Is keeping batteries rolling loose inside a drawer a fire hazard?

Question

Simple question.

At some point I began keeping batteries (AA, AAA, 9V, etc) inside a random drawer in my wardrobe that I use for other electronics (like cables, pen drives, etc.).

And I've started to worry that they might randomly arrange themselves (they roll a lot when I open and close the drawer) into a short circuit inside the drawer and start a fire.

I imagine a lot of people do that, and I've never heard of this causing fires.

Is it a fire hazard?

Extra: If that is indeed a fire hazard, what would be the ideal way of storing batteries at home?

Answer 1

like the other answered it, the battery didn't enough current source but definitely can SPARK if your battery somewhat miraculously (in bad term) contact with metal body of another battery.

but Spark thing is not likely will be happens, the most occurence is leak by battery. the smell is awful, it's greasy like oil spill, and didn't remove easily with single wipes not even with hair dryer.

if you must to drop all of your battery in drawer, i suggest you put them out all in one direction or place it straight vertical in boxes. that way you will be fine except the leak

Answer 2

Most batteries cannot source much current (meaning it has internal resistance), in most cases this will not be a problem. This will probably be true for all house hold batteries.

However, if all of the following prerequisites are true, a fire hazard could occur:

• Battery can source lots of current (a higher voltage helps too)
• There is a shortcut (wires, components, metal in general form a short cut from the plus to minus pole)
• The heat through a metal part is higher than its temperature to get into fire.

Note also, that in case one component probably will not directly go to fire, but because of heat deform, and stops the circuit to be a shortcut circuit (see it as a fuse). Most thinner metals (or wires) will be bent for example, breaking the short circuit.

I keep my batteries in a box like below, so you can easily sort your batteries to 9V, AA, AAA, rechargeable/non rechargeable, low mAH, high mAH.

Answer 3

Like some of the other posts here, keeping AA or AAAs loose in a drawer is probably OK because the terminals are on opposite ends, and they usually have plastic wrapping on them, so they won't short-circuit on themselves. (It would be hard to do it even if you tried) But if you have random metal scraps as well, it would be a bit easier to short-circuit them. 9V batteries are much easier to short-circuit because their terminals are close together on one side, so any piece of metal can easily touch both. I had a bunch of CR2032s once and I put them in a bag. They all short-circuited on each other, but the only problem was I now had a bunch of dead CR2032s. They are relatively low-current, so no fire, no swelling. I think the worst-case scenario is you would end up with a bunch of dead batteries, but it never hurts to organize them like what @Michel Keijzers says.

Answer 4

The 9V maybe but tbh I sincerely doubt the batteries alone would short. If you had random metal scraps in the drawer than I would be worried. When I took circuits in college I had a 9V and a ton of scrap wires/parts in my backpack and the battery got bloated from a short circuit. No fire fortunately.

Answer 5

It depends on the recipe. If you want we can definitely create a fire with only batteries and no other components involved. One sure way is to have a few NiMH 9V batteries, fully charged dumped together. 9V are easy to short among each other.

The batteries might get overheated or even blast.

A disciplined approach(I too seldom follow) would be to have a holder or atleast keep them in a place with a proper orientation and less movements when you open and close the drawer.

Answer 6

I had a bag of triple A batteries in a strip lock bag. It just looked at the bag I had it in a cupboard and it blew some of them. Looked liked they exploded so yes it will cause a fire.you definitely have to face them the same way not touching each other.

Answer 7

9V maybe, if both terminals touch they can get quite hot (I had a friend who put two back to back, they got too hot to touch). Probably not enough to ignite but better to be safe then sorry.

Other voltages are not likely to have enough voltage/power to get too hot.

Li-ion batteries should be kept where the input terminals cannot be shorted.