lithium ion battery pack As Batteries Keep Catching Fire, U.S. Safety Agency Prepares For Change

Imagine a walk in the park with a baby.
Friendly middle man
The old man approached you and told you that your stroller could be very dangerous.
You might think this guy's crazy.
But if you know he's the country's head of product safety, maybe not.
"If I walked away, I wouldn't be able to live with myself, and it turned out that the child was hurt when I could say something," Elliott Kay said . ".
His voice was soft.
Speaking and his worldview seem to fluctuate between the pride of saving lives and the uneasiness of people who see many things go wrong in unexpected ways.
"You can't help it;
You can see the danger automatically.
"Kaye is the chairman of the consumer goods safety committee.
This is an institution that does become the focus when things go wrong --
When the furniture covers the toddler, when the blinds strangled the child, or, recently, when the smartphone exploded.
CPSC is a recall agency for many people.
But given how small it is, its mission is enormous.
In addition to cars, food, medicines and a few other things, for the thousands of products we buy, we assume that someone in the government has made sure that they are safe --
Buy products, electric tools, washing machine, office chair, cradle, lawn mower, toaster-
Someone is CPSC.
A major category of CPSC reviews is electronic products.
In recent years, more and more battery problems.
Laptops, baby monitors, flashlights, and of course those electric "hoverboards" scooters and Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones that overheat or catch fire. Lithium-
Ion batteries are well known troublemakers.
It is also the subject of numerous standards and international regulations.
But events continue to emerge.
"This is the way the standard works properly," Kaye said . ".
"They found a problem that might not be needed to be addressed in the future, and they were very good at making sure it didn't happen anymore, but new issues came up.
"In October, Kaye launched a new initiative to help the agency gain a broader understanding of the battery industry and how to prevent rather than address hazards.
But the election and unexpected results followed.
In 2017, under the leadership of President Donald Trump, Kai is expected to step down as president and become a commissioner.
"My hope now is that this work will not be abandoned as the elections and potential leadership changes," Kaye said . ".
The competitive pressure counters in the CPSC lab space are arranged in large and medium-sized-
Bins the size of rows of evidence boxes.
You can lean in an open plastic container and smell the obvious metal smell of the old battery.
There are electric skateboard scooters and battery packs in the container, which are in different stages of burn.
Doug Lee is holding an exhibition.
This battery pack burned out.
Like a rusty shell, scattered in burnt empty cylinders.
"Usually, they just go one by one," he said . ".
"One goes into the heat and gets out of control, which gets the attention of others.
"Lee is an electrical engineer and battery expert at the CPSC testing laboratory, known as the national product testing and evaluation center.
Police, fire, customs and other officials often send troublesome products here --sometimes hand-
Delivered on the Crosscountry relay.
After a massive recall, hoverboards and their packaging were everywhere in the workshop.
Government engineers are still testing the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone in the lab.
Li and other CPSC officials declined to give any details of the investigation as it was in progress.
CPSC officials said they had completed the review of the first Note 7 and accepted Samsung's explanation that
Corner design for battery trigger problem.
The connection between the electrode with positive and negative power will cause a short circuitcircuits.
But after Samsung said it would replace its battery supplier, government engineers are still investigating the cause of the Note 7 fire later released as a replacement.
Samsung said an investigation is underway.
In addition to a small manufacturing issue originally mentioned, the company has not disclosed any issues.
"We all want batteries that are smaller, stronger, discharge slower, and charge faster," Kaye said . ".
"I think this may hinder design restrictions and, of course, the manufacturing restrictions that try to correct them.
He added: "You can have a good standard, you can have a good system, but if there is competitive pressure to push the manufacturer. . .
To their limit.
I think we may or may not see it in recent examples --
Then these things went out of the window.
The CPSC oversees security for about 15,000 product categories, "just trying to protect people ".
It has 567 employees.
Less than 10 people working in their Internet monitoring team, their task is to ensure that the recalled products are not sold online.
The agency has a budget of $0. 125 billion.
By contrast, the Food and Drug Administration's budget was almost $5 billion, and the growth of only 2016 exceeded the CPSC budget for the whole year.
The CPSC is different: it will not approve the product until it is available, just like the FDA.
Its most powerful power is the law that requires all companies to immediately report to CPSC the hazards known in their products.
In addition to children's products, the agency relies heavily on companies to comply with voluntary standards, which do undergo regular testing as required by CPSC.
In order for a new rule to be established, the CPSC must demonstrate that the voluntary standard does not work.
"Most people think this is a good system," said Hal Stratton, who chaired the CPSC under President George W.
Bush went from 2002 to 2006. He's a free-
People in the market.
"The market is pretty safe when you think about the overall picture," Stratton said . ".
To some extent, Kay seems to agree: "I find that most people want to do the right thing in part," he said.
"They were just not asked.
"Or sometimes they don't have a clue.
Kaye said: "I talked to entrepreneurs and they said to me, 'I never thought about this.
We are busy raising money trying to make it work, applying for patents, entering the market, finding manufacturers, finding suppliers
We have never considered the safety of consumers.
"All five members of the bipartisan committee voted to approve Kaye's new battery initiative, including Republicans who may succeed Kaye as chairman.
Instructions to employees are very extensive: work closely with other agencies and companies to find out what may be missing
Gaps in standards, international cooperation and law enforcement.
"Is the right company just making mistakes, or is it all black --
The main reason for these problems is that the market is fake?
We just don't know . "
The main criticism and concern for consumer advocates is that, like many government bureaucrats, CPSC is slow to move.
The concern for Kaye is that the new leadership will be more pro-active.
Or a new Congress will tighten the agency's budget.
"If we are building a defense system, I believe we will get 10 times as much money," he said . " He then added that there was no change in tone: "We just wanted to protect people and save their lives.
It won't give you a big budget.
Stratton retorted that when he was in the chair, no one told me what to do and no one tried to limit my budget.
"We already have all the money we can spend, it depends on what you want to do," he said . "
"When Stratton left CPSC in 2006, the agency's budget was $67 million.