Battery Fires

[AntonyC]

New York had a similar problem to London and reportedly a strong delivery culture. Anecdotal but europeans I know say ebike fires haven't reached the news there and that delivery services aren't common in major cities. I hope this OPSS ebike video has been distributed well; oddly the scooter version's lame.

Wouldn't you think that market forces would make delivery bike fires self-regulating? Several self-employed low wage riders see their badly sourced livelihood go up in flames and word gets around, no? Clearly that isn't how it's working, maybe there's negligible delivery community or subpar bikes are a cost of business to those providing them. Who's looking into the socio-economic side of this?

It's also possible delivery riders are concentrating fires rather than adjustment playing any part in them.

 

[MikelBikel]

 

[Woosh]

It's incidents like those in that video and videos by opponents of EVs that help EVs getting rapidly better. Tesla moves their batteries to safer LFP chemistry for example. China has passed law forcing EVs batteries to be made fireproof from July 2026. The net result is an even faster adoption of EVs.

 

[lenny]

Nearly half of e-bike fires in 2024 linked to post-market conversions
https://internationalfireandsafetyjournal.com/nearly-half-of-e-bike-fires-in-2024-linked-to-post-market-conversions/
E-bike and e-scooter fires in the UK: 2024 report: Summary

OPSS received 211 notifications of e-bike and e-scooter fires in 2024.

170 fires involved e-bikes.

77 of these were post-market conversions.

59 e-bike fires involved unknown build types.

34 fires involved manufactured e-bikes.

39 incidents involved e-scooters.

One fire involved an e-unicycle and one involved a mobility scooter.

66% of fires occurred in indoor or residential settings.

23% occurred in outdoor spaces.

3% were in transport settings.

London Fire Brigade submitted 175 reports.

Fire start locations included roads, living areas, sleeping areas, kitchens, and outdoor storage.

93% of fires had batteries or generators as the ignition source.

82 incidents occurred while charging.

80 occurred when not charging.

Charging status was unknown in 49 incidents.

5 incidents resulted in 8 fatalities.

42 incidents resulted in 86 casualties.

29 ignition locations were unclassified.

Figures are based on voluntary data from fire and rescue services.

 

[lenny]

Midland fire chiefs make 'prevent tragedy call' amid shocking rise in one type of blaze
The West Midlands has seen a 50 per cent increase in fires linked to lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes and e-scooters in two years

Fire chiefs make 'prevent tragedy call' amid huge rise in one type of blaze

The West Midlands has seen a 50 per cent increase in fires linked to lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes and e-scooters in two years

www.birminghammail.co.uk

 

[lenny]

Person rescued from house fire caused by e-bike

Person rescued from house fire in Leicester caused by e-bike

Firefighters say the blaze quickly spread through the home, causing extensive damage.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Baz the balloon man]

The general procedure to charge Chinese batteries is to put the jack in with the charger switched on because most have a permanently live charge socket and you need equal voltage when you connect, otherwise you get a spark, which can do some serious damage.

If your battery switch switches off the charging, that could be considered a bit safer, though it makes little difference as long as you connect with the charger switched on. With the charge socket switched off, you can connect with the charger switched on or off, then switch on the battery after connection to commence charging.

Personally, I'd always switch on both the battery and the charger before connecting, then there is no danger of a spark because there can't be any inrush current. When you connect with the battery charge socket switched off, then switch on after connection, there will still be an inrush, but you don't see it. Inrush is best avoided. It's caused when one of the devices has a large capacitor between the two wires. The capacitor charges instantly and draws a very high current, almost like a short circuit.

Hi I had advise a few days ago from the Battery engineer who does work for YOSE over in Barking London

After I sent him a battery with a blown fuse that I missed as there are Two one input and one output .

So he said with regards to the HL battery sold by YOSE.

1. Do not charger theses batteries on the bike take them off.

2. If the 15Amp house plug socket has a switch plug everything in ie charging jack then switch on the power by the socket switch if no socket switch then plug into the wall last.

