This article first appeared on Propwashed. Click here to read the rest of the article.
LiPo fires are rare, but when it comes to battery safety, I can’t take chances.
I’m a father of four. That’s why I’m reviewing the BAT-SAFE Battery Charging Safe Box. Before you read this article, make sure you’re familiar with the hazards of charging and storing LiPo batteries. You might also be interested in how to charge LiPo batteries. We reached out to BAT-SAFE, and they provided the test units to us for this review.
Overview
According to the website: “The BAT-SAFE is an insulated double wall steel box that contains the fire and intense heat in case of a runaway battery. The smoke and soot is filtered through a flame arrestor.” Tom Mast saw that existing containers were inadequate, and set out to develop a reliable off-the-shelf solution.
At $60, the BAT-SAFE isn’t an impulse buy. Why would anyone pay $60 when an ammo can can be had for $20, or a LiPo Safe bag for $10 or less? It’s easy to think that charging and storing batteries inside a “fireproof” or “explosionproof” container is enough, but it usually isn’t. If you have a fire in one of these containers—even if it works as designed—you can expect a cloud of very toxic smoke, the area around the container to be scorched, and lots of soot damage to the room. The BAT-SAFE aims to solve all of these problems.
There are many LiPo bags on the market that provide almost no protection whatsoever, and the good ones cost a lot of money. It’s a known fact that a LiPo bag can’t handle large batteries. What counts as large and how many is safe? It’s a dangerous guessing game to decide how much you can put in unless a product is rated. The BAT-SAFE has a rating of 222Wh. That works out to two 6S 5000mAh, ten 4S 1500mAh, or twenty 3S 1000mAh batteries. Figure out the Wh of a battery by taking its voltage (3.7 per cell for a LiPo) and multiplying by amp hours (mAh divided by 1000). A 4S 1500mAh battery is 4 cells × 3.7V × 1.5Ah = 22.2Wh.