft cases and not sealed 100%. I imagine for the above reasons.