Lithium batteries fail for one of three reasons. These are firstly physical trauma, and secondly short-circuiting through the electrolyte as they age. The third one is harder to define, but boils down to faulty manufacture, or design. There are usually lithium battery warning signs but some users overlook these in haste or ignorance.
A Brief Overview of Lithium Battery Warning Signs
A battery is an electro-chemical reaction inside a burst-proof casing that may fail. Contact with these chemicals can burn skin on contact, depending on cell type. A battery becomes slightly warm during recharging. However, that should be the only change we notice
If, on the other hand the battery becomes hot, emits a burning smell or starts smoking then that is a lithium battery warning requiring urgent attention. We should disconnect the battery charger from the power source. However, we should not touch the battery itself, because lithium fires can be extremely hot. Our best advice is to call the emergency services, because distressed lithium batteries are hard to predict.
Fire Breaks Out at Lithium Battery Factory
Could the MV Conception Battery Fire Have Been Avoided?
A report in Los Angeles Times suggests this might have been the case on the Conception charter diving boat. In the first instance, a number of lithium battery devices were on charge overnight, and these were not under continuous observation. Secondly, a lithium battery warning may have gone largely unnoticed on the charter company’s’ sister ship, MV Vision a year earlier.
A witness apparently told Los Angeles Times lithium-ion batteries were charging from an array of power points in the saloon area of the Vision. These devices included cameras, computers, phones and an underwater scooter. When one battery started smoldering a crew member threw it overboard into the ocean. However, it seems battery charging on board continued as before.
The MV Conception dated from before lithium batteries existed, and it was not a purpose-built charter vessel. The battery charging facilities were later additions, that may in hindsight have proved inadequate to the task.
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