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Unless I missed something, there is no mention of the risk. (e.g. what % of house fires are caused by small low voltage/low capacity cells? By what factor do st

Unless I missed something, there is no mention of the risk. (e.g. what % of house fires are caused by small low voltage/low capacity cells? By what factor do storage interventions reduce that risk?) There is a "Battery Safety" link near the bottom of the page but it's 404.

RecycledEle 3y ago
If you store batteries in metal containers, you can expect sparks. If you store your batteries in the same drawer as your bare wire, you can expect sparks. If those batteries are Lithium Ion type, they might smoke or even catch fire. The claim that taping AAA cells will save lives seems far fetched. Relevant parody/commentary from Reason TV: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eXWhbUUE4ko https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eXWhbUUE4ko
- EricE 3y ago
  Yes, I rolled my eyes at the AAA thing. Safety Third!
ChuckMcM 3y ago
There is a vanishingly small chance of your battery disposal box being the source of a fire in your house. The Fire Cause Analysis have reported one for sure, and another possible in the years 2017 - 2022. Out of all the fires that is a small number. That said, Lithium Ion batteries in the "recycling pipeline" (usually E-waste pipeline) have been suspected as the source of a big increase in fires[1]. This isn't particularly surprising given that more and more electronics make those batteries not removable, and just exposure to air by lithium metal can cause it to catch fire (no current or spark required). So if you put a cell phone through a crusher, very good chance there will be a fire in the resulting waste slurry. I'm watching for legislation that requires all electronics sold to have removable batteries. Manufacturers will pitch that as "and now you can swap out the battery!" but it will be because of the disposal risk. [1] https://www.wastedive.com/news/high-number-of-facility-fires-in-2022-prompts-renewed-look-at-battery-recyc/645682/ https://www.wastedive.com/news/high-number-of-facility-fires...

RecycledEle 3y ago

If you store batteries in metal containers, you can expect sparks. If you store your batteries in the same drawer as your bare wire, you can expect sparks. If those batteries are Lithium Ion type, they might smoke or even catch fire. The claim that taping AAA cells will save lives seems far fetched. Relevant parody/commentary from Reason TV: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eXWhbUUE4ko https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eXWhbUUE4ko

EricE 3y ago
Yes, I rolled my eyes at the AAA thing. Safety Third!

ChuckMcM 3y ago

There is a vanishingly small chance of your battery disposal box being the source of a fire in your house. The Fire Cause Analysis have reported one for sure, and another possible in the years 2017 - 2022. Out of all the fires that is a small number. That said, Lithium Ion batteries in the "recycling pipeline" (usually E-waste pipeline) have been suspected as the source of a big increase in fires[1]. This isn't particularly surprising given that more and more electronics make those batteries not removable, and just exposure to air by lithium metal can cause it to catch fire (no current or spark required). So if you put a cell phone through a crusher, very good chance there will be a fire in the resulting waste slurry. I'm watching for legislation that requires all electronics sold to have removable batteries. Manufacturers will pitch that as "and now you can swap out the battery!" but it will be because of the disposal risk. [1] https://www.wastedive.com/news/high-number-of-facility-fires-in-2022-prompts-renewed-look-at-battery-recyc/645682/ https://www.wastedive.com/news/high-number-of-facility-fires...