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PED Fire Containment

N184DA

N184DA

Well Known Member
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Not sure if this has been discussed,, performed a quick search of the archives and came up empty.

But, something to think about (as if we don't have enough!),,
For all of us that carry & use PEDs (Personal Electronic Devices) in our cockpits (iPhones, iPads, etc),

Although rare, I would hate to experience a situation where I have a run-away PED battery fire,, inflight. I'm not sure a fire extinguisher would work in this situation, what is needed is some sort of containment bag.

I have seen these "advertised" and/or discussed on other Airline-related safety forums, and even a search on Amazon comes up with a couple of interesting options. (Although one that appears is very expensive ($664),,)

There are cheaper, smaller options on Amazon, but those are advertised as LIPO battery charging/storage bags, and since I am not scientist,, I'm not sure if they are what would be needed in the event of an actual iPhone/iPad overheat situation.

What would be cool, is a cheap, lightweight bag that you could stuff just about anywhere, but in easy reach if you happen to notice a smoking PED. In my case (RV-4), I would keep one up front, and one in the back for the rear seat.

Any ideas??
 
Not to say having a bag on hand isn't a good idea, but...

...have you perhaps thought about the actual risk of this becoming an issue?

If there's a bag that's readily and cheaply available, then I say go for it. But honestly, when's the last time you heard about PEDs spontaneously combusting? And I know people are going to point at the Samsung Note 7 fiasco, but out of the hundreds of thousands of Notes that they sold that year, about less than a hundred had that issue, and it was widely publicized and promptly recalled. And being that the Samsung incidents were widely reported, you can go on Youtube to find videos of these phones burning. It's nothing scary and not as catastrophic as you think. They sort of burn a little and then fizzle out cause there's really not that much material to burn there. It won't bring down the plane, it doesn't generate much smoke either.

You'll be much better served worrying about your avionics + battery burning than your PED.

But if you insist you want one for peace of mind, you can't search for fire containment bags because they will all be FAA certified and burn tested and you'll be paying for that. Just get a fire resistant bag for documents like these . They're built for protecting from outside fire, but no reason they shouldn't work the other way around.
 
I'm a fairly avid RC Flyer as well and have invested thousands on planes and batteries from 2 cell to 6 cell. We use Lipo bags when we charge the batteries because that is "usually" when things can go wrong but ANYTHING can happen at any time in regards to battery. I would say the LiPo bags would work well but if I'm being realistic, if a phone or iPad did combust in flight, about the only thing you could do with the bag is to pat down the fire.... you can't exactly pick up a flaming device and put it in a bag while you're flying:rolleyes:
 
echozulu said:
Not to say having a bag on hand isn't a good idea, but...

...have you perhaps thought about the actual risk of this becoming an issue?

If there's a bag that's readily and cheaply available, then I say go for it. But honestly, when's the last time you heard about PEDs spontaneously combusting? And I know people are going to point at the Samsung Note 7 fiasco, but out of the hundreds of thousands of Notes that they sold that year, about less than a hundred had that issue, and it was widely publicized and promptly recalled. And being that the Samsung incidents were widely reported, you can go on Youtube to find videos of these phones burning. It's nothing scary and not as catastrophic as you think. They sort of burn a little and then fizzle out cause there's really not that much material to burn there. It won't bring down the plane, it doesn't generate much smoke either.

You'll be much better served worrying about your avionics + battery burning than your PED.

But if you insist you want one for peace of mind, you can't search for fire containment bags because they will all be FAA certified and burn tested and you'll be paying for that. Just get a fire resistant bag for documents like these . They're built for protecting from outside fire, but no reason they shouldn't work the other way around.
Click to expand...
No, I really haven't given this much though at all. And it's not something that has me concerned,, to the point where I'm going to ground my airplane until I find a resolution.

Just a discussion point,, something to think about. In an RV4, you really don't have many options, not much room to move around the cockpit if something happened. And since I have an iPad mini on every flight that I use as my EFB, as well as my iPhone,, just occurred to me while on a flight recently: "Hmm, what WOULD I do if,,?"

Just a weird, off-the-wall discussion topic,, for a Monday!!
 
Used To Do Electric R/C

Used to Remote Control years ago, when using Lipo had to have a "Battery" bunker. A ceramic jar to charge in. Technology has increased the safety factor so you almost never hear of them catching fire.

The airlines don't want the PED or their batteries in cargo area for a reason. They want them in the cabin, that way they can contain them if needed.

I bought a ceramic "blanket" years ago from McMaster-Carr. not sure of the name to look for, ceramic silica composition used in furnaces as a refractory.

Thin , around 1/8" and came as a roll for $25. Made several "bags" using a real fine Stainless Steel wire (316L) as athread to sew it up.

Never had to use it, but that was my travel bag for charging my lipo's while away from home. By use it I mean no batteries ever caught fire when charging.

These lion battery's can catch fire when any the following:
Undervoltage
Overvoltage
Bad cell
Overheats for any reason

When charging the charger has built in safety devices, if they fail 2600 deg C is not something I want to have in my hands.

Never thought of using my old bag, but will find it and take along now that you've reminded me of the dangers of these newer batteries.

Thank you for bringing it up!

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
BCP Boys said:
if a phone or iPad did combust in flight, about the only thing you could do with the bag is to pat down the fire.... you can't exactly pick up a flaming device and put it in a bag while you're flying:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

To pick a nit, that's not really a "fire"--all the "oxidizer" is already inside the battery and removing access to atmospheric oxygen will only make things worse in the sense that the hot mess will cool off slower and have more time to evaporate toxic stuff into the cabin.

Short of building an airlock for ejecting random flaming objects (those windows on a Cessna suddenly make a lot of sense), the best course of action in case of incapacitating battery fire is to jettison the canopy. One should definitely not try and "pat it down"...
 
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