Subject: Important fire safety info for everyone

Fire Safety for 9 volt batteries

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSJH21WmALc

Wow.. I knew they got hot if the end touched, but never realized they could burst into flames.

I probably have several of these loose in a dresser drawer at home right now that are not taped... I'll be fixing that when I get home tonight!

Wow, indeed. Thanks for posting. Very pertinent....

I do not think that any regular types of disposable 9 volt battery can burst into flame, the electrolyte consists largely of water in which a non flammable alkaline material is dissolved. The other materials are not normally regarded a flammable.

I have NEVER heard from a reputable source of a standard disposable battery catching fire.

Lithium 9 volt batteries exist and these might be a risk under extreme conditions, but alkaline or Zinc carbon cells ? I very much doubt it.

A spark from shorting out a 9 volt battery could certainly start a fire in the presence of flammables such as gasoline, propane, or other readily ignited materials, but that is not the same. Any spark could be dangerous under such conditions.

Its one of those rare but real risks I guess. At work they started out recycling batteries and early on they required 'tape both ends of each battery', 9 volt or other. I dutifully taped both ends of ~30 AAs and it was a pain. They since have revised down to taping *no* batteries and are none the worse off for it. Probably the Risks folks haven't heard about this one - but with no recorded fires in the recycle bins who would raise the issue...

I can see how one or two 9 volt batteries, in a full on short could create enough heat to ignite some sort of fuel. What I don't understand about the video, is how that small ignition could have propagated into a whole house fire. I can only assume that the batteries in question were in very close proximity to a fair amount of fuel, perhaps paper etc. IMO, there was a second mistake: throwing out the batteries into s source of fuel. In our community, we have a separate recycling bin for paper, cardboard etc. A great fuel source if you put the batteries into it together in a paper bag. Note that the recycling bin has an attached cover; closing it might be a useful safety precaution also.

Who knows if the battery burst into flames? It could have have been whatever shorted the leads that burst into flames. Attach a wire across the leads and notice how quickly that wire gets HOT. (Actually, don't do this.) Either way, covering the leads with electrical tape is a good, simple, inexpensive precaution.

I did manage to short a 9V battery a couple of years ago when I inadvertently shorted it across a 9.6V NiCad AA battery pack. It got too hot to hold for more then a few senconds, and then it vented. I heard a faint pop-hiss when it did this.

I find it hard to believe, given the prevalence of 9V alkaline batteries, that some safety fetures was not built into the battery to prevent it from catching on fire.

A 9V battery is just six quad-A (AAAA) 1.5V batteries pressed together in a case. As others have noted, they wouldn't burn on their own (unlike lithium-ion rechargeables); but if shorted out by aluminum foil, I suppose they could be enough current to create a brief burst of heat and ignite tinder. The conditions for causing a fire would have to be unbelievably perfect -- I would rate it as a freak occurrence. There are things in the average house and attached garage that are more dangerous by orders of magnitude.

I don't know if it would reach ignition temperature but a standard 9V will get hot enough that if dropped in a pocket with change, you will be removing it quickly if it shorts. BTDT to myself.