While attempting a home-charge of a set of NiCd batteries, they were left unattended and consequently exploded (relatively high current was flowing through them). The basement area in which the explosion took place is currently being ventilated overnight.
Does anyone have any recommendations for further safety precautions or clean-up procedures?
Thanks
The guts of the batteries will be highly corrosive to any metal they landed on. Just the vapor can wreck PC board traces given enough time. A mild acid (vinegar has acetic acid) may help remove any corrosion that has already taken place, after using the acid you then have to neutralize/wash down to remove the acid. It's like the old lady that swallowed the fly...
Tim.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Someone in another group suggested that I follow the manufacturer's instructions for charging. :-)
FWIW, this happened because I was doing a fast charge. I'm usually very careful to stop the process as soon as there is any heat.
But this time I got called to dinner when I should have been watching the stew. Actually more like pop-corn!
On a more serious note, I am reminded about how familiarity breeds contempt and can often lead to compromising safety.
Anyway, cleaned up the mess. No real harm seems to have been done except I prolly blew up about $60.00 worth of nicad cells.
DOC Have robots. Will travel. http://www.robot-> snipped-for-privacy@sympatico.ca wrote:
i just exploded a NIMH camcorder 3.2 volt can.
i thought ok, i'll just connect this to my lowly wall wart for about 15 minutes. as usual i forgot about it. 1 hr later i hear this hissing high pressure gass sound, then KABOOOM! and i mean KABOOM! i was louder than an M80, and inside the house it seemed like an artillery shell had gone off. then i set about extinguishing the shards of plastic/copper foil and chemcal fires scattered around the room. very nasty indeed! can had propelled itself from the tabletop nearly through a sheetrock wall, then rebounded around a bit.
next time i do it outside , inside a metal fireproof trash container!
then again, the correct charger would avoid all this.
Spend a dollar and make a safe 14 hour charger.
----- DC+ ---Vin|LM317|Vout---+ ----- | Adj [R] | | +----------+----> To NiCd + Gnd -------------------------> To NiCd -
R = (C/10)/1.25 where C is the NiMh or NiCd maH spec.
Your wall wart must be a couple of volts higher than your NiMh or NiCd pack rated voltage.
This will be safe, even if it goes beyond 14 hours, but you don't want to leave your pack on it forever.
Ed
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