Battery Charging Bag

[RedhatPat]

A few weeks back I placed an order at one of my usual vendors and since the bill was low, I explored small priced accessories to round out the bill because credit card warriors do that sometimes. I saw one of these bags to safely protect your battery during the charging process, in the event of a failure.

Battery Charging Bag

Long story short, early into the charging process I smell a hint of burning rubber. Quickly realized it was coming from the bag! I quickly unplugged and reached in, and both the batteries and charger were very hot to the touch!

I mumbled some profanities and threw out the bag.

For the record, my charger/bats (which all came crom provape) are working fine and dont feel any heat when I'm charging in the open.

RHP

 

[SeaTownLassy]

I've always wondered....are the charging bags made so that if a battery blows up, the bag contains the exposion? Or are they made of material that prevents overheating?

 

[RedhatPat]

I'll be honest, from what little I know on the subject Seatown, the bag CAUSED the overheating! My guess, poor ventilation

 

[Baditude]

I've always wondered....are the charging bags made so that if a battery blows up, the bag contains the exposion? Or are they made of material that prevents overheating?

It was my understanding that they will contain a fire resulting from a hard shorted battery that goes into thermal runaway.

I've had a protected battery vent in thermal runaway in a mod in my early months of vaping. The mod was too hot to touch, and had scorched the pants pocket that the mod was in when it was in my work locker. (I know, thank goodness I wasn't wearing the pants when this occured!)

I've seen the You Tube videos of forced battery hard shorts and seen the flames and even explosions. I believe these charging bags could retain the flame part but I'm not so sure about exploding metal should that occur. The likelihood of explosion is probably slim to none; the possibility of flames more likely to occur. This is just my opinion.

I'm extremely curious to know how much a part of a lack of ventilation caused your experience of the battery and charger overheating to touch, and creating a smell of burning rubber. It seems like the bag was creating what in effect it is supposed to prevent.

It would be interesting to get the manufacturer's take on this...

Edit after posting: I noticed after checking the product from the link, that on the bag it says to ensure closing the flap during charging the battery. Not sure what to make of that information. Seems like the manufacturer does NOT want the items to have any ventilation.

 

[RedhatPat]

I'm extremely curious to know how much a part of a lack of ventilation caused your experience of the battery and charger overheating to touch, and creating a smell of burning rubber. It seems like the bag was creating what in effect it is supposed to prevent.

It would be interesting to get the manufacturer's take on this...

Edit after posting: I noticed after checking the product from the link, that on the bag it says to ensure closing the flap during charging the battery. Not sure what to make of that information. Seems like the manufacturer does NOT want the items to have any ventilation.

Great question. My guess is that's the trade-off, inducing overheating in order to contain a more catastrphic event but that's pretty nuts if you ask me. All I know is, I never want to charge my batteries inside bags like that again. It scared the living blank out of me. Folks need to respect their batteries and this so-called safety bag made me feel I was abusing them.

Reminds me when I got juice in my eye once. I survived but 'til this day, I still close my eyes everytime I blow out an atty or cartomizer after filling (even if I have it totally coverd in paper towels.) Ya just never forget the stigma.

Only reason I'm bringing it up is because a wiser friend of mine suggested to not let this slide, and to open a discussion about it. So mods (or anyone smarter than me) please forgive me if this has already been covered.


RHP


ETA: too bad I have the attention span of a goldfish, otherwise I would contact the manuf. directly myself for an official explanation

 

[DC2]

I've been charging my batteries in a quality charging bag for years...
Li-on 18650s, 14500s, Ego Twists, and NiMH 5 volt batteries.

I will never charge any of my batteries without using one.

Click the video link on the left side of this web page if you want to see what's up...
LipoSack.com

 

[Rat2chat2]

I had never heard of one, thanks. That's what I love about this place. That's also what I hate about the place. I'm always finding things I don't have. Oh well, whatever keeps me off ciggies and happy. Thanks again for sharing.

 

[yzer]

I've written this before and I'll write it again. If you want better safety during charging and better battery life don't use the charge bags. Charging bags overheat the charging battery. You are much better off with a well-ventilated charger with good air circulation to cool a charging battery. Using a charging bag is asking for battery failure, but at least it won't start any fires (outside the bag).

 

[DancingHeretik]

I put my charger and batteries in an open metal box. I had never thought about over-heating. I just want someplace reasonably fire-proof where I can still see the lights on the charger to make sure I don't over-charge my batteries.

 

[Rader2146]

The proper use of a LiPo bag has been mutilated by the uber-safe e-cig crowd. The bags are designed to be used with Li-Polymer (LiPo) batteries and LiPo chargers.

