Wednesday afternoon I let my dogs out and noticed a white mist coming from the back of my RV, I knew right away I had a problem. I opened the door and was greeted with a lung full of smoke. I grabbed the fire extinguisher and ran around to the driver back side and unplugged the shore power and than opened the door next to that where I have my solar battery bank and found the fire. I got it put out within a minute but damage was already done. It looks like my lithium BMS failed and one of the 3.2 volt batteries over charged and caught fire, it took out the inverter (brand new) and all the other batteries. So far nothing major was damaged BUT some house wires that run about 2 feet inside the compartment are toast and no good wire is visible making it tough to replace, also my black water tank is next to that and it is melted some at the top. I know my hot water heater is some of the wires that are burnt because the breaker is flipped. I'm still going to do solar for boondocking but have learnt a valuable lesson with lithium batteries and how to make sure that never happens again. Any ideas on how to accesses the wire that run between the floor and the storage area is greatly appreciated.
2005 itasca suncruiser 38r
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Very sorry to hear that. Good luck - stay safe. Gad you caught it before a blaze started.
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Wayne MSGT USMC (Ret) & Earlene (CinCHouse)
2015 Winnebago Tour 42QD - 2020 Lincoln Nautilus Reserve (TOAD)
(RVM-14) It is what it is, and then it is what you make of it.
That is just awful that the battery caught fire. The way I use my motorhome, I don't really have a requirement for lithium batteries. So, is the lesson here to return to conventional lead acid batteries, or is it something else?
May you have a speedy repair.
Eagle5
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2019 Minnie Winnie 22M on an E-450 frame
I'm staying with lithium because of how efficient they can be drained. I sell maintenance and repair items and have a chemical fire safe that's just the right size that'll fit inside my largest storage compartment, it has a slide so it'll slide out for easy access, I also have put in a "smart" fire detector in the same compartment so I'll be notified if there's another fire before it can take off. I'm changing my charge settings to under recommended setting so it'll float charge sooner. Lastly I'm using a much better BSM, one that will disconnect my batteries if they fall below freezing.
Question: could have you left the Li battery disconnected, if you were not staying in the RV? What BNS/controller were you using? What brand of battery?
Thanks
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Bob Austin--celebrating 60 years of RVing
2013 Via 25T
Pensacola, FL