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Anyone have a fire ball extinguisher (or something similar) placed on top of your PW? Which one did you get?
- Thread starter Odobo
- Start date
I don't have much confidence in a fire extinguisher putting out a Lithium battery fire once it starts. The reason is that a fire extinguisher relies on smothering a fire and depriving it of external Oxygen. The electrolyte produces oxygen as it oxidizes and supplies the fire with the oxygen it needs. I would put more faith in the construction of a Powerwall that prevents a cell from overheating or isolates it if it has an internal short. If that fails, the best risk management might be a heat detector so the occupants had enough warning if something did go wrong.
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For tesla vehicles, many times firefighters are given the advice to "let it burn out". There is likely no residential "fire extinguisher" you can get, to put above a powerwall, and have it do a darn thing if that happened.
You would be better served at getting decent heat detection or something so you can get away in the very very rare chance that might happen, than spend money on something trying to put that type of fire out.
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Save your cash.
The fireball extinguishers really aren't designed for a battery fire, nor are the Freon type smothering ones. There is too much energy in a battery. @Ampster gave a great description of what happens. There are some nice YouTube videos if you are curious. Locally, I noticed that the firefighting advice has shifted from "water it until cold" to "let it burn" and stand back.
I'm with @jjrandorin; I would invest in belt and suspenders style fire and heat alarms. If you haven't installed it yet, I would consider putting them on a concrete wall.
All the best,
BG
The fireball extinguishers really aren't designed for a battery fire, nor are the Freon type smothering ones. There is too much energy in a battery. @Ampster gave a great description of what happens. There are some nice YouTube videos if you are curious. Locally, I noticed that the firefighting advice has shifted from "water it until cold" to "let it burn" and stand back.
I'm with @jjrandorin; I would invest in belt and suspenders style fire and heat alarms. If you haven't installed it yet, I would consider putting them on a concrete wall.
All the best,
BG
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I wouldn't recommend putting a fire extinguisher near the thing you think will be on fire. I would put it some where away from the PW that is easily accessible.
That said, if you insist on having a fire extinguisher for your PW, use a standard ABC or dry chemical fire extinguisher. Litihium ion batteries are considered a Class B fire. Link to article below.
How Do You Put Out a Lithium-Ion Battery Fire?
Discover how to prevent and extinguish lithium-ion battery fires to keep your workplace safe and operational.
resources.impactfireservices.com
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IMO, I think the safest bet is the following. Vines and Wwhitney can help to design this...
1) Mount the Powerwalls on a concrete slab. Preferably one with a solid rebar base of at least 8 gauge.
2) Then make sure you put some bollards around it. Needs impact rating of 3,000 Newtons (to stop a Cybertruck).
3) Make sure you put some rise of rate heat sensors above the Powerwalls and below the Powerwalls.
4) Make sure your conduits are "quick disconnecting" (Eaton or Square D is fine)
5) Then what you want to do is rig up some high power explosives under the concrete slab (explosives must added after the concrete has cured).
6) If a fire is detected on this concrete slab, then the explosives will detonate.
7) The result is the Powerwall will be blown away from your house... at least 50 feet.
8) Then it won't be your problem any more of a thermal runaway event in your garage.
(it seemed cooler in my head when I first started thinking about this).
1) Mount the Powerwalls on a concrete slab. Preferably one with a solid rebar base of at least 8 gauge.
2) Then make sure you put some bollards around it. Needs impact rating of 3,000 Newtons (to stop a Cybertruck).
3) Make sure you put some rise of rate heat sensors above the Powerwalls and below the Powerwalls.
4) Make sure your conduits are "quick disconnecting" (Eaton or Square D is fine)
5) Then what you want to do is rig up some high power explosives under the concrete slab (explosives must added after the concrete has cured).
6) If a fire is detected on this concrete slab, then the explosives will detonate.
7) The result is the Powerwall will be blown away from your house... at least 50 feet.
8) Then it won't be your problem any more of a thermal runaway event in your garage.
(it seemed cooler in my head when I first started thinking about this).
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I wouldn't recommend putting a fire extinguisher near the thing you think will be on fire. I would put it some where away from the PW that is easily accessible.
That said, if you insist on having a fire extinguisher for your PW, use a standard ABC or dry chemical fire extinguisher. Litihium ion batteries are considered a Class B fire. Link to article below.
How Do You Put Out a Lithium-Ion Battery Fire?
Discover how to prevent and extinguish lithium-ion battery fires to keep your workplace safe and operational.
I am not referring to a regular fire extinguisher, but the type that you place above a electric panel and activate when there is a fire. I checked and saw lithium fire is class B and those extinguisher is for class ABC. That's why I was thinking to get 1 and place it above the PW.
I already have a heat detector installed. Just looking for another layer of protection in case something happen
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That's a little over my budget. I will see if I can setup a GoFundMe for this
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The reason the fire ball is pretty much useless, is that if a lithium battery has gone into thermal runaway nothing is really stopping it, short of crazy amounts of water directly on the modules within the steel powerwall enclosure.
The good news is that these batteries rarely go into thermal runaway, so the usefulness of such a device is pretty limited. The heat detector is really the best warning you have to get your loved ones away from the structure.
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And now fire blankets to limit the spread of fire;
www.allhandsfire.com
available for vehicles as well...
Bridgehill Lithium Battery Fire Blanket - Standard
DetailsBridgehill Lithium Battery Fire Blanket - Standard **We are stocking these items in limited quantities. Orders may take up to 3 months to be delivered** The simplest, safest and most effective way to isolate lithium battery fires. Lithium battery fires don't respond to traditional fire...
www.allhandsfire.com
available for vehicles as well...
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