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More Than 500,000 Hoverboards Recalled Because of Fire Hazards (go.com)
501,000 self-balancing scooters -- more popularly known as hoverboards -- are being recalled due to fire hazard concerns, said The U.S. Consumer Product Safety. The lithium-ion battery packs in the hoverboards can overheat -- which could result in sparking, smoking, fire, and explosion -- the agency added. ABC reports:The recall involves hoverboards from eight manufacturers/importers that are made with lithium-ion battery packs as well as 4,300 from Overstock.com and 1,300 from a store in Pennsylvania. Amazon.com is not listed in the recall, but in February, the online giant worked with the CPSC to offer refunds to any customer who wanted to return hoverboards purchased on the site. Hoverboards by Swagway make up more than half of those recalled -- 267,000. "We are urging consumers to act quickly," CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye told ABC News. "We've concluded pretty definitively that these are not safe products the way they were designed."
They listed a ton of brands. I think it would be easier to do a list of hoverboards that are NOT proven fire hazards, rather than the other way around.
Also is there some reason those lithium batteries only went into hoverboards? Or did some go into other devices - and are those other devices safe?
After all, it's not the wheels or actual standing area that's the problem.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
Is this directed at the GPU article from earlier today?
Otherwise while i've never owned a "hoverboard" most lithium batteries aren't 12v.
lithium chargers are typically some oddball voltage 4 4.1 4.2 15v or something hard to find like that.
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
... because they can't hover.
After the 15+ years of clinical trials... after which they will be fully covered and paid for by Medicaid, because some court will rule that welfare rats have a "constitutional right to personal transportation devices to look for a job"
However, private insurance won't cover them, and the cash pay price will be around $13,000.
Side effects include but are not limited to: Drymouth, dizzy spells, periodic tunnel vision, wandering elbow, reddening of the hair, sudden urge to leave the room, nostalgia, waxy build-up, sprocketing of the clavicle, and muscle cramps. A sudden fear of pancakes may occur, rarely resulting in fainting. Symptoms of grapheme-color synaesthesia occur about the same as with a placebo. Women must not take, handle, or sing songs about hoverboards, due to the risk of certain catastrophic birth defects. If your name starts with a K-sound, consult your doctor before starting a regimen of hoverboards. Like all hydroid-3 gamma inhibitors, hoverboards should be taken while in constant motion. If you experience frequent nosebleeds, have trouble remembering names and dates, or have nightmares about Henry Fonda, stop taking hoverboards. Children should not be told about hoverboards. Some sexual side effects may occur, followed by others. If people experience headaches in your presence, or if dogs bark disproportionately, contact your doctor immediately. Ask your doctor about hoverboards today. And start taking back your life.
They are a glorified 2 wheel motor-boards. They don't hover in any shape or form they are firmly planted to the ground by 2 wheels. This is a true hoverborad it actually hovers over air
http://www.wired.com/2015/10/how-the-most-promising-hoverboards-actually-work/
Jack of all trades,master of none
You really need help. Or a job if you have this much time on your hands. Lucky for you there are apps for both problems.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
Is the usual li-ion battery circuitry preventing overcharging missing/broken? Does the battery get crushed from the weight of the human? What's going wrong here?
"It can be dangerous!" doesn't tell me anything I don't already know about compact stores of energy.
Cheap, uncertified charging circuit designs and components rushed into production by about a zillion chinese companies trying to cash in on the craze. Combine that with the size of the battery packs (much larger than what you would find in most consumer electronics) and you get a nice, big fire hazard.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
The companies selling dangerous ones will get sued out of existence. The ones selling better ones will thrive. That's the market in action. Hillary doesn't have to get involved every time a kid scratches his knee. -- roman_mir
Or a couple of houses burn down but whatever...
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
or wannabe "hoverboards".
do the bloody math
I see what you did there... But I suspect that people dying on skateboards are usually not killed by skateboards.
Ezekiel 23:20
Now if we could only recall all of the douchebags who think it's cool to ride them. Extra points for vaping at the same time.
So this is a case of "Skateboards don't kill people, ... "
If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
I think something more appropriate would have been "Great Scott!"
The companies selling dangerous ones will get sued out of existence.
No, the shell corporations that own them will blow away with the smoke and business will resume under another shell.
Personally I suggest people who bought a product from a company called Swagway just stand on them and burn with their toy.
They just need to re-brand these as 'Hoverboard Extreme' and they can sell as many as they like. For the hipsters shooting vines of their hoverboard tricks, the added features of these so-called defects can only put more eyeballs on the link.
