Has anyone experienced a DJI Phantom 2 battery self combusting?  I got a call at work from my wife saying that the house was filled with smoke.  Got to the house and had 4 firetrucks in front.  No smoke left in the house but a definite electrical burn smell.  They were there searching for the cause about 20 minutes, then finally brought out my "flight bag".  I had charged up all of the batteries the night before in preparation to go flying after work.  I have followed the same routine dozens of times.  Charge the batteries the night before, get everything organized, then in the morning pack everything up and be ready to just load up after work and fly.

   The firemen "diagnosed" the origin of the fire/smoke as one of the batteries pretty much self combusting, and then it went through the bottom of the bag and melted the carpet underneath.  Could have been much worse.  As it is, I lost 2 DJI Phantom batteries, a charger, and an extra video monitor receiver that I take to let others see what the quadcopter camera is seeing.

   I contacted DJI North America and explained what happened and asked about replacing the batteries.  They offered to sell replacements to me.  Didn't want to hear that.  Anyone else exoerienced battery overheating issues?

LiPo batteries can go  up in flames if shorted out,  over-discarged or damaged ( crash,  swollen cells)

Jeez! You are lucky you still have a house to come home to!

Sorry to hear about you troubles but a least no one was hurt .Think i will store mine in the shed from now on.
As for Dji  

xzgraham@btinte Posted at 2014-10-29 02:52
Sorry to hear about you troubles but a least no one was hurt .Think i will store mine in the shed fr ...

Lucky escape for you.....   Never heard of this type of incident before,  How old were the batteries?

Yes, please give us the details about the batteries. Very useful information.

Thank you.

Sorry to hear of your trouble there.

Was the lipo fully charged? 1/2 charged?
Was it left connected?
Was it on the charger?
A fully charged lipo is the most susceptible to igniting if the possibility presents itself.
They are extremely sensitive to high temperatures and must be properly stored to avoid spontaneous combustion. They should be stored in fireproof containers when not in use, and not left unattended when charging.
Just take them out and store in a safe non burnable container away from any thing imflamable...mine are stored in lipo bags extra wrapped in fire proof blankets
in a metal box(with some breather holes drilled in it) and then stored in a styrofoam picknick box outside on my balcony...a lot of precaution but good peace of mind...just do not ever trust lipos, expect the worst and prepare for it. Been useing them in the hundreds since day one and never had a not my fault unexplained accident!!!! if you had done your research before useing lipos this may never have happened!!

Yikes!  Close call.  Way to close!

As far as I know, about the only thing we can do to anticipate an issue with Phantom batteries is observe whether they get "puffy", and if subject to a significant impact, be extra suspicious of the battery in any state (in use, at rest, charging).

Pretty scary stuff for sure, but the Phantom system is pretty safe, with an essentially closed system.  The "smart battery" should prevent over discharge to the point of hazard (too low of a charge level is bad too), and there is little can be done wrong in charging.
Count your blessings!  As the saying goes... Better to be lucky than good!

Hi Bpatty,

May i know what's this in the red circle of the image?

Dont charge lipo batteries too long...... Those are weak so easily to burn and blow up

Well..  Guess like everything, life is filled with lessons learned.  NOW I know more about the dangers of lipo batteries - charging/storing,  etc.  I've only been in the r/c business since February and there's TONS of things to learn.  Seems like when I get a handle on one topic, something else comes up.   Full time job gets in the way of computer research time as well, but am just trying to learn as much as I can while on the go.  

To answer some of your questions about my incident:

      I had been charging my 3 batteries the night before.  2 were completely charged and on the kitchen counter, the third was plugged in and done when I got up the next morning.   (I know, I know.. shouldn't have done that!)  Took all 3 batteries from the kitchen to the spare bedroom.  Placed 2 in the flight bag and the third on a table.  When packing the flight bag, I did not notice anything out of the ordinary.  (temperature/smell, nothing)  That was around 7:30, and got the call around 10:45.  

     The item in the bag that has been circled in red..  That is what is left of battery No. 1..   battery No. 2 is scorched on the left.

     One of the batteries had been involved in a rough landing and had popped out on to the ground several weeks ago, but not sure which of the 3 it was.  Have flown a lot since then and had used all 3 batteries.   Again, a lesson learned to be aware of potential battery issues, and mark batteries that have had rough landings

     All 3 batteries were around 4-6 months old

     What charging procedure works the best, and how do you store the batteries after charging?  Also, how do you transport extra batteries to the flying site without running the risk of burning up your car?

I didn't know about this issue until I read some forum, I was actually asking about travelling by plane abroad with phantom in my backpack and someone advised me to put batteries in fireproof case or bag, since then I always carry batteries in those bags, even when I am charging them. Scary stuff this combustion

How is it that the DJI batteries have this problem? with all the smart phones, tablets, laptops and most other electronic devices it's very rare to hear of a lipo having this problem. And, with their batteries they recommend storing them away from anything flammable so they know there is a fire risk. Makes no sense to me.

