This is kinda a squirrelly question, but I figure it fits best in here, since it is about batteries...
I have an old 3U rackmount UPS that I intend to gut and put the buck (now push-pull forwarding) converter for the solar stuff, and as mentioned in the other thread, LiPo's do carry with them the hazard of heat/fire/explosion etc. Since this chassis will be the final 'container' for whatever I do end up with, I'm thinking about how to go about isolating the LiPo's physically inside the cabinet so that in the event of a catastrophic failure of a cell (and/or likely the entire pack) occurs, I can minimize damage to the converter circuitry and not just the surrounding environment/panels etc. This won't do anything about the toxic fumes generated, but fumes are much less of a threat to immediate environment than the fire issue.
I was thinking about just some kind of partition inside, but don't fully know the details of things like temperatures, pressure, amount of gas creation during failure, and don't know if the aluminum can stand up to it in the event it happens.
Something like a suitably sized box inside the unit with a vent to the outside to let the fumes out. Space won't be much of a problem, because the system as exists has a small footprint, so I have room to play with. Let's just say if the LiPo's werent involved, I wouldn't use the UPS chassis; it is primarily about protecting the outside from the dangers within.
I've seen numerous youtube videos, but since they are more for shock and 'woah' value, there isn't much in terms of scientific data collection value there...
Anybody know what the violence translates to (particularly as it would affect aluminum and the size/shape of both the containment box and vent) ?
Steve
