So, we've all heard the stories of lipos exploding. I'm sure we've all witnessed at least one or two Youtube videos on the phenomenon. If you haven't had it happen to you, then like me you might be taking it for granted how dangerous it really can be. My flying buddy (known as HoriAkuma 'round these parts) had it happen to him, luckily he was there when it happened and prevented what could have been his house burning down.
Build a convenient and safe bunker for charging your lipos on the cheap.
Ingredients:
- An ammo can $5-25 (depending on size and availability at your local surplus store)
- Zip ties $free-$3
- Grommets $free-$3
- Drill (Free assuming you have one)
- Drill bits (Also free assuming you have some)
Step 1:
Decide where/how you want your charger to be orientated with the ammo can, then mark your hole for feeding your wires through and drill for your grommet.
HotTip: If you have a step-up drill bit, it will make drilling this hole much much easier, if you don't just make sure you start small and use a progressively larger drill bit. I used a 3/4" grommet and the hole had to be 15/16", I would probably use 4-5 progressively larger drill bits for a hole this size. This helps the drill not work so hard and prevents binding.
Step II:
Insert your grommet, wrestle that piece of plastic into place. This will protect your wires from getting sliced by the metal. Its not exactly easy to get the grommet into place. You just have to strong arm it, some leverage from a flat-head screw driver might help.
Step III (optional):
Strap your charger to your box, great for portability and also saves space. There are undoubtedly slicker ways of achieving this, but I went for the utilitarian zip ties, since its simple, cheap and effective.
Decide where your zip ties will be most effective without obstructing the ports of your charger. Mark the spots to drill, then drill out a hole slightly larger than your zip ties.
Important Make sure you de-burr the holes. A chisel works well, a small round file also does the trick. Normally you could just use the drill to quickly drill in from the back side, but there probably won't be enough room in the ammo can for that.
Inside view of the zip ties. I had to use three zip ties for each strap.
Step IV:
Charge your batteries safely. For added safety you can also put your batts in a charging bag wich would add another layer of protection.
Have fun! Be safe!
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