9v Battery Fire

Recharging battery ignites garage fire

An exploding rechargeable battery sparked a fire which razed a garage and sleepout including all the possessions of two Waikato brothers.

The Tauwhare teenagers were inside watching television with their mother when they saw flames racing up the outside of the sleepout.

The woman, who only wanted to be known as Mrs Jenkins, said her two sons, aged 17 and 18, and their two friends had been charging a variety of the batteries in their bedroom within the garage on Wednesday night.

The batteries were needed for paintball guns the Matamata College students were planning to use the next day.

But about 11pm flames were roaring from the building.

"When I rang 111 there were flames and then as I was on the phone the glass windows were smashing. The fire brigade turned up and we had to move the car back out of the way and once it was all put out the fire had gone through a lot of the garage as well."

The boys were left shaken and with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.

Waikato fire safety officer Ross Fleet said the explosion served as a warning to others who used the rechargeable batteries.

"It's not neglect it's just purely chance that they blew up ... but there are some quite strong recommendations at the time you purchase and unpack these types of batteries."

The fire was caused by a 9v electric polymer lithium battery "decomposing" as it was being charged.

The batteries had also been subject to product recalls several times, Mr Fleet said.

Mrs Jenkins has banned them from her house. "I just wouldn't buy them. I've got kids, it's not worth the risk."

Bruce Griffiths, of Jaycar Electronics in Frankton, said the batteries were popular as they were compact, quick to charge and provided a high voltage.

"You get a lot of power out of them rather than other sorts of rechargeable batteries of the same weight and size, that's why they're popular in model helicopters, cars and toys."

He was not surprised to hear of the explosion however he said people needed to keep an eye on the batteries as they were being charged. He also warned people to check batteries for damage if buying them over the internet.

Overview about radio-interlinked smoke alarms

Notifies all the other alarms in the house per radio signal, triggering them to activate their sounders as well, hence notifying the occupiers of the building accross the entire building – and without the need for interconnecting cables.

The RadioLINK technology deployed by Ei Electronics is split into two categories:

1) Basic RadioLINK interconnection (models Ei3100RF as well as Ei140 with radio base): If one alarm goes off, all alarms go off. There is also the possibility to test the alarms with a remote test device and to use manual break points connected also with radio-interlink. However, the customer cannot for example silence or locate sounding alarms remotely. One alarm in such a system can act as a repeater to increase the reach of the network.

2) As above but with Remote Control Functionality (models Ei600 as well as Ei160 and Ei2110 with radio-base). Remote Control Functionality offers the possibility to remote test, hush and locate the alarms. Each smoke alarm unit can also act as a repeater, allowing these systems to cover larger buildings.

All of the above units can be ‘housecoded’, meaning that the smoke alarms will only communicate with alarms from the same group and not with your neighbour’s system. This is achieved through simple housecoding of the units when you install the alarms.

Where is the power-supply coming from?

The radioLINK units have different sources of power-supply:

Ei3100RF series: 9V block batteries, which need to be changed every year

Ei600 series: Sealed longlife batteries which will last the full ten year life of the smoke alarms

Ei140 series: Mains powered (usually from nearest light fitting) plus a 9V block battery as backup. Again, the 9V battery should be replaced every year.

Ei160 series  and Ei2110: Mains powered (usually from nearest light fitting) plus a re-chargeable, longlife lithum battery which will last the full ten year life of the smoke alarm.

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Montgomery Ward [catalogue].

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