Caution: Work With Lithium Batteries Not Permitted

[Chuckt]

Caution: Work With Lithium Batteries Not Permitted

I saw a yellow caution sign on the door of an engineering classroom in an expensive college.
Is this the sign of the future? Do they know something we don't? Are there insurance problems?

Don't ask me the name of the college. I won't say the name to people I don't know and I will only tell people I know in private.

The facility offers a rare look the production of lithium ion cells—errors during which have proven to be a critical factor in battery explosions.

http://www.engin.umich.edu/college/abou ... -batteries

[Garth]

It sounds like the Pintos' reputation for their gas tanks exploding when the car is rear-ended. I read that it was only a fraction of a percent of those that were rear-ended that exploded or caught fire; and in fact my sister-in-law was rear-ended in a Pinto, and as usual, nothing happened. That's not to say something shouldn't be done about the danger though.

I'm not too crazy about the marketing that made lithium-ion batteries so ubiquitous. Is there really such a need? I hated NiCd batteries' memory and fast self-discharge, but although lead-acid's ratio of size or energy to weight is not as good as that of lithium, it does have some advantages. One is cost. Fo another, I designed a product for our company several years ago using a D-size lead-acid, because when it was between uses, it was to be on a charger on a roofless vehicle that was to be parked sometimes in the sun and sometimes out of the sun, and the unpredictably varying temperature would fool the charger for the lithium batteries. The lead-acid was much easier to charge quickly without risking damage from overcharging. It worked great. There are probably quite a lot of products that could use lead-acid instead of lithium, if it were made in as many sizes.