SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20130712-B0023-2147454243. Severity: Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received. Product: Ryobi Model P108 Part# 130429049 (Ryobi 18V Li-Ion Battery, Model P108 Part# 130429049). Incident: Battery Explosion- Single battery was on charger, heard ticking noise, unplugged charger from wall, removed excessively hot battery from charger seat, 15 minutes later it exploded into a 10' fireball sending internal battery cells all over my kitchen which also independently exploded into similar fireballs. Purchased two Ryobi P108 batteries for $99/each from Home Depot approximately during the first week of June. Immediately experienced charge issues. Battery charge indicators showed full charge, but device using the battery would stop functioning after 20 seconds. Turning the device off and back on would repeat the situation. Brought both batteries to Home Depot store purchased from, was advised they couldn't replace the batteries in store, it would have to be done through Ryobi- But they would call and setup the exchange process. They wanted a device to put the battery in, which I had in my vehicle and repeated the issue. Ryobi wanted Home Depot to put the batteries in a charger to perform a test function, which they did not have available and at that point the store manager exchanged the batteries for two new ones. No mention of any fire or explosion hazard was mentioned by either Ryobi while home depot was on the phone w/ them, or by any Home Depot Employee. Ryobi is exclusively sold through Home Depot. The replaced batteries were used one time. One of the two batteries was placed on the Ryobi charger on 7/11 which does a diagnostic test each time a battery is inserted, test passed and charge process begun. Around 12:15 AM on 7/12 the battery failed and exploded.