Really, LiIon, especially the newer formulations are quite easy to charge properly. Just set max voltage at 4.2V, current limit it to around 1C and cutoff at about 1/10 C and you're golden. It really says a lot that they managed to screw it up.
You're making a false assumption. If the hardware designer is tasked with coming up with the lowest-priced, cheapest-to-manufacture design which doesn't blow up before leaving the factory, he's doing a fine job.
Charging the various lithium chemistry batteries safely is not that difficult and no more complicated than most other battery chemistries although the failures are more serious. I think what is happening is that they are exceeding the safe power density of the batteries to reduce charge time and increase power.
3.7v is nominal, 4.2 is a typical max for charging. 3.3 is typical for cutoff, 3.0 is typical for LOW cutoff. some cutoffs are even set lower than 3, which I find quite shocking (forgive the pun).
if you find a battery that is more than 3.7v and uses lithium, its a true battery, meaning its comprised of CELLS and each cell is the 3.7v unit
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
I'm fairly certain you're wrong. As I recall most common rechargable batteries can simply be connected to a "dumb" charger that delivers "unlimited" current at [slightly less than maximum-charge voltage for the chemistry] and be fine - internal resistance will naturally ensure that actual current draw is limited to safe levels. With LiIon though, if I recall correctly, you have to be sure to current-limit the charger based on the battery capacity as it's quite capable of charging faster than it can safely dissipate the waste heat. There's also issues related to aging - unlike most batteries whose electrodes gradually degrade with time until they can't conduct electricity anymore, LiIons form tendrils that will eventually short the electrodes together, causing 100% of delivered power to be dissipated as heat and potentially causing fires even at what would have been safe charging currents for a healthy battery.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
A regular skateboard doesn't have the very real possibility of burning down your house. house
did you do a screen grab? Whenever I find such ad/article mismatches, I save these in my "diatribes" folder. i.e. Article about Putin expanding Russian military forces and on the side the ad says, "Meet Russian Beauties!"
mfwright@batnet.com
Lead-acid batteries are the only other common secondary battery that can use constant voltage charging and except for flooded cells and sometimes not even with them, they must be current limited to prevent damage.
Customers aren't your QA, nitwits!
If you didn't pay for the product... you ARE the product.
If you're on the leading edge... you ARE the QA.
Tesla wants to strap a giant lithium battery bank against the side of your house and connect it to the power grid. There's a good spot, right next to the kids' bedroom.
KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON (testing)
<blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
Basically every non-OEM battery ever is a sketchy, dangerous, fire hazard piece of crap and the vendors are lying about their reliability.
Have you ever opened an OEM pack? There's not a whole lot in there, just some 18650s and a dinky little charge monitor board that you can get off eBay if you want to build your own packs. And they go bad or burst into flames all the time. If anything, the vendors are lying about their reliability.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Really, LiIon, especially the newer formulations are quite easy to charge properly. Just set max voltage at 4.2V, current limit it to around 1C and cutoff at about 1/10 C and you're golden. It really says a lot that they managed to screw it up.
What it says is that a lot of these devices aren't being balance charged. They've just got a hot and a ground and they are charging the whole pack. Most of them would probably be just fine more or less forever if you fixed that problem.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Remember the time when those laptop batteries got recalled, over heating and exploding?
From burning crotches to burning feet, I dare say, consumer technology is improving!
Dude should have used a happy fun ball disclaimer. It work with only a change of the product name. and some are accurate.
Kid 1: It hovers!
Kid 2: It's a board!
All Three Kids: It's a Hoverbard!
Announcer: Yes, it's Hoverboard! The toy sensation that's sweeping the nation! Only $199.99 at participating stores! Get one today!
Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly, and children under 10 should avoid prolonged exposure to Hoverboard.
Caution: Hoverboard may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.
Hoverboard contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.
Do not use Hoverboard on concrete.
Discontinue use of Hoverboard if any of the following occurs:
itching
vertigo
dizziness
tingling in extremities
loss of balance or coordination
slurred speech
temporary blindness
profuse sweating
or heart palpitations.
If Hoverboard begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head.
Hoverboard may stick to certain types of skin.
When not in use, Hoverboard should be returned to its special container and kept under refrigeration. Failure to do so relieves the makers of Hoverboard, Wacky Products Incorporated, and its parent company, Global Chemical Unlimited, of any and all liability.
Ingredients of Hoverboard include an unknown glowing green substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space.
Hoverboard has been shipped to our troops in Saudi Arabia and is being dropped by our warplanes on Iraq.
Do not taunt Hoverboard.
Hoverboard comes with a limited lifetime warranty.
Announcer: Hoverboard! Accept no substitutes!
Well I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years doctor, and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it.