Lithium battery safety

[SteveJay]

Just watched another worrying report about fires originating from e-bike and e-scooter batteries whilst on charge. There are now campaigns to add regulations for such batteries, and recommended practices around charging them. The way and speed they combust is scary.

Has anyone heard of any such issues with golf trolley batteries? I admit I have been a bit laid back about mine, leaving it on charge when not in use in the garage. Wife now has an e bike so we might have two of them in there on charge. I haven't heard any reports about golf batteries, maybe because thy are lower power and therefore lower risk as they don't reach the high temperatures of bike and scooter batteries. Anyone know any more?

 

[D-S]

Just watched another worrying report about fires originating from e-bike and e-scooter batteries whilst on charge. There are now campaigns to add regulations for such batteries, and recommended practices around charging them. The way and speed they combust is scary.

Has anyone heard of any such issues with golf trolley batteries? I admit I have been a bit laid back about mine, leaving it on charge when not in use in the garage. Wife now has an e bike so we might have two of them in there on charge. I haven't heard any reports about golf batteries, maybe because thy are lower power and therefore lower risk as they don't reach the high temperatures of bike and scooter batteries. Anyone know any more?

Not heard of any problems but we use a timer plug on the charger, pretty cheap off Amazon.

 

[Orikoru]

A golf shop near where I live, Complete Golfer had a fire caused by this a couple of years back, wiped out most of their stock. Apparently they were charging a bunch of electric trolleys on banks of extension leads. Lesson learned I'm sure!

 

[PJ87]

Never had an issue with my motocaddy but I suspect they actually confirmed to safety standards where as e scooters aren't even legal on our roads and e bikes are produced as cheap as possible by various companies with very little experience

Plus if wager an electric trolly charged max twice a week? What about a bike? Daily? Increasing the risk

 

[IanM]

I turn off the lithium as soon as charged...

 

[Jimaroid]

It depends! There are different types of lithium batteries. I think most golf trollies tend to be LiFePo. Batteries that are more dangerous are LiPo. LiPo are lightweight and energy dense, perfect for things like RC, Drones, Bikes etc. where weight is critical.

You shouldn’t keep LiPo batteries stored in high or low states of charge as they are more volatile.

It’s not a new problem. LiPo batteries have been used by the RC aero/car/drone enthusiasts for a long time and there are many stories of them combusting even with well regulated balanced chargers. Most enthusiasts charge them in a fireproof bag or ammo crate! Many club meets around the world disallow LiPo charging entirely. It is very easy to mistakenly charge a LiPo at the wrong current and they combust spectacularly. I use some for my RC car and they scare me, I triple check the charger every single time I use it before activating the charge cycle. I do know someone who lost their garage to a simple charging mistake.

Anyway. Golf trollies if used with manufacturers regulated charger are, on the balance of things, pretty safe.

What seems to be happening more often now is people using cheap unregulated devices, batteries and chargers and I do think that needs addressing with regulation.

 

[Jigger]

Mine is constantly on charge as I use it so much and never had issues with it or other main manufacturers. The report I suspect you read is asking for regulations as it is presently up to the manufacturer to declare the better is safe. I suspect the e-bike in question was a cheap foreign make which is why you should stick to well known manufacturers. I think Samsung had an issue in the early smartphone days but that was down to dodgy cheap chargers people bought online.

The bike could have also been de-restricted in speed so the battery might have been overworked. Same as any device that has been pushed to the limits.

 

[jim8flog]

I turn off the lithium as soon as charged...

A good lithium battery charger turns off automatically when the desired charge has been reached.

It is the difference between a charger designed for lead acid and lithium. The lead acid one goes in to float mode and will restart the charge if the charge level drops.

 

[FuzzyDuck]

There was a fire at the Goring and Streatley pro shop a couple of years ago, it was either a battery or charger that caught fire.

 

[Rlburnside]

We have a trolly shed and about 40 trolleys in and everyone just leaves them on charge all the time, some are only used once a month.