1b. Only fully charge a lipo, max a day or so before you are planing to use it. charging is fast, and it doesn't take more than a few minutes to fully charge a battery from storage.
2. Never charge a lipo outside of a flame retardant bag.
I'm sorry to have to burst your bubble but there are two caveats:
It takes much longer to charge a lipo from storage to full. Storage is about 10% state of charge, charge time definitely depends on charge current, but most chargers in the two to lower three digit price range can only do charge rates in the 1-2C range. 1C means you need about one and a half hour to pump your lipo up to 100%, 2C may lower that to about one hour. That's physics you can't cheat, higher rates will even have a worse ratio of charge current to time shortening. And of course there are a lot of Lipos that won't like more than 1C, and even if they do it shortens the life time.
If you're faster, you either
- do not storage low enough, or
- stop charging too early, e.g. it's not full, or
- have the balancing phase shortened or even omitted.
And second: such a bag does do a sh*t.
An exploding Lipo is a burst of hot gas with flames. The bag just directs it somewhere, usually out of the side of the flap. You're dealing with a flamethrower then instead of some really high barbeque, btdt.
You still need to redo your home if this happens inside, so the bag is only to conveniently store Lipos, but even that is bad because usually they're made of cheap glass fabric that breaks and loses glass pieces from the flap, penetrating your skin and irritating it when taking out the batteries.
You're either paranoid and use a metal box with fire retardand innards and filtered blow holes, like the Batsafe box, or cheap and have an ammo box without seals (but that is the same as the bag: the fire will just blow out the small slit between box and cover.
Or, you just store them in a standard box that prevents mechanical damage, some plastic is good because you can't have a short circuit.
Lipos explode on charge or mechanical damage, and short circuit.
While charging you NEED to be close so you can react immediately, and have measures ready for when it happens. Like Sand, fire extinguisher or by doing it somewhere where nothing happens except fireworks.
Mechanical damage and shorting happens when you're crash driving usually, so no danger for your home. Your surroundings may have a problem, but you're prepared
When stored (regardless of the charge state) absolutely nothing happens when they're not damaged, shorted or overheated.
So, the rules where i live (germany) are
- never charge unsupervised
- never charge unprepared
- never charge without balancing
- never charge with too high rate (if you have the time even slower, it makes them live longer)
- check your devices regularly (most fires are f*cked chargers, recently a friend had an Imax B6 blow up, luckily the battery made some weird noise prompting emergency procedure, nothing happened except some good measure of adrenaline)
- charge only shortly before use
- take care for mech damage and shorts (carry in padded plastic box, caps on plugs)
- always store on 3.8 or slightly less volts (no danger when there's no charge, problems are always electric in nature)
- never discharge too deep (always use a lipo alarm on the vehicle)
- always look at the pack before using it (charging or driving): weird shape (swollen, broken seals) or damages (dents, marks, slits) and off it goes into the recycling
- a damaged pack is a bomb. store outside in a non inflammable container covered in sand, with the flamethrowing in mind: nothing in range that can get burnt or will take damage from the poisonous smoke. Connect discharge (like a small lamp) until deeply discharged (days) and recycle.
This is not to induce fear, it should induce respect. Lipos are not more dangerous as gasoline (may burn, explode and poison), lead acid batteries (H2/O2 explosion hazard, chemical burns from the acid, electric fires due to high currents) or nickels (steam throwing caustic liquid, also fire from shorts). You just need to handle them correctly, as every storage of energy in whatsoever state.
Everyone has a phone, no one cares that there is a Liion inside that may burn. Some exploded, most don't care.
A lot of people have a vaporizer nowadays instead of cigarettes, some even have a "mech", that is a battery, a switch and the glow wire and no protection or other curcuitry at all. Explosions are happening, but are few, no one cares.
A hell lot of cars have Lithium based batteries, some burn, usually after a fatal crash or on charge. Just like gasoline cars sometimes do. No one cares.
Why the fear for RC lipos? If you don't buy the cheapest sh*t you won't have problems if you care for them.
I have like two digits of kilograms of lithium batteries around me, and never had one blow up. Some identified as ballon animal and were recycled, and some were mistreated as to see what happens, and always needed a mech or electric start before giving a show.
Still, if someone does not want something like this in the home, i can live with that. Wonder if he has some phone, earbuds and other wireless modern stuff around the house, i'll do.
I'll never go back because weight is lower and power is way higher, so truck performance is no comparison between Nickels and Lithiums.
An, last not least, on topic:
I have a lot of friends using a cheap chinese 5€ ESC "with no brake" from ebay that comes in shrink wrap and works on 2S or 3S.
The "WOOW BOOB" is usually sold or not even bought at all and immediately replaced by this. Although every cheap ESC that can take your battery will do. A lot better than any winch controller, except for the remote control people that need a keyfob for the winch because the car remote has no free channel.
And to connect it to the battery there are some adapters on the market, or you could use some electrical stuff, we here often use these
https://www.wago.com/de/installationsklemmen/compact-verbindungsklemme/p/221-413
Also available in 5 pins (replace last digit with 5) if you want to add lights or sound, and 6mm²/10AWG (replace 4 with 6), this version even works on some bashers.
