This is a good article about enclosed trailer car fires.

I know the motorcycle racer in the story! Bummer!

Tragic for sure - but somebody please explain to me why a cordless drill battery would ignite
simply because it ran all the way down on charge?

a battery is made of plats and a separator of paper over time the paper can dissolved and the positive and negative touch and boom there is always power left in the battery.

What we get to look forward to with electric cars! Low on charge so it bursts into flames! Fuckin yippie! Can't wait for those incidents.

vance.dykes said:

a battery is made of plats and a separator of paper over time the paper can dissolved and the positive and negative touch and boom there is always power left in the battery.

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So it's an age/deterioration thing, as opposed to simply a battery run all the way down?
Heck, I got all sorts of dead cordless batteries laying on the bench in the garage right now that
won't take a charge. Should I be concerned about them spontaneously combusting just laying there?

91r/t said:

What we get to look forward to with electric cars! Low on charge so it bursts into flames! Fuckin yippie! Can't wait for those incidents.

Click to expand...

that has happened back with the ev-1

moparedtn said:

So it's an age/deterioration thing, as opposed to simply a battery run all the way down?
Heck, I got all sorts of dead cordless batteries laying on the bench in the garage right now that
won't take a charge. Should I be concerned about them spontaneously combusting just laying there?

Click to expand...

the odds of that happening is small but we all know about spontaneous combustion so never say never. and lithium battery's are more likely to.

91r/t said:

What we get to look forward to with electric cars! Low on charge so it bursts into flames! Fuckin yippie! Can't wait for those incidents.

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Not to mention the first responders that have to protect themselves from electrocution dealing with those vehicles in accidents. I agree but don't want to see anyone hurt.

Moms68 said:

Not to mention the first responders that have to protect themselves from electrocution dealing with those vehicles in accidents. I agree but don't want to see anyone hurt.

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Can't fight those type fires with water, either.
What a freaking environmental mess those electric cars are, from manufacture to demise..

moparedtn said:

So it's an age/deterioration thing, as opposed to simply a battery run all the way down?
Heck, I got all sorts of dead cordless batteries laying on the bench in the garage right now that
won't take a charge. Should I be concerned about them spontaneously combusting just laying there?

Click to expand...

Kind of like the old 5 gal. Can of used shop rags. You just never know.

There's an entire procedure for dealing with greasy rags in the military. Serious business. As in: Sure, just leave them in a pile in an old drum. Next day the hanger burns to the ground with 6 choppers worth 68 million each inside.

What about spontaneous human combustion???

Is spontaneous human combustion real? - HISTORY

Seems so.

It was a lithium polymer battery, right? Under the proper conditions those things will combust and continue to burn until the chemicals within have exhausted themselves; nasty stuff. When you think about how many devices that have them, like laptops, cell phones, power tools, radio controlled cars, toys, etc, that have them, it makes you shudder to think what can happen.

Friend of a friend just had half of his house burn down because two little lithium polymer batteries were not stored properly and caught fire. Personally, I keep my lithium polymer batteries for my power tools and radio controlled cars sealed inside of fireproof cases that SHOULD contain them if they go start to burn. I then place the batteries in my kitchen stove because I figure that's the only thing in my apartment that could safely contain a chemical inferno. I dont cook so I use my stove for car parts, tools and stuff anyway...

myk r sanchez said:

I dont cook so I use my stove for car parts, tools and stuff anyway...

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...the dishwasher does a good job as well...I'm told

yeah seen a few of my buddies trailers
burn to the ground basically

one notably really bad had 2 Jet cars in it
husband & wife team
they got the one on the bottom out before the fire got too bad
Roland said;
some guy following them kept flashing his lights at them
he didn't know what it was all about or even for him
he was in Idaho by Firebird or maybe it was near Spokane
(it was a long time ago)
going towards Firebird coming from Kent or something like that
'anyway' he finally pulled over, it was on a busy narrow 2 lane road
he had to find a wide spot pullout to get off the road
& walked back, to see what the guy was flashing his lights about..
He saw/noticed smoke coming out of the top vents,
opened the rear door, flames everywhere engulfing the whole top inside
his wife's jetcar on top level

they think it was oily rags that started it
nice trailer Alum. Featherlite, triple axle 43' dual car elevator
& elec./hydr. lift door
$100k+ trailer back then, with the racks, shelves compressor,
bench tools drawers built-in alum. cabinets winches car lift/elevator etc.

especially when they have a drum of fuel in it
all the batteries, jugs, chemicals, so much volatile stuff

2 of the 3 drums of his special gasoline/kerosene mix hot 'jet track fuel'
had started to burn out the vents, took forever for them to calm down

I was the person they called, we both were from Concord Ca.
often went to some of the same races, travel together somewhat...
I was traveling from Kent Wa. to Firebird Raceway,
after an event too
I had stopped to get some food ladies go pee etc.
I was about 2.5-3 hrs behind them
when I got there the fire dept was finishing up hot spots
what a mess

we put what we could in my trailer,
not much room in my trailer or much saveable stuff
lots of his promo stuff was smoldering melted or just ashes
mostly tools & small spares/parts for the jets, his starters

had to get a flatbed out there to haul the cars off
long narrow 225" wb cars side by side on a hauler
to the nearest place he could store them
fortunately, a local guy stopped to see what was happening
& he offered a warehouse to store them
till Roland could get a trailer to haul them home

Insurance only covered about 1/2 too


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@SteveSS
you must get the same newsletters as I do
you always post stuff that I see already regularly

Triplegreen500 said:

...the dishwasher does a good job as well...I'm told

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I would store things in there but I have this fear of water spontaneously pouring all over my stored goods lol...

myk r sanchez said:

I would store things in there but I have this fear of water spontaneously pouring all over my stored goods lol...

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Oh, I meant to clean parts...sorry.

Car grease...chicken grease...it's all grease, and it all cleans the same.