DJI should be generous and make good the damage. It was only luck that did not burn the house over night and it would have been if any deaths.
There is indeed a product liability.
Finally DJI has liability insurance for such cases.
A class action in court is likely to be considerably more expensive.

@ thomaskim558
A smart battery can not be overcharged. This should be smart enough to shut down in time when it is fully charged.
Otherwise it would be a design flaw, for the DJI has the responsibility.

crc2004 Posted at 2014-10-30 04:58
How is it that the DJI batteries have this problem? with all the smart phones, tablets, laptops and  ...

Its not lipo in those electronics you mentioned

How is DJI responsible for this?  For one, this isn't a new issue regarding the use of lipo batteries. Go to any other R/C forum and search out lipo failures.

robbin.bergqvis Posted at 2014-10-30 05:14
Its not lipo in those electronics you mentioned

We'll I guess I don't know exactly type of lipos in the DJI, what are they? lifepo4?

Kevinx4 Posted at 2014-10-30 05:21
How is DJI responsible for this?  For one, this isn't a new issue regarding the use of lipo batterie ...

DJI is responsible for the safety of his products.
Many manufacturers, such as Sony etc have recalled lithium batteries for laptops in the past,  for free exchange, which had security problems and fire hazards.

Ok, I can not say in this particular case with certainty whether DJI is to blame, or the user has made ​​a mistake, this should be clarified in doubt an expert of course. My opinion, however, the DJI should be more accommodating.

Not if the person didn't store them properly... How can you tell if the person didn't just throw those batteries into the same pouch and the contacts touched? Not saying that is what happened, but you cannot hold the company responsible

dieterste36 Posted at 2014-10-30 05:27
DJI is responsible for the safety of his products.
Many manufacturers, such as Sony etc have reca ...

I think you should read the safety instructions in the manual and also the disclaimer booklet.

Recalls are made for batteries that may have an inherent manufacturing defect but that is likely not the case here or do you see any proof for that?
Could well be that the battery that was in a crash had enough damage to get an internal short.
P2 batteries are about as safe as  cell-phone, tablet, lap-top,... batteries out there, bad things can happen if any of them  gets mistreated.

robbin.bergqvis Posted at 2014-10-30 05:14
Its not lipo in those electronics you mentioned

Only a couple hundred million of these floating around, What type of Lipo are in our Phantom 2s?

Also known as Li-Poly or Li-Po, this is considered an upgraded version of the lithium-ion battery. Because of its light weight design, you will find these in Apple iPhones®, iPods®, MacBooks®, Sony PSP, PDAs and many more devices.

http://www.atbatt.com/batterytimes/dangerous-battery

I'm so sorry about this accident. A severe drop on the ground from certain height may cause the electrodes of the cells in the battery to bend. This can potentially cause short-circuit of the battery as electrodes of two cells besides each other may short circuit. Also, the battery is not recommended to store in high temperature. With newest battery firmware (v2.6.0.0), the battery can auto-discharge itself to  half capacity after 10 days of no operation. This helps increase the safety of the battery especially for long time storage. We are striving to improve the "intelligence" and "safety" of Phantom batteries. We could regularly check the updates from DJI.COM. Thanks for your support.

Just started doing a battery firmware upgrade went ton https://forum22.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/the a joining bath I saw plums of smoke I ran back to my pc desk hit https://forum22.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/the power button and yanked https://forum22.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/the smoking heap of plasticourse out and launched it into https://forum22.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/the trash can ran to https://forum22.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/the bath washed https://forum22.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/the melted plastic from my fingers https://forum22.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/then ran https://forum22.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/the trash can out side https://forum22.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/the house smelt like a s.one grenade from https://forum22.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/the army and called uavdirect Robert was very helpful thx uavdirect I donot contact dji I never get any help from https://forum22.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/them https://forum22.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/the better was from dji Hongkong one of my firstime  batteries https://forum22.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/the rest upgraded fine I'm sure I will not hear from dji https://forum22.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/they are a sham uavdirect will answer u r call and help every time dji just likes to hear wind blow

I was doing an upgrade on all my batteries when my incident ocured¿? At least replace the batteries¿? Hit me up with an email I will send pics I'm glad his house did not burn and no one was hurt I'm just glad I didn't leave my house and no dmg to my home or my children or his be careful guys expensive and dangerous hobby will do this on my shed  for now on

Hey everyone. Just signed up to post this message.
My Vision 2 caught fire in the carry box yesterday. Fire melted the copter and my Nikon SLR. Luckily I was home and smelt the smoke from another room. The box was closed, so must have hindered the fire's oxygen etc etc.Would have been a major fire if the box went up.... I have emailed the supplier and DJI without response yet. My insurance company wants to know what their answer is too...
I would strongly suggest any Phantom owner places the battery in a  container that cannot allow a faulty battery to affect anything should it fail spontaneously. The battery was in the machine, it was turned off, and I hadn't used it for 4 days.... very strange. Prob shouldn't have kept it in the copter, but it prob shouldn't have caught fire either..; On a positive note, I will buy another Phantom ( if they don't feel they should replace it   ) as it is the best piece of camera equipment I have ever had the pleasure of owning.
The Badger.

