Technical Milwaukee charger warning

One of my club members and coworker brought his charger in this morning he was cleaning his shop and found the counter black and hot to the touch , opened up the charger and found what you see no battery was in it . He lost his smell during Covid so that didn't tip him off. He had his 29 Nash,model A projects a 55 jeep and his 76 chevy pickup all his tools and more in there he could of lost a lot. I unplug my chargers that might be a good practice for everyone.

 

My DeWalt chargers state not to leave them plugged in when not in use. I will definitely make sure I keep them unplugged when I'm not using them now. That could have been disastrous!

Larry

 

Primal purchaser or 2nd hand?

 

I keep mine on a power strip that gets turned off when the charger is not used. The chargers are constantly on even when not charging, so this should increase life of the charger and no fires.

 

He bought it new and is going to talk to a rep.

 

My Mil charger is always in use because I store my "battery in waiting" on the charger until the one I'm using is discharged and then I swap them. One of them is always on the charger.

 

I had no idea. Just ran out to the garage and unplugged mine!

 

My insurance agent said battery chargers are a large cause of fires. I never leave mine on in an unattended shop.

 

Yeah, everyone thought I was crazy for unplugging my chargers when not in use, now I don't feel crazy anymore!

 

This can overcharge the battery and lowers the life expectancy of the battery. Best to remove from the charger until needed. Plus the fire risk.

 

Thanks for posting, sure to save a couple of shops.

 

Im surprised we don't here about peoples garages burning down all the time from lithium tool batteries spontaneously catching fire

 

I suppose it's a lot like many other things in life, there might be a one in 500,000 chance of this happening but when it does there's a bunch of news stories about it. I leave my two Milwaukee chargers plugged for over two years and never had an issue but I'm thinking differently now.

Remember the old saying about planes that land safely don't make headlines.

 

We’ve had 3 dumpster fires at work when dead batteries were tossed in the cardboard bins. We have this big auger thing that compresses and packs the dumpster until it’s full.

 

I apologize, I didn't read the JD's post correctly. I was thinking he was referring to chargers.

I haven't had any experience with lithium batteries busting into fire but I've seen a few videos where the inner materials were exposed to water and bursting into flames. I would doubt crushing them would break them open exposing to an environment that would cause to short out. Specially care needs to be taken to dispose of them safely. I haven't looked but I'm sure there are warnings on them.

 

i have watched videos of them crushing one at a time and nothing happens but when you crush two at a time together they catch on fire almost every time. didn't seem to matter what brand they are. some of the scrap yard fires around here are blamed on these type of batteries thrown out in the regular scrap.

i have also seen videos on electric bikes thrown in canals in amsterdam and they claim if you remove an electric bike that battery needs to be taken out immediately otherwise that bike after it starts drying out will catch fire within 48 hours of being removed. I have heard of 4 electric bikes burning down buildings and i heard about 1 battery operated drill that burnt a carpet store down in ca. about year and a half ago.

they say you are suppose to keep your tool batteries in a metal cabinet when not in use but so many people i know just leave them plug in around their shops.

 

My SF fireman neighbor just had a a battery operated pool sweep catch fire. Lucky damage was minor, I asked what he paid for it he replied about 200$. I told him, you should have sprung for the 500$ one. He also lamented on how battery chargers are becoming a huge problem in the city.

 

I charge my re-packed (by me) lithium battery packs in the middle of the driveway, so the only thing that can burn is a bit of concrete. I trust my work, but I don't trust chinese batteries. Only have to do that for a few hours every month.

 

Hey 36 roadster, your FREE BEER- Just click here, doesnt work when I click on it. Damn !

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My air tools never caught fire. Just saying.

 

And, wait for it... They're Traditional.

 

I have a friend that lost a garage, 2 collector cars (one he bought new, and one he bought his wife as a new car) and a garage full of tools because of one of those battery pack chargers catching fire. I don't believe he was charging the battery at the time but it was plugged in.

 

2 yrs ago, I had a good buddy of mine sit his charger and battery pack on his fireplace mantle as he was doing some work inside the house and needed the drill.

Anyway it sits there about an hour then he decides to run to his shop to grab some other tools, gets home 1/2 hour later and as he's unlocking his front door he can hear his smoke alarms going off.

Runs in and finds the battery and charger on fire along with the wood mantle. Knocks the charger onto the fireplace hearth and kicks it into the fireplace, grabs an extinguisher and puts the wood mantle out.

He was lucky that the whole front of the fireplace is stone so nothing but the mantle caught fire at this point, he said the ceiling was blackened above it so it probably wouldn't have been long before it caught fire.

After that he keep the batterys and chargers out in his big shop on a metal table away from anything that was combustible.

Not the only friend I know of that had small fires from them, just the most scary one or could have been a lot worse and quickly too...

..

 

I never leave my chargers plugged in not in use

 

I still have my electric drill motors.... A 3/8" drive and a 1/2" drive....
I don't own battery powered garbage..... Well, except for my teeth brush....

 

I'm going to ask a question. In Australia our power points have an actual on/off switch as part of the unit, whether it's a single, dual or even up to 6 outlet. Each one has an on/off switch. In the U.S.A I take it your wiring system is different from what I've seen on' setting up a shop' threads. I'm not slagging on an particular system, just curious.
I ask because my battery chargers aren't activated till I flick the switch, the rest of the time they're still plugged in.

 

Being in the bicycle business, I see the pics and hear some of the stories about battery powered bikes that have caught fire and burned shops up. Got a good customer who is a fire captain in a nearby city, and he tells me that the FD is scared of all this shit, from Teslas, etc., to what's posted here.
Extension cords and plug in tools for me. I may trip over a cord and kill myself, but I don't expect them to kill me while I sleep.
Traditional. 110V and 220V.

 

My coworker and club buddy that I posted about neighbors house burned to the ground this winter his new ford truck melted to the frame it was a battery left in a charger, a RV dealer up in Minot burned up guess how a tech left a battery in his charger. Battery powered tools are great but there not the old nicad of old we need to be aware.