fusso
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How to keep Li-ions safe for a year?
I have collected > 50Ah of damaged/broken Li-ions (both hard steel case and soft plastic case ones). However I now have to leave my home country
for ~1 year and thus have 0 access to any of my chemicals. How to keep my damaged Li-ions safe and make sure that even if they have
to burn/explode nothing else will be damaged? I live with my parents but they have 0 experience about handling chemicals (in case this is important).
[Edited on 17/09/18 by fusso]
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macckone
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The lithium needs to be removed if the batteries are damaged or if packs, disassembled and 'good' separated from 'bad' then disassemble the 'bad'
cells. Lithium batteries are supposedly best stored in a 'discharged' or 'partially discharged' state. If you have a large quantity, then you should
store them in metal boxes away from anything combustible and away from each other.
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Heptylene
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Buy a smoke detector, to alert somebody if the batteries catch fire.
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Sulaiman
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At one time I collected many 18650 lithium ion cells from PC battery packs,
I have had them for many years now with no problems.
Store 1/3 to 2/3 charged, neatly packed, aligned in the same direction (all +ve in one direction) to reduce the risk of short-circuits.
Reject any cells that do not store charge as expected.
I am very impressed with the long term reliability of 18650 cells.
(I have no special charger, I just use my bench psu)
I have no experience with Li-Po cells so can't comment.
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Herr Haber
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Get a .50 cal steel ammo box.
Put in cells, close 
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macckone
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+1 to Herr Haber's suggestion of steel ammo boxes
+1 to Heptylene's suggestion of a smoke detector
+1 to Sulaiman's suggestion of discarding bad cells
The good ones aren't likely to catch fire if not fully charged.
But take the above precautions as they can go bad in storage.
Bad cells are unpredictable. I would disassemble the bad ones for the lithium (their only real use). Straight lithium is much easier to store. Put
in bottle with oil with a screen to keep it submerged and put where it won't get broken.
Ps. rereading the original post. it seems as if you only have bad cells. disassemble them, store the lithium. Having a lot of bad cells around is
asking for trouble. If they are bad then the lithium will probably be oxidized in a year and not usable. Some may already be fully oxidized and not
usable.
[Edited on 18-9-2018 by macckone]
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unionised
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Is that so "somebody" can video the fire + put it on youtube?
What else are they going to do?
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Heptylene
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They point of the smoke detector is to alert whoever is present that something is burning before they find out because they're engulfed in flames. In
a matter of minutes a fire can get out of control. The smoke detector gives you a slight edge if you're in a different room when the fire starts. You
can try to put out the fire or evacuate in time.
I wouldn't mind seeing a bunch of batteries burn in a huge fire on youtube. But I'd rather not see someone's house burn down in the process.
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unionised
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Trying to put out a bunch of burning Li cells isn't wise.
You only need to evacuate if you were near enough for the explosions to matter.
You shouldn't be that close.
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Vomaturge
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Quote: Originally posted by unionised  |
Trying to put out a bunch of burning Li cells isn't wise.
You only need to evacuate if you were near enough for the explosions to matter.
You shouldn't be that close.
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well, maybe not the kilogram or so of burning cells, but you could extinguish whatever else the fire had spread too likewise with the evacuation: if
the mess exploded while you were sleeping somewhere else in the house, the effects of the batteries themselves would be small but you'd still need to
wake up before the fire spread to your room. Asking these sort of questions makes me want to reorganize my (partially expended alkaline) battery box,
though.
If you suspect the batteries might burn, and would like to limit the consequences of this, I'd say keep them outside, away from flammable materials of
any type. The metal can is a good idea, but remember that batteries have all the chemicals within them for an energetic reaction. Under just the right
conditions, that energy makes electricity, but in a failing cell it might just boil and burn and BOOM! Off comes the can lid, and out fly burning
battery bits, all over the block.
I'd probably keep them in a plastic container, away from my house, dry grass, etc. I've actually got an unused shed that'd be perfect.
I guess if you wanted to be absolutely sure nothing would happen, you could put them in an ammo can, epoxy sealed pop bottle, whatever, then bury it
50 cm underground. Way overkill, but not hard to do unless your dirt is rockier than mine. Don't forget the treasure map
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Deathunter88
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| Quote: Originally posted by macckone | | The lithium needs to be removed if the batteries are damaged or if packs, disassembled and 'good' separated from 'bad' then disassemble the 'bad'
cells. Lithium batteries are supposedly best stored in a 'discharged' or 'partially discharged' state. If you have a large quantity, then you should
store them in metal boxes away from anything combustible and away from each other. |
Li-ion batteries don't have any metallic lithium in them.
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macckone
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Deathhunter is correct. The OP said Lithium-ion vs lithium. The lithium cobalt oxide is the more dangerous type but does not have easily recoverable
lithium.
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Sulaiman
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I just realised that the safest way to store a Li-ion is in a Ca-age 
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fusso
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?_?
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