LiPo Batteries / £540 for damages

[Chequered Flag Racing]

thread on racechat re the BRCA F1, GT10 summer series and batteries for the series

Lets talk cells....

Ok, so getting ready for the first meeting i have realised that my supper special £20 ebay Lipos are not on the list in the EB section.

Do i really have to go out and buy new cells just to take part in this event? I am competing in the GP2 class which is billed as being budget, but i can tell you if i have to get new cells for the event this will no longer be a budget event for me

my current packs are these http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Turnigy-5000mA...item5643984362

Can i race them? As far as i can see they offer no advantage, infact they push me 111grams OVERWEIGHT

The following is currently posted on racechat by the 12th section Qualifying Officer, Gareth Bevens in the same thread

Hi All,

Having seen the nature of this thread, I thought it would be a good location to share a little bit of info about a recent insurance claim...

A young racer recently bought some LiPo batteries from an online retailer selling through E-Bay, the battery arrived without incident and was taken, still sealed in its packet to said racers local club. The LiPo was opened at the club and immediately burst into flames (as I understand it, it was due to sub-standard wiring shorting the cell out), the racer made for the nearest door with the now alight battery, which consequently got dropped on the entrance hall carpet (which was only a couple of weeks old and had the school logo in it (the club uses the school to race at btw)).

Needless to say, a hole was burnt in the carpet, and the school presented an invoice to the club for the replacement of the carpet, the club in turn claimed on the BRCA insurance. When the insurance company investigated the claim and asked the question ‘Who is the importer of the batteries?’.

These cells had been bought from a supplier in China (I believe this was done in innocence) and had no CE marking or tractability, so the racer is now classed as the importer and found himself presented with a bill for £540 for damages to the School carpet from the insurance company....

I’m not trying to scare anyone off buying cells from E-Bay, all I am saying is be careful. The link above looks ok to me (with my limited knowledge) but it’s always worth checking what you’re buying and making sure the distributer has suitable credentials & insurance. Please note:- by stating it looks ok to me, I'm not accepting any responsibility for these cells

I’m going to let Jim know I’ve posted this and am happy for it to be updated if any of the info is inaccurate, but this is certainly my understanding of the discussions I’ve been privy to.

[Gazza]

Its hard to say if this is true or not But it came all the way from China in a sealed container and only burst into flames at the track . . . . how conveiant ?

I like most people have seen loads of videos on you tube where there blown up on purpose and it takes some doing the only way they burst into flames is the GAS and it has to be punchared first you may well have seen a puffed Cell in a hard case . . . that tells you you did some thing wrong some where

BUT NO the BRCA want it in a LiPo sack / bag where you cant see it puffing up. . . really stupid idea IMHO

The "and had no CE marking or tractability, so the racer is now classed as the importer and found himself presented with a bill for £540 for damages to the School carpet from the insurance company...."

I thought they said it caught on fire of cause it wont have an CE mark its burnt off


I fly model planes like a few others. We charge at 1C and use the soft cell ones and to see planes crash from 500ft and then you go and get the bits the lipo DOES not burst into flames bent / warped may be but never on fire . . . YET

So is the post Genuine . . . you tell me

[superdez]

If cells were imported from China, and there was no distributor within the U.K/E.U. then technically the person who imports the cells become the first distributor within the E.U.

The general product safety regulations covers this area of safety law, however it would seem that the the regulations covers a product that has been placed on the market within the E.U. As the cells were not placed on the market then I believe that the insurance company should not have treated the purchaser as an importer and attached liability to the purchaser.

[Gazza]

surley to be a distributor you must buy / import and then sell on yes. . . .

[DCM]

The cynical inside me tells me that there is more going on than reported. Cells won't just 'burst into flames' on opening the packet, as the packet would of been swollen at least upon receipt.

As for the insurance, looking at a way of scape goating a payout?

[liam]

Sounds like a pile of balls to me.

If somethings on fire the last thing your gonna do is pick it up!

You would end up with the skin melted off your hand possable losing all the feeling in your hand altogether!

Id make a counter claim saying that the club was was negligent in not enforcing/ fully notifing the "rules".


Id tell them to prove there claim in a court of law....should test the waters abit....talking of waters....does sound a little bit fishy this random exploding bit.

No doubt there all made in the same factory like your m&s V's asda ready meals!

[jasonb]

Originally Posted by Gazza

BUT NO the BRCA want it in a LiPo sack / bag where you cant see it puffing up. . . really stupid idea IMHO

Have you ever been sat in the pits when the guy opposite has a lipo go bang due to a charger failure?
I have at the worlds in Germany and its not funnyif that cell had been in a sack the nobody would have got a face full of the noxious shite that spews forth and said racer probably wouldnt have lost.most of the gear on his pit table. No one watches their cells like a hawk when they are charging the racer in question was off truing tryes at the time (lucky for him).

Lipo sacks are a MUST in my opinion.

Jason

[DCM]

This thread has opened up a massive can of wriggly worms re: BRCA insurance and what it does for you.

[Chequered Flag Racing]

Originally Posted by jasonb

Have you ever been sat in the pits when the guy opposite has a lipo go bang due to a charger failure?
Lipo sacks are a MUST in my opinion.

Been close to NiMh's when they went bang, indoors at Chesterfield and a local off-road regional and folk weren't advised to charge them in ammo boxes . Chesterfield indoor pits and people sat on top of each other and outdoors the tent got burnt.

[mark christopher]

Originally Posted by jasonb

Have you ever been sat in the pits when the guy opposite has a lipo go bang due to a charger failure?
I have at the worlds in Germany and its not funnyif that cell had been in a sack the nobody would have got a face full of the noxious shite that spews forth and said racer probably wouldnt have lost.most of the gear on his pit table. No one watches their cells like a hawk when they are charging the racer in question was off truing tryes at the time (lucky for him).

Lipo sacks are a MUST in my opinion.

Jason

Lipo bags are only needed if racers don't take their charger off nimh mode before charging lipo, the said racer would not have lost his gear...........
It's common sence that's needed.

[mark christopher]

I'd like to know what the policy says.
I know your not covered if your not covered while marshaling unless your on your marshal point