Interesting. In one of the pictures published in the MyBroadband article, you see a couple of guys in high-visibility jackets marked Rhino Energy. If you click around a bit, they do seem to like Huawei solar inverters in their installs. Not much info on who made the battery though… which is what I really wanted to know ![]()
Took this away from your post Plonk …
O, also took this away from the fire …
To switch off a Lifepo4 battery, maybe I must consider putting the fuses “outside” where one can get to them without having to get close to the flames … must ponder on this some more.
It may or may not be something that Won some Freedom… ![]()
Jip.
No-one I have spoken to in the last few years could even remotely begin to convince me that their product can extinguish my 18 x 280ah cells if they ever do have a “hissy fit”.
In talking to engineers, having a 17kW bank inside the house, none of them thought it was the best idea.
Hence the bank moved to the garage.
As a matter of fact.
If ever there is a “heated altercation” with said bank, I’m opening both garage doors for good ventilation whilst having a beer from a distance, watching the “show” waiting for the fire brigade …
As dunking the bank it in a big pool of water never got off the ground …
There, I fixed it:
Note:
This is not legal or correct advice for anyone … ok!?
Why ventilate?
To not leave the opportunity for stuff to blow the shiite up - the hydrogen part of said fire, my takeaway of these types of fires.
I must actually follow up with a guy living not too far from me, it came up the other day in a conversation over a beer, that he has got a green fire extinguisher in his battery room, he has no clue what it is, it was quoted on and supplied by the same guy who installed his Sunsynk 50 kW and HV battery bank.
When he serviced all other fire extinguishers on his property at the beginning of the year, the guy who came to do the service apparently told him that he can’t service that type of extinguisher yet, he is only going on courses to do it later in the year, but that it’s currently pretty much the best type of extinguisher a home owner can have for lithium batteries. He did however note that all it will do is give the fire brigade more time to get to your place with the proper stuff.
And what about the EV in the garage??
Good question. Basically, if a car (any car) is on fire in your garage, the house is going with it. This idea that people have that somehow a traditional petrol car is safer, is false.
Secondly, there are two sides to risk. The one is likelihood, and the other is severity. Things that have a high likelihood but low severity are annoyances, and things that have low likelihood and high severity are insurable events.
EV fires have a lower likelihood than petrol fires. Estimates vary, but it is somewhere between 20 and 60 times less likely. When you do have a fire, the severity is a lot worse though. Overall, I don’t think you need to park the car outside. That is an unreasonable level of fear. In fact, if you want to park a car outside, rather park the petrol car outside. Technically the risk is higher on that one.
There is another part that is very important here. A small portion of the gas generated when an LFP cell is in thermal runaway, is HCN (Hydrogen Cyanide) and HF (Hydrogen Flouride). Both of these are pretty vile, but HF is a real bugger. It causes real chemical damage to the airways and the lungs.
What EV?
Three petrol/diesel vehicles in garage, all parked unlocked, automatic car parked in N,
So all can be pushed out if the gasses have not overwhelmed the space.
I.e. no need to run for keys, just release the handbrake and “away we go!”
Or not. House and cars are insured.
The garage is also separate from the main house, just a flat on top of the concrete slab.
But if there was a EV, it would be parked furthest from the battery bank in any event.
Hence watching the “show” from a distance …
I contacted my house insurer to enquire about covering this risk. They said no disclosure was required and they have included this.
That takes care of the loss (hopefully) but on another level you need to assess your risk to life. I’m surprised this hasn’t had more attention (or maybe I wasn’t paying attention..)
Recently I added Accidental Damage to the cover under Buildings for the solar system.
Maybe people should ask their insurers exactly what is covered. Mine was covered excl surges - now has that cover as well as if the system is accidently dropped or some such.
Also to ask, what insurer require during the claim submission - if ever there is a claim.
The impact of the specialised extinguishers does not appear as dramatic as the mybb article quotations suggest. From the manufacturer of the extinguishers own video footage it seems that copious amounts of water played a very significant role.
Proper protective gear and at least some training and exposure to firefighting are clearly also prerequisites. If you do not have good access to the cells, you are probably just as likely to succeed with magic beans, as opposed to the fire running out of fuel.
(can’t upload video, so chose some moments and converted to gif).
EDIT: simplified single gif showing sequence
Moment door is opened and specialised extinguishers are sprayed to interior of container:
For a while all appears well, until it doesn’t:
Water and specialised extinguishers used to control flames:

by all reports no injuries reported during this incident (one firefighter did temporarily lose his helmet with the flashover…)
