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.