So my battery burst. No...literally.

[memper]

  I had bought an Alien Motion LifePo4 Iron Phosphate battery at the middle of last season. I also got a new MOSFET r/r. All was well.
Went today to a bbq at a local bike shop and after 3/4 of the way home everything shuts down. I pull over and smoke is pouring out from under the tank and a smell like I've never experienced before. Praying to the bike gods for no fire, the smoke eventually stopped and I pushed my bike home.
Got home and the battery was removed:

So my first thought was the battery was defective. It happens. Emailed the company with pics. No response yet (past business hours) but technically its still covered by a warrantee. My next thought was that my r/r failed and stuffed my battery, thus making it overcharge and burst.
Removed the r/r and did the test with the multi meter. All checks out fine. Whew. Got scared because two of the yellow wires at the connectors had slightly charred stuff on the layers of shrink wrap/elec tape. (I do not use a big honkin' connector. Just a bunch of high quality disconnects)
Next I'm thinking about the alternator. Is that an unnecessary concern?

My wife says that any problem is an opportunity in disguise. Maybe this is an opportunity to push my lazy ass to do the rewiring for my cafe seat project.

[koko64]

Whoa!
Any damage to the bike?
I've heard of this happening, but much worse, so you may have got off lightly. I may be corrected, but from what I've read and heard some brands of Li batteries when subject to an extreme overcharge, can catch fire and even spew molten material all over your bike. My understanding is that some Li batteries like the Shorai batteries have a built in safety circuit/fuse which pops on extreme over charge, sacrificing the battery before a catastrophic failure.
I would give that regulator an extra check up.
Those expert in electrickery should pitch in soon.

[memper]

Oh it spewed all right. Right down on my left case cover. Most of it will wash off but those are character marks right?

That was the only damage to the bike. I tested my R/R with the methods shown in this video:
Mine is not a Shindengen but the testing is the same I'm sure across various MOSFET brands.
I'm just hoping Alien Motion will refund some of my money (ideal situation).
I've heard Ballistic has had some of the same issues. Too bad. These batteries are very small and light. I really dont wanna go back to a behemoth like the 14lb. Odyssey.

[koko64]

Did it come out as a viscous gel or liquid? It was described to me once as lava like.

Have you washed the cases yet?

[memper]

Cases have been cleaned and the liquid that came out was thinner. Not lava like.

[koko64]

Glad none got on you. That was close.

[Howie]

If the regulator fails those tests it is definitely bad  Passing only means it is probably good.  Before assuming the charging rate is good test on the bike with a known good battery, 13.5 to 14.4 volts at 3K RPM.  A serious short to ground could be the cause, but I doubt it since you made it home.  Your alternator did dot cause the failure.  Overcharging is prevented by the regulator. 

[memper]

If the regulator fails those tests it is definitely bad  Passing only means it is probably good.  Before assuming the charging rate is good test on the bike with a known good battery, 13.5 to 14.4 volts at 3K RPM.  A serious short to ground could be the cause, but I doubt it since you made it home.  Your alternator did dot cause the failure.  Overcharging is prevented by the regulator. 

Tested the rr twice. It passed both times. Alternator checks out too. Not that it matters.
Why couldn't I have made it home if I had a serious short to ground? I don't understand.

Upon inspecting the yellow wires and their disconnects, there were no melted wires and a couple of the disconnects had an annealed look to them. Wire strands underneath insulation was perfect.
I do have an odyssey battery that at rest tested 12.6 IIRC.

*if the rr checks out and shows to be operating properly, is the failure assumption just a bad cell? Overheated from hard use+engine proximity?

[koko64]

I'd throw in the Odyssey battery and see what Voltage the RR throws at it at various revs for sure. That's where Howie was heading.

[memper]

No doubt!
I've got the trickle charger on the Odyssey. Testing under load as Howie had presented will be done this week. 

[Howie]

The short would need to be in a section of wire that was not protected by a fuse and the wire would need to be large enough to conduct amperage quick enough to almost instantly drain the battery without the wire burning up.  Could it just be a defective battery?  I don't know enough about lithium batteries to know if this could happen, but I have heard of lap top batteries going up in flames.

[oldndumb]

The short would need to be in a section of wire that was not protected by a fuse and the wire would need to be large enough to conduct amperage quick enough to almost instantly drain the battery without the wire burning up.  Could it just be a defective battery?  I don't know enough about lithium batteries to know if this could happen, but I have heard of lap top batteries going up in flames.

Not claiming to be a lithium battery expert, but the lap top batteries and the auto/MC lithiums are not the same formulation.

I was used to lithiums from the RC hobby and knew about their hazards and had also also assumed that the Shorais, Balistics, etc. were the same. It took a bit of reading for me to learn the difference and have now been using one for close to four years. One thing that the manufacturers caution is not to use a charger with a maintenance mode and not to use a trickle charger unless monitored real time for rate and duration.

[Howie]

Not claiming to be a lithium battery expert, but the lap top batteries and the auto/MC lithiums are not the same formulation.

I was used to lithiums from the RC hobby and knew about their hazards and had also also assumed that the Shorais, Balistics, etc. were the same. It took a bit of reading for me to learn the difference and have now been using one for close to four years. One thing that the manufacturers caution is not to use a charger with a maintenance mode and not to use a trickle charger unless monitored real time for rate and duration.

Partial thread jack, but here goes anyway.   You may not be an expert on lithium batteries, but evidently you know more than me.  Yes, I am aware the lithium ion battery in my lap top is not the same as an automotive lithium ferrous battery.  I am also aware of the charging precautions and state of charge voltages.  Beyond that nothing. 

I don't know if you can answer these questions, but here goes:
      What actually burns on the laptop batteries?  Case?  Lithium?  Other materials?
      Was the cause of the fire overcharging or an internal defect?

[koko64]

My computer guy sold me a $10 fan stand for the laptop which cools the underside of it. He cautioned against heat saturation causing hard drive failure and battery fires, since unlike PCs laptops generally don't have cooling fans.

From the pic looks like it burn't through from the inside as the liquid superheated. The contents got hot enough to get through the case from the "exit wounds".

[memper]

Since getting the LFP battery I never charged it. Never needed to.
My intuition says it was battery failure internally. Maybe an 8 cell was too small? A rep from the company told me that 8 would be fine. Perhaps I needed a 12 cell. But I only have standard lights (LED headlight) and an in-tank fuel pump.
Its a mystery about what caused the LFP batt to fail internally. Hopefully the company will stand up and do the right thing...
Ps- my laptop has an internal cooling fan.