3. Do not constantly use e throttles as this can blow the output fuse.

 

[MikelBikel]

Conflicting advice there, mm.
Have always plugged charger into turned off battery and then switched on or plugged in charger to mains whether battery on (36v) or off bike (48v).
Never had any sparks or noises or blown fuses yet.
I guess if there is a Diode on the battery's and/or battery dc charge circuit, it will only allow current In. Is it an outrush from battery to charger or inrush charger to the battery cct capacitors?

 

[Woosh]

With old chargers, you had to switch on at the wall socket before connecting to the battery charging socket because the the battery voltage could flow back into the charger and cause a spark. For a couple of years now, the design has been improved, you can connect the charger plug to the battery with the wall switch off as you like, without spark.

 

[lenny]

 

[lenny]

Amazon Removes Dangerous E-Bike Battery After House Fire in Surrey

https://esielectrical.co.uk/amazon-removes-dangerous-e-bike-battery-after-house-fire-in-surrey/

 

[lenny]

Amazon Under Pressure to Ban Dangerous E-Bikes From Sale
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/other/amazon-under-pressure-to-ban-dangerous-e-bikes-from-sale/

Sales of illegal and dangerous ebikes must be stopped, say MPs and peers

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/jun/16/take-urgent-action-to-slow-sales-of-and-dangerous-ebikes-says-group-of-mps-and-peers

 

[saneagle]

Hi I had advise a few days ago from the Battery engineer who does work for YOSE over in Barking London

After I sent him a battery with a blown fuse that I missed as there are Two one input and one output .

So he said with regards to the HL battery sold by YOSE.

1. Do not charger theses batteries on the bike take them off.

2. If the 15Amp house plug socket has a switch plug everything in ie charging jack then switch on the power by the socket switch if no socket switch then plug into the wall last.

3. Do not constantly use e throttles as this can blow the output fuse.

People sometimes haven't a clue what they're talking about. Maybe he just got appointed to the job and did an Internet search to come up with those rules. My practical advise from my own observations says that if you try to plug an un-powered jack into a Hailong type battery with 5.5mm jack socket, there's a possibility that the inrush current will weld it to the socket, then, when you try to remove it , the negative blade gets pulled onto the positive pin, which makes a big bang with lots of sparks. If your battery has a 5A charge fuse, the damage shouldn't be so bad, but you still have the inconvenience of having to open the battery to repair it.

Some batteries are wired such that the main battery switch isolates the charge socket as well as the discharge, others don't, so the rules that that guy made might be OK for the present Yose ones, but please don't follow them for your battery unless you know about these things and understand what you're doing. IMHO, it's safer to ensure that the jack is live when you plug it into the battery because there's always the possibility that the battery might be switched on.

 

[Baz the balloon man]

People sometimes haven't a clue what they're talking about. Maybe he just got appointed to the job and did an Internet search to come up with those rules. My practical advise from my own observations says that if you try to plug an un-powered jack into a Hailong type battery with 5.5mm jack socket, there's a possibility that the inrush current will weld it to the socket, then, when you try to remove it , the negative blade gets pulled onto the positive pin, which makes a big bang with lots of sparks. If your battery has a 5A charge fuse, the damage shouldn't be so bad, but you still have the inconvenience of having to open the battery to repair it.

Some batteries are wired such that the main battery switch isolates the charge socket as well as the discharge, others don't, so the rules that that guy made might be OK for the present Yose ones, but please don't follow them for your battery unless you know about these things and understand what you're doing. IMHO, it's safer to ensure that the jack is live when you plug it into the battery because there's always the possibility that the battery might be switched on.

Ok got all that he is sending some leaflets back to give to customers , should I forward this message to Joey at YOSE if you do not mind ?

 

[Cadence]

Out of curiosity I've just made up a test lead using a jack from an old charger wired to a connector block.
I have two Yosepower 36v 13Ah Hailong HL1 batteries and a PSWpower 48v 15Ah Hailong G70 battery. In all cases the charging socket is live whether the battery switch is off or on. One of the Yosepower batteries is over 2 years old, the other about 9 months and I bought the PSW battery 6 weeks ago. I think we can assume that I have the latest models.
On that basis I would be inclined to follow saneagle's advice- he is usually right!

 

[saneagle]

Ok got all that he is sending some leaflets back to give to customers , should I forward this message to Joey at YOSE if you do not mind ?