Wow, nasty. I have many lipos, never had this.

dieterste36 Posted at 2014-10-30 05:27
DJI is responsible for the safety of his products.
Many manufacturers, such as Sony etc have reca ...

no, DJI would be responsible if the batterie exploded from itself but in this case the problem is one of the batteries crashed to the ground! Never use a crashed lipo again. 2nd is that he let one batterie charge over night, you should remove the batterie from the charger after its finished with loading. So you see, most likely its a user fault here but lipos are dangerous in general. In smartphones you have li/ion cells not lipos.

Here is a question for you, if DJI knows of this issue with the batteries would it not server them well to supply a LIPO safe bag?  Or sale a charging/storage system for the batteries?

smcbrearty@roge Posted at 2014-12-31 00:00
Here is a question for you, if DJI knows of this issue with the batteries would it not server them w ...

no RC model aircraft or RC vehicle has lipo bags included i guess. The users usually dont inform themselfes about the dangers of those lipo batteries.The problem here is that the gases and the lithium dust coming out of the batteries are also really dangerous and you needa  special cleaning when this happens in your house or you risking your health.

Lipos are inherently risky.  Lithium belongs in the same class as sodium and potassium, which break water into it's two elements; hydrogen and oxygen.  In doing so, it also provides the energy to explode the hydrogen.  Since lithium is no compatible with water, Lipos use solvent as the electrolyte and the organic solvent is flammable.    As was pointed out above, any damage can cause a short circuit and in the presence of a flammable solvent, they are more prone to fire.   Manufacturing defects in the battery itself can make it more susceptible to a short from damage.    Lithium batteries are inherently riskier.  Ask Boeing as the huge Lithium Ion batteries in the 787 caused a fire and grounded the entire 787 Dreamliner fleet for several months until they redesigned the storage containers and the charging system.  (One problem was the cells were so close together, that if it shorted, the heat would cause adjacent cells to fail and short leading to thermal runaway throughout the whole battery.)  The DJI charging system is pretty conservative.  I noticed the batteries don't even get  very warm during the charge, so it doesn't over-stress the batteries.     I  plan to get the metal (painted on the inside so it can't short) ammo boxes to store mine, since it's almost air tight and would contain most of the smoke and heat.    Bottom line is that Lithium batteries are at higher risk than other batteries, but that is the inherent price we pay for the higher power to weight ratio that makes this hobby more practical.    At work a few weeks ago, some of the non-rechargeable lithium waffer batteries were stored in bulk in a file cabinet.  It shorted and created a fire.  We are now buying them in individual packages!

Good info, bad way to learn it tho, and sure enough DJI warned us. Read the WARNING on the battery label.

allbritt@verizo Posted at 2014-12-31 04:40
Lipos are inherently risky.  Lithium belongs in the same class as sodium and potassium, which break  ...

I understand (but I may be wrong) that a lipo battery has a higher risk during charging and discharging (opposed to when the battery just sits there). Therefore the advice to never charge a lipo battery unattended. Am I wrong on this?

But what makes me nervous about the DJI batteries is their ability to discharge themselves to 50% for storage (if you don't use them for a while).
I understand that storing batteries at 50% improves their lifecycle - but I'd rather have an option to disable that feature then run the risk of unattended discharges.
My friends and I have puffed (standard, non DJI) lipo batteries and never experienced a real fire (not even smoke).
But I really want to understand - isn't that automatic discharge a potential risk?

Thanks for sharing. I was putting the charged battery right back in the Phantom and letting it sit.  After reading this, my charged battery is and from now on shall be centered in a metal bucket half filled with lava rock in a room that is only half-heated.

birdfolk@dishma Posted at 2014-12-31 10:23
Thanks for sharing. I was putting the charged battery right back in the Phantom and letting it sit.  ...

Yep, that's a good plan.  These batteries are really quite unstable once there is damage or a cell issue. My batteries are kept in a steel power tool box from a redundant electric drill.  They are also charged in this and stored in my garage. The only time they get near the bird is when we are going to fly.  Belt and braces possibly but better than living in a trailer while the house is being rebuilt!

Consider this happening in your carry on luggage.  Thus, the reason they don't want these in the checked bags.  Yikes.