A warning to anyone who was thinking of buying and fitting an aftermarket motor to 'e' up their bike as a man in Australia narrowly escaped serious harm when a battery cell in his own motor exploded.
Gary Ryan, 79, was riding up Corkscrew road yesterday when the one of the battery cells in his motor caught fire. The flames are said to have reached 10 feet in height while his CO2 canisters shot off like bullets. He was taken to hospital as the fire burned through his shorts but seems to have escaped without any serious harm. A bigger worry for emergency services was the possibility of a bushfire as temperatures are currently reaching record highs in Australia. Thankfully it was a still day and the fire was contained quickly by a crew on another call nearby.
A short circuit has been blamed for the fire and is one of a
number of similar
incidents that have been
reported in the
past few years. Lithium batteries are to blame and while the problems are largely reported around charging, incidents like the one above prove they can become faulty during operation too. It's nearly always ebike conversion kits that cause these fires so if you're thinking of getting involved in the e game, please make sure you're buying from a reputable dealer. The cheapo, dodgy internet kit might look tempting but could leave you singed where the sun don't shine.
Edit: Article updated to reflect that a battery cell, not the motor itself, was the reason for the fire. We apologise for any confusion caused.
"Of course not"
"Well your pants are on fire so I think you're lying"
For all of your information, this also happens to laptops, cell phones, e-cigs, and other lithium batter operated devices. The bottom line is, if you have lithium batter devices, they all need proper care. One bad cell can act like an M80 firecracker. Just saying.
Rare in consumer electronics though, much more common in military, hazardous area and downhole battery systems (especially dowhole as those cells are nasty and dont work at ambient temperatures).
I can only imagine how much leakage of toxic material from e-bike batteries there is going on sheds around the world and on bikes dumped in canals and rivers.. and how many are actually just left to the side causing a bad hazard to people and children
Pants on fire"
Multicell Li-pol batteries may or may not have charge balancing employed, either in the charge controller or in the battery itself. They should also have a PCM device for short circuit, over voltage, under voltage, reverse connection and thermal protection where possible. (most phone batteries do, but this didnt stop Samsung having an issue due to thermal runaway of their cell due to a design fault in the cell itself).
As you cant guarantee how a battery will be charged and they are not fixed into a device it is the responsibility of the manufacturer to ensure that it is not simple to connect an incorrect charger.
A shorted cell which explodes and goes on fire will reach ridiculous temperatures at the source in a very short period of time.
Li-pol batteries do not like higher temperatures, take most up above 60C and you start to destroy the chemistry and causing the cell to expand, if the design does not allow for expansion due to performance and age then there could be trouble ahead.
Most cells will have been through drop and crush testing as part of their DV testing so there should not be an issue there.
The list goes on and on for Li-pols.
Yeah, the early Li-PO batteries were pretty unstable. Cheap ones probably still are i guess....the charge bags that came with mine were almost chain mail....
In Adelaide this time of year that would have been a serious bush fire hazard... and its been 40+C there lately so i bet they overheated....
Can you give us any reason you're sensationalizing the news? @jamessmurthwaite
To be clear, this is not related to the situation of the article. Which apparently was the typical "I was just riding along and... can I have warranty?" kind of situation.
Also Pinkbike: "Sick, this video makes eBikes look terrible. Run it."
IFTY
"Don't get within a metre and half, it will scorch the paint on the WRX bro"
Done.
That's why it is way better to use LiPo (Lithium Polymer), which DOES NOT catch fire.
www.bicycleretailer.com/industry-news/2018/10/09/homemade-e-bike-project-catches-fire-destroys-home#.XD4ugKfMxN0
- only in Australia, hahaha!
The investigator will be asking the battery and motor questions to the dude in his shed that built this for sure, I would be looking at who else he has provided a bike for to ensure that this is an isolated incident, then try and find the failure mode(s) and any potential parts which are prone to failure, lack of testing... etc. etc.
If Samsung can get it wrong then so can wee Jimmy in his shed or a bike manufacturer.
*Bike explodes*
Bike catches fire!
Cool!
I guess
Doing like the Sun, some tabloïd, Pinkbike ?
YOULL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS *BICYCLE* (IN THE HOOD) FT JAKE PAUL LOGAN SQUAD AND PEWPEWCAKE