My Hurricane Burned Up Dude ,feel The Sadness Coming Over Me :(

[Fredrick]

well this happened sunday mornig while my family was still sleeping. somehow either my fp lipo pack caught fire,or the rx batterypack that came with my brand new Spektrum dx7 transmitter. the story goes like this:
afte a few flights saturday afternoon i checked my 5s 3700 evo 20 pak i't was cool to tje touch no heat at all an no puffing at all, checked again after 15 min stil a ok.
everything was disconnected an turned off.
went too sleep, then or teenage daughter came running in to our bedroom screaming FIRE! THERE'S A FIRE IN YOUR HELIKOPTER!!!!!!!
i thought oh my god.... ran out of bed and put the fire out, but though to late to save my brand spanking NEW and uppgraded heli and also new Spektrum dx 7. will post pics here of the heli. posted this in a forum here in Norway as well with pics. but people seem to think that the cause was the rx batt. pack. judge by your selves guys.
and by the way i did not have any insurance how about the reliability of the manufacturer in this case FlightPower or Spektrum ho made this batterypaks? i use both of them cause i thiught this was safe but now i'm a bit skeptic abou the whole thing. if anybody working for those guys see this thred please pm me for what to do in this matter.
will also post pics of my burned dx7 later today
PLEASE ADVISE!
With regards from very sad heli Pilot :(

[Pinecone]

Hmm, Rx pack, did you leave the Rx on?

Sorry to see your heli like that.

[Fredrick]

NO i alway check that sort of stuff and the switch is still in off position after the fire. and the cable was unatached as well.
+ the heat f.... up all my cnc parts ( they are now warped an unusable )

[E - 4]

sorry man thats awful

hope it all works out in the end

[Kepler]

I'm shocked. Really sorry to see your miss fortune.

So how have other people come to the conclusion that it was the RX pack? Was this a lipo or a NiMH pack? I am presuming that it would be NiMH pack and even if left on wouldnt cause a fire, it would just go dead flat.

I have always been parenoid about this sort of accident and always removed my lipos from the model and usually store in a big clay pot. I even have a smoke detector mounted above the pot just incase. I have been a bit slack at times though and just placed the lipos in a draw rather then in the pot. Your incident is a wake up call to me and I am going off right now to the work shop and make sure all my lipos are stored properly.

Again really sorry to see this happen.

[Phoinix]

Hard to determine what started where. Did you check your burned pack for any sharp damage? Do you keep your packs on the helicopter? I always have my packs seperated from helicopter and since i got lipo safe bag, i use it all the time.

Where do you have your rx pack? If it's under the front two servos, it's most probably your cause as your hurricane is burned from that point up and sideways and your skid assy is relatively in tact.

I'm glad nothing else caught fire.

[bstock]

Sorry about your heli... that is truly a bummer!

You described one of my worst fears... a fire inside my home.



I have never heard of a Nimh (or Nicad) pack just catching fire on its own, for no reason - or even a Lipo either for that matter.

if they were not on a charger... then the Nimh (or Nicad) pack were part of a dead short which caused part of the electrical system to burn up something (which caught the rest of it on fire)... or did you crash (even had a bad landing) and slightly puncture the lipo maybe, and didn't notice it at the time?

THANK GOD your family and your home are ok!!!

Brent

[Mikej]

Sorry to see that mate - that's awfull. I guess that we should just be grateful that no-one was hurt due to the fire

[Fredrick]

yes i really feel lukky in the sence that my family is ok but i really got a wakeupcall that morning.

[Stallion]

oh man i am deeply sorry for your loss and glad that nothing worse happened! This makes me think about my lipo handling!! It is incredible how dangerous these things can be!

I hope you are not giving up heli flying!

Best Regards

[dennis052]

Sorry for what happened to you. I am worrying now as I have more than 10 lipo stored in the garage. May I ask what type of connector you use for the RX battery? I found out that the JST type of connector is very dangerous. One of my pack has some metal wires exploded that two (+ and -) terminal may short together in certain position. The pack has been used for a year and the wires came off a bit due to mulitple connection and disconnection to the charger/BEC. Is it possible that somehow the RX battery shorted, heat created and trigger big fire from the LIPO battery above? This is what I thought after reviewing the pictures.

Maybe not the case for you as you may not use BEC or use the original servo plug type plug instead. Just a thought.

[DebianDog]

I have never heard of or seen a FP pack "light up" unless it was overcharged or damaged.

I have about 15 packs in and around my office all the time in various states of charge.

[trillian]

Wow, that sux big time. That looks absolutely horrid.

I have never heard of a nicad catching fire though. I would tend to suspect the lipos first.

[ukgroucho]

That is terrible. Sorry for the loss of your Hurricane but I'm so glad that it was not much worse...your house and your family are all OK. That is what really matters.

Had you recharged one or both packs? What does the Rx pack look like? I guess that the packs are the prime suspects but I would have thought that if the LiPo caught fire internally then it would have all burned... very hard to extinguish unless you have a suitable fire extinguisher.

[Fredrick]

so if there's a kind person out there with a cheap chopper for sale( trex 600 / e raptor / hurricane cf )
i would be very happy. don't think a can afford a new one for a while since i also have to buy a new radio set.
so pm me if your that guy:)

[concept1]

Sorry about your loss, it could have been much worse.
It doesn't look like a Total loss though. is the head still ok and how about your metal arms? i assume the tail is good as are 2 servo's? how is the Gyro? you might be able to change some wireing and be ok??

[ChasHeliCop]

This is one reason I don't store my packs in or near the heli. I bought this Security box "fireproof" from Walmart. $25. Only disadvantage is, if one goes........ they all go. Sorry to see that man, It would be interesting if you can determine the cause. Do you not carry home owners insurance over there ? It appears the fire started lower, front, right, based on the burn characteristics. Also looks like a Nimh there.

[Automan]

Im so sorry, i wich i could help you out, but i sold my hurry few weeks ago, if i had it i would have given it to you for free. Man a experience like that is amongst the worst you can get, hope you find someone that can help you out and offer you a good deal or something.

Good luck, and i hope all turns out to the best. Tonight im putting all my lipos in a safe place, up to now they have been sitting in heli or on my desk inside the house in my computer/hobbyroom.... im NOT doing that anymore after reading this thread.

[Raydee]

Man sorry to see that. Let that be a sad reminder that Lipo packs are still very dangerous and this can happen to ANY pack and to ANYone!