ISOLATE your charging area

Isolate your charging area from any potential secondary ignition or fuel sources for the fire, including:

• Other batteries, charging or model related equipment unrelated to charging
• Anything else flammable – from workbenches to paints, model fuels gas or paint aerosols, through to mowers, boats and cars

This theme is proving the most obvious and most actionable one amongst our local discussion group.   It is obvious in retrospect.  Some ideas explored below.

To minimise the risk of a potential chain reaction resulting from an incident, clear the immediate charging area of anything potentially flammable. Clear other batteries away or into a protected box, same with gas containers, paint, chemical of other flammables (consider filing cabinets, fire-proof boxes etc.), lawn mowers or fuel containers.  And don’t forget the cars!

Even better, consider charging in a dedicated shed or area outside to keep any fire and associated smoke in the open.  A simple yet effective starting point may well be an electric barbeque, or gas without supply or cylinder nearby – with some combination of a flat plate and a hood and likely outside and a little isolated.  Some of our local community are now setting up their batteries in a portable cabinet from the local hardware store, with chargers and an extension lead so it can easily be moved out into open space while in use. Going further there are plans to add a chimney to route smoke up, and a hose inlet for remote addition of water dousing. It may sound extreme, but we believe worth the effort.

Another theme we are seeing is simply minimising charging at home – preferring to charge in dedicated areas at work or at a hobby site clubhouse. This has the advantage of added supervision from multiple eyes and ears, while lowering the volume (and risk) of charging at home.