Don’t turn your lithium battery into a bomb!

Cells gassing because of an internal short circuit

The internal short circuit of a lithium battery’s cell is a very rare phenomenon. It can occur if there is a low quality for the manufacturing of cells.

If a short circuit occurs, the cells’ internal temperature will increase. The pressure inside the cell will become more important which will release hot gasses under pressure.

A single 18650 cell gassing can release up to 40 litres of gas per minute. 40 litres per minute! The temperature of these gasses can reach up to 350 to 520 °C.

Thus, it is essential to have a safety vent inside your battery in order to realise these so-called gasses. Otherwise, your battery may turn into a bomb!

The condensation inside batteries

There is another advice I can give you. It is essential to limit the condensation inside the battery in order to avoid breakdowns caused by corrosion. It may also impact the security of your battery and become really dangerous.

Even a battery which is renowned to be waterproof will have condensation inside because of the temperature variations. The result will be emergence of water inside the casing of your battery.

A lithium battery must be able to breathe. There is a solution in order to solve these two problems: add a respirator.

The respirator will allow you to achieve two essential functions regarding safety:

• The first function is to evacuate gasses if a cells gassing occurs inside your battery,
• The second function is to allow air exchange between the battery’s interior and exterior.

There are several respirators manufacturers who sell various sizes of respirators, as well as IP67 or IP68 waterproof ones. They are fitted with a PTFE breathable membrane.

It will also be necessary to properly dimension the respirator according to the air volume of your battery.

Thank you for your attention, see you next week to answer a new question.