LiPo Battery:

Lipo Charger:

The only thing placed inside the bag is the BATTERY. The charger stays out...because chargers of all kinds can and do create a tremendous amount of heat. There is not supposed to be any ventilation in the bag. If there is a way for air to get in and ventilate, then there is a way for violent explosive gasses to get out; the exact opposite of the bags purpose.

LiPo bags may give the illusion of safety, but when used outside of their intended purpose by attempting to adapt them for our uses they create more risk than they mitigate.

 

[RedhatPat]

The proper use of a LiPo bag has been mutilated by the uber-safe e-cig crowd. The bags are designed to be used with Li-Polymer (LiPo) batteries and LiPo chargers.

LiPo Battery:

Lipo Charger:

The only thing placed inside the bag is the BATTERY. The charger stays out...because chargers of all kinds can and do create a tremendous amount of heat. There is not supposed to be any ventilation in the bag. If there is a way for air to get in and ventilate, then there is a way for violent explosive gasses to get out; the exact opposite of the bags purpose.

LiPo bags may give the illusion of safety, but when used outside of their intended purpose by attempting to adapt them for our uses they create more risk than they mitigate.

Thank you so much for clearing that up. It looks like common sense prevails and I was correct to throw this stupid charge bag away. It's a shame some of us slower vapers have to learn the hard way. Glad Ionly lose a few bucks instead of my quality charger 'n 18xxx's

So to recap my fellow vapers - DO NOT USE LIPO CHARGING BAGS!!

Respect your batteries, folks!

RHP

 

[DC2]

The one you bought looks like a cheap piece of crap...
I'll definitely keep using mine.

 

[Rader2146]

The one you bought looks like a cheap piece of crap...
I'll definitely keep using mine.

What would the quality of the bag have to do with the reason that his batteries and charger were overheating? Would a quality bag have prevented this incident?

 

[DC2]

I've written this before and I'll write it again. If you want better safety during charging and better battery life don't use the charge bags. Charging bags overheat the charging battery. You are much better off with a well-ventilated charger with good air circulation to cool a charging battery. Using a charging bag is asking for battery failure, but at least it won't start any fires (outside the bag).

Do you have any links to any information regarding these issues?

I've been reading the RC forums this morning, and even registered with the Candlepower forum so I could read what they are saying.
I am finding a lot of people on both forums recommending LiPo charging bags, and not one person yet who is warning people away from them.

One thing I am seeing, however, is that quite a few of the RC race tracks require that you charge your batteries in a charging bag.

 

[DC2]

What would the quality of the bag have to do with the reason that his batteries and charger were overheating? Would a quality bag have prevented this incident?

Hell if I know, but I only buy more expensive charging bags.
When it comes to safety I'm not going the cheap route.

If that makes me a sucker, I'm fine with that.

 

[DC2]

Hell if I know, but I only buy more expensive charging bags.

Actually, I take it back...

That bag he linked to in the original post looks very thick and bulky compared to mine.
I can easily see a situation where the materials and construction used can be far more (or less) likely to trap any generated heat.

 

[JuiceMonkey]

Do you have any links to any information regarding these issues?

I've been reading the RC forums this morning, and even registered with the Candlepower forum so I could read what they are saying.
I am finding a lot of people on both forums recommending LiPo charging bags, and not one person yet who is warning people away from them.

One thing I am seeing, however, is that quite a few of the RC race tracks require that you charge your batteries in a charging bag.

I charge RC lipos in a LipoSack. I do NOT charge IMR batts or egos in a sack. RC lipos are not attached onboard the charger like IMR batts. When using a LipoSack, charger stays OUT of the bag, batteries go IN the bag while charging. All chargers put off heat. Anyone who is putting their IMR charger inside a bag of anykind is asking for trouble. They need ventilation!

 

[zapped]

I only charge mine when Im at home so I can keep an eye on 'em. Im not that familiar with charging bags and their use but common sense dictates that anything that causes more heat in electronics and batteries is bad no?

 

[Baditude]

This is extremely interesting information. I'm glad RedhatPat started this thread.

It appears to me just based on the information within this thread that the charging bags are intended to be used for different batteries than what we use in vaping. Lipo batteries are different from the Li Ion batteries that we use.

I used to recommend the use of these bags as a safety measure for charging Li Ion batteries, but no longer. Being that the chargers that we use require ventilation and that the Li Po bags will not allow for that, it seems that they could actually cause a problem rather than prevent one.

If this is an incorrect stance to take, please provide me with the info to support your case.

 

[Crash Moses]

Do you have any links to any information regarding these issues?

I've been reading the RC forums this morning, and even registered with the Candlepower forum so I could read what they are saying.
I am finding a lot of people on both forums recommending LiPo charging bags, and not one person yet who is warning people away from them.

One thing I am seeing, however, is that quite a few of the RC race tracks require that you charge your batteries in a charging bag.

Are they putting the chargers inside the bags with the batteries? I believe that is the issue we're talking about here.