First, let's determine what you have. Do you have to switch on the battery in order to charge it? If you do, what he says makes more sense because if you charged the battery on the bike with the battery switched on, it wouldn't be a good idea to leave it like that in the garage or house for 5 hours while the battery charged.

Let's make some rules for batteries without comms:
1. For Hailong or similar type batteries with 5.5mm jack that can be charged with the battery switched off, The charging should be done with the battery switched off. There's no problem to charge while the battery is on the bike and the charger MUST be switched ON when you insert the jack to prevent the inrush current from damaging anything.
2. For batteries that can only be charged when the battery is switched on, you should remove the battery from the bike, and it makes no difference whether the charger is switched on or off when you insert the jack, since it's isolated from the battery.

Extra rule if you're going to remove the battery for charging:
For all such batteries, the battery MUST be switched off when reconnecting to the bike otherwise the controller's inrush current will damage the connector.

In chart form:

 

[Woosh]

First, let's determine what you have. Do you have to switch on the battery in order to charge it? If you do, what he says makes more sense because if you charged the battery on the bike with the battery switched on, it wouldn't be a good idea to leave it like that in the garage or house for 5 hours while the battery charged.

Let's make some rules for batteries without comms:
1. For Hailong or similar type batteries with 5.5mm jack that can be charged with the battery switched off, The charging should be done with the battery switched off. There's no problem to charge while the battery is on the bike and the charger MUST be switched ON when you insert the jack to prevent the inrush current from damaging anything.
2. For batteries that can only be charged when the battery is switched on, you should remove the battery from the bike, and it makes no difference whether the charger is switched on or off when you insert the jack, since it's isolated from the battery.

Extra rule if you're going to remove the battery for charging:
For all such batteries, the battery MUST be switched off when reconnecting to the bike otherwise the controller's inrush current will damage the connector.

In chart form:
View attachment 63509

That is overly complicated. If you have never seen a spark when you plug your charger into your battery, then your charger and battery have up to date designs, they risk nothing. If you do, then post your experience here so other people can learn from how you solve your spark problem.

 

[thelarkbox]

Phew, Seems ive been following the correct protocol for 2 yrs in ignorance, or perhaps i read the instructions? - Naaa.

 

[Baz the balloon man]

First, let's determine what you have. Do you have to switch on the battery in order to charge it? If you do, what he says makes more sense because if you charged the battery on the bike with the battery switched on, it wouldn't be a good idea to leave it like that in the garage or house for 5 hours while the battery charged.

Let's make some rules for batteries without comms:
1. For Hailong or similar type batteries with 5.5mm jack that can be charged with the battery switched off, The charging should be done with the battery switched off. There's no problem to charge while the battery is on the bike and the charger MUST be switched ON when you insert the jack to prevent the inrush current from damaging anything.
2. For batteries that can only be charged when the battery is switched on, you should remove the battery from the bike, and it makes no difference whether the charger is switched on or off when you insert the jack, since it's isolated from the battery.

Extra rule if you're going to remove the battery for charging:
For all such batteries, the battery MUST be switched off when reconnecting to the bike otherwise the controller's inrush current will damage the connector.

In chart form:
View attachment 63509

In all fairness to the guy over in Barking I think his advice is to stop blow out of input and out put fuse only .

The HL batteries supplied by YOSE that I have bought do have on and off switch .

To be honest I have just plugged in the charger and when the light goes red it’s charging never got any further than that until a guy is now being a pain won’t go into any details blew the fuse on a SH cheaper battery .
Which I replaced for him with a new SH one .

Unlike the guys on here and with members in mind who have helped me in particular with batteries YOSe had no problem asking me to open the battery and change the fuses and sent a link to the wrong u tube video or a stream of them that I got bored watching .

Hence I sent the battery to their service Center , next time I now know where to find the second fuse .

I suppose when we weigh up from a sales point of view with regard to warranties on new bikes V cost then unless as from a sales point of view and how much is an e bike worth then we have to consider people who just use and abuse anything then expect to bring it back .

But personally getting back on subject I only charge and salvage batteries outside with PPE regardless of brand .after reading this thread not all of it yet !!!!!

 

[Baz the balloon man]

Not really bored , just stressed there never seems to be much time each day these days to pay the bills