Nissan leaf 16v battery floating and inverting questions

[ejeffrey]

EV batteries are already a far safer chemistry compared to what's used in consumer electronics.

A friend of mine burned down his garage with a repurposed Leaf battery module.  The chemistry may be more stable, but the stored energy is high and you still have to use protective circuit.  And when you are talking about used EV batteries from ebay or a junkyard with unknown history (e.g., might have been damaged in a crash), there is even more reason to be careful.

[NiHaoMike]

A friend of mine burned down his garage with a repurposed Leaf battery module.  The chemistry may be more stable, but the stored energy is high and you still have to use protective circuit.  And when you are talking about used EV batteries from ebay or a junkyard with unknown history (e.g., might have been damaged in a crash), there is even more reason to be careful.

It goes without saying that it's important to inspect batteries before use and to always use a BMS. (That infamous reused Tesla pack that caught fire was - you guessed it - used without a BMS.) Oh, and just as an extra layer of protection, are you aware of how cheap fire sprinklers are? In fact, given how an unwanted sprinkler activation is considerably less problematic in a garage than in most spaces, I'm surprised they're not required in new construction.

In environments where water damage is of big concern, you can use something like CO2.

[badjob]

What were the circumstances of the fire? Did he overcharge it like crazy and something failed? I have heard of tons of tesla fires because they are just a ton of long 18650s. When searching for leaf fires all I can find is info how the battery did NOT catch on fire.  Its why I didn't want to use that chemistry. Gen1 leafs have no cobalt AFAIK.

Plus this:

I can see how you can start a fire if you short and arc it, but that's true for any high storage battery with lots of current. You could probably weld with that arc.


John, I don't understand what you don't understand. When you have a 20A circuit in your house what does that mean?