6
West Mountain Radio
Operating Manual
NiCad, NiMH, and Alkaline safety warnings:
These batteries can be dangerous also. If they are shorted out, or
charged or discharged at too high a rate, they can overheat and explode.
A single D size NiCad cell can actually melt a 10 penny nail, don’t try this!
Lithium safety warnings:
Reprinted with permission of the Academy of Model Aeronautics
Words in “()” were added by West Mountain Radio
Lithium Battery Fires
Lithium batteries are becoming very popular for powering the control and
power systems in our models. This is true because of their very high
energy density (amp-hrs/wt. ratio) compared to NiCads or other batter
-
ies. With high energy comes increased risk in their use. The, principal,
risk is FIRE which can result from improper charging, crash damage, or
shorting the batteries. All vendors of these batteries warn their custom-
ers of this danger and recommend extreme caution in their use. In spite
of this many fires have occurred as a result of the use of Lithium Polymer
batteries, resulting in loss of models, automobiles, and other property.
Homes and garages and workshops have also burned. A lithium battery
fire is very hot (several thousand degrees) and is an excellent initiator for
ancillary (resulting) fires. Fire occurs due to contact between Lithium and
oxygen in the air. It does not need any other source of ignition, or fuel to
start, and burns almost explosively.
These batteries must be used in a manner that precludes ancillary fire.
The following is recommended:
1. Store and charge (discharge) in a fireproof container; never in your
model.
2. Charge (discharge), in a protected area devoid of combustibles. Al
-
ways watch over the charging (discharging), process. Never leave the
charging process unattended.
3. In the event of damage from crashes, etc, carefully remove to a safe
place for at least a half hour to observe. Physically damaged cells could
erupt into flame, and, after sufficient time to ensure safety, should be
discarded in accordance with the instructions which came with the bat-
teries. Never attempt to charge (discharge) a cell with physical damage,
regardless of how slight.