I’m a watchmaker and won’t allow LITHIUM batteries into my shop!!!! Most batteries can be saved for re-cycling but a box of “dead” LITHIUM batteries, packed for mailing by a store I serviced, overheated on a counter and started a very hot fire.
When it blew, a fire started on the store’s carpet.
When the battery “dies” it is NOT dead. It merely lacks the voltage to do its job. When improperly collected, the voltage increases times the number of batteries.
The U.S. Post Office won’t accept packages containing them.
Maybe it’s best to take the hint.
“I’m a watchmaker and won’t allow LITHIUM batteries into my shop!!!! “
Do you frisk for cellphones?
Whenever I order a product that contains even the smallest Lithium Ion cell, it is shipped UPS Ground and takes much longer to arrive.
“When improperly collected, the voltage increases times the number of batteries.”
Do you mean ‘when properly connected, the voltage increases times the number?
“The U.S. Post Office won’t accept packages containing them.”
The will, with restrictions.
While the information about safe handling of lithium batteries is not generally known, it is available.
For example, to fully discharge a lithium battery and render it truly safe, you drop it into a container of salt water for 24 hours.
Our scavenger service has recycling services for garbage pickup. We're told to tape the ends of batteries, place them in a clear plastic container bag and put them on top of one of our recycle bins (we put out three different bins each week). No one I know bothers to tape the ends; I never do. The clear bag can have a mix of alkaline, nimh, and lithium batteries. I wonder if the scavenger workers ever have incidents of fires from these batteries that are collected.