Dont leave power tool lithium battery chargers unattended.
Chris R said
Dec 15, 2013
An owner of a very nice 66SS on Team Chevelle had his garage burn to the ground with his 66 inside because of a typical lithium battery charger that most people use for cordless tools, exploded and started the garage on fire.
I have an outlet by the bench that is on a switch. I leave the charger plugged in all the time, but turn off the switch when it's not in use.
dashboard said
Dec 16, 2013
Derek69SS wrote:
Saw that...
I have an outlet by the bench that is on a switch. I leave the charger plugged in all the time, but turn off the switch when it's not in use.
Great idea! I'm roughing in some wiring in the 20 watt garage now I'll include that in to the plan.
Derek69SS said
Dec 16, 2013
It's nice for stuff like cell phone chargers, power tool chargers, and anything else that sucks up electricity even when it's not doing anything usefull. The switch is right next to the outlet, so it's easy to remember to turn it off as soon as you remove the battery from the charger.
SShink said
Dec 16, 2013
Sounds like the fire was caused by the exploding battery catching the wall on fire, which the charger probably misfuntioned and overcharged it I would guess. Remember all the lithium fires with laptop batteries when they first came out....?
I leave my power tool battery pack charger plugged in, but never leave it unattended when there is a battery in it.
I do unplug the charger cord to the laptop when I'm not in the shop for fear of a battery fire.
John D said
Dec 16, 2013
Dashboard - a design thought...
When I was building the "Skunkworks" basement shop the kiddo's were still little buggers that were curious & didn't know any better, and I realized my own forgetfulness. When I wired the shop, all of the benchtop plugmold strips and specific tool outlets were brought back to a 30A main disconnect (a lever-action in-the-wall unit, mounted at 72") near the door, which was fed from it's own breaker in the panel. When I was done with my tinkering session, I'd just pull the lever on my way out and anything "dangerous" was disconnected.
(The general duty/convenience wall recepticles & lights are on a seperate breaker like a normal room - they knew enough to not mess with those outlets - I was worried about them flipping a tools power switch on).
Chris R said
Dec 16, 2013
I always used a power strip with my radio connected as well as a cheap florescent light attached to the strip. When I would go in to do anything or look for something. I would reach over and turn on the power strip and the light and radio comes on along with anything else plugged in. The radio and light were a good indicator of my forgetting to turn something off.
An owner of a very nice 66SS on Team Chevelle had his garage burn to the ground with his 66 inside because of a typical lithium battery charger that most people use for cordless tools, exploded and started the garage on fire.
http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=547794
I have an outlet by the bench that is on a switch. I leave the charger plugged in all the time, but turn off the switch when it's not in use.
Great idea! I'm roughing in some wiring in the 20 watt garage now I'll include that in to the plan.
Sounds like the fire was caused by the exploding battery catching the wall on fire, which the charger probably misfuntioned and overcharged it I would guess. Remember all the lithium fires with laptop batteries when they first came out....?
I leave my power tool battery pack charger plugged in, but never leave it unattended when there is a battery in it.
I do unplug the charger cord to the laptop when I'm not in the shop for fear of a battery fire.
When I was building the "Skunkworks" basement shop the kiddo's were still little buggers that were curious & didn't know any better, and I realized my own forgetfulness. When I wired the shop, all of the benchtop plugmold strips and specific tool outlets were brought back to a 30A main disconnect (a lever-action in-the-wall unit, mounted at 72") near the door, which was fed from it's own breaker in the panel. When I was done with my tinkering session, I'd just pull the lever on my way out and anything "dangerous" was disconnected.
(The general duty/convenience wall recepticles & lights are on a seperate breaker like a normal room - they knew enough to not mess with those outlets - I was worried about them flipping a tools power switch on).
I always used a power strip with my radio connected as well as a cheap florescent light attached to the strip. When I would go in to do anything or look for something. I would reach over and turn on the power strip and the light and radio comes on along with anything else plugged in. The radio and light were a good indicator of my forgetting to turn something off.