On Sat, 11 Aug 2007 06:59:02 -0700, wrote in
.com:


Lithium Polymer batteries are widely used in RC planes, cars, etc and
are known to be potentially dangerous. Most runaway fires occur during
charging but it has also occurred to a lessor degree during discharge
and even storage.

I would assume that the source of these Li-ion Polymer battery fires
is excessive electrical current flowing through the battery either
from too high a charging rate, too high a discharge rate, or a short
internal (as in the case of the Sony laptop cells) or external, or
being over charged. Perhaps it would be prudent to install a circuit
breaker of fuse to prevent too high a current and a timer to
disconnect a forgotten charger.

Vented charging safety bags are recommended for this
reason. There is a video on this link that shows the explosive power
of small LiPo's. Consider the size differance of these batteries to
the one hung under the trike in one of the first posts or those that
could be installed in the wings of a sailplane.
http://www.liposack.com/video.html

Thank you for the link. It is spectacular.


Here are some links relevant to the Sony Lithium laptop battery
recall:

Story: http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32550
http://news.com.com/Dell+takes+heat+...3-6105828.html

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeWq6...lated&search=#

Explanation of cause:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4660-10165_7-6625980.html
http://www.prnewstoday.com/release.h...H05424082006-1
The recall arises because, on rare occasions, microscopic metal
particles in the recalled battery cells may come into contact with
other parts of the battery cell, leading to a short circuit within the
cell. Typically, a battery pack will simply power off when a cell
short circuit occurs. However, under certain rare conditions, an
internal short circuit may lead to cell overheating and potentially
flames. The potential for this to occur can be affected by variations
in the system configurations found in different notebook computers.