battery caught fire

[02insight]

sorry for your loss, but you could recoup some of the cost by parting out some of the front end components that weren't damaged.

(I could use a bumper and some stuff, thanks )

[Valgul]

Sorry for your loss and happy about the kittah surviving. No pictures of your kittah?

Remember to get the clean air stickers that let you drive in the HOV lane transfered to a new hybrid.

Please follow up and let us know what the root cause was.

[JimIsbell]

I am a Firefighter and have been a member of the local fire department for 10 years. I always carry a fire extinguisher with me. But leaving the bolts out of the battery cover, I think, should be done as well because otherwise there is no way to get to a fire in there in a hurry. Of course I could put in a fire suppression system out of my race car that floods the area with foam but that makes a mess. Another method of suppressing fire would be to have CO2 gas canister and a method of closing off all the vents and then flooding with CO2.

The way I usually have the package shelf loaded, however, it might be better to have a suppression system that works without taking the cover off the battery.

This might be a good idea for me anyway since I am eying the LiIo batteries.

[IamIan]

Wow that sucks.... my deep sympathy.

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I think I am going to agree with Ron... I doubt the IMA battery was the source of the fire... It doesn't look right for that to me.

Thinking about how a NiMH battery would fail in order to cause a fire... that also doesn't seem to match this situation.

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The important thing is that everyone walked away.

wow... that really sucks.

[Hybrid-Battery-Repair]

Originally Posted by fiver

The battery was under warranty. Is the IPU is part of that?

I'm not sure what the warranty is on the non-battery IMA components in California.

[azaviator]

Not trying to make light of a bad situation, but I find the picture with the bumper sticker to be ironic. "Question Internal Combustion", with a burned out shell of the car that it's attached to?!?

Seriously though, I'm glad the wife and 'kid' made it out okay. You definitely have me thinking about a fire extinguisher for my car.

[Fabio]

Fiver:

I want to buy your burnt Insight.

Buy this back from your insurance company if you had it covered.
If you did not have it covered, then keep it and sell it to me anyways.

If your Insight was covered and you do not buy it back, then it will not be sent through resellers like Copart or IAA. It will be deemed of too little value to the insurance company and will meet a different sort of fate.

Please PM me if you're interested.

[Silver Bullett]

Fabio if I see you selling a new battery pack on ebay I'm going to be very suspicious about it!

[3-Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Hybrid-Battery-Repair

...I have found mouse nests inside battery compartments on more than one occasion (on cars that are in use)....

That might explain it....

I found a mouse nest in my battery compartment as well. And this discovery was during the time of adding a trickle charger.

There was allot of nice fluffy material back there waiting for something to happen...

Jim.

[RobertSmalls]

They're probably attracted to the warmth of the battery, which will keep self-discharging even if the car has been sitting for a long time. But how do they get into the car? Maybe through the vents under the rear bumper cover? Those ought to be too small for any rodent to enter, but they are soft plastic, which can be chewed through. I suppose it would have to be that, or a flaw in the weatherstripping.