My outdoor Wyze camera burst into flames internally. Please be careful with your outdoor cam. One of my camera stopped working as the batter stays on 9%. My second camera was sitting on my counter and decided that it wanted to burst into flames internally releasing a cloud of smoke. Thank God I was home and able to throw it out before anything else happened.
Thatās something Iāve never seen on a WCO. Was that camera on the counter plugged in for charging?. Iāve seen pictures of plug in cameras like a V3 that went up in flames never a WCO. Iām charging a 5 year old WCO v1 right now no 
yet.
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Was it plugged into a Wyze adapter or 3rd party adapter? There are so many adapters/chargers these days. I try to be careful to ensure I use a Wyze adapter for Wyze cams. This reinforces this for me.
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The WYZE adapters that came with my WCO version one cams is 5V-2A. They donāt get long period of use.
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Any reference to what adapter the V3s were plugged into when this happened?
There may be many āfast chargersā out there at varying degrees of UL approval?
I didnāt see which power adapters were being used. Iāve had three V3 cams all outdoors plugged into 5V-2A adapters for at least four years, they are on the longer than the 6 foot USB cables. No issues yet.
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I used Grok to have a look. This is very helpful. I bring in my Wyze battery cams to recharge and plug them in to USB ports on power bar plugs. I will definitely be rechecking these charging ports on my power bars to be 5V. Or just use provided charger from Wyze. Being 5V is criticalā¦more flexibility on (A) amperage ā¦
āWhen in doubt: If it says anything about 9V/12V/15V/20V/PD/QC/fast charging on the charger ā donāt use it on a security camera unless the cameraās manual explicitly lists that voltage as supported (almost none do). Stick to plain 5V for battery models,ā
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Thatās almost certainly the lithium battery showing you why they call them āspicy pillowsā when they get old and start to go bad. Was the cam showing any bulges or signs of other issues? Unable to charge, very low runtime on a fully charged battery, etc, are all signs it is time to stop using that battery.
That model cam is old enough now that this is a real risk that people need to keep an eye out for. Especially this time of year (in many regions) where attempting to charge a freezing cold battery could put it over the edge.
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This should not be happening regardless of what the device is plugged into.
For the unit to get hot enough to melt the plastic it must have been using way to much amperage (or trying to) .
Iām not going to get into what is best. UL listed or certified. To plug into our AC power I better see the UL logo on the power supply or if I see it, the ETL logo.
These logos give the user some peace of mind that if the device faults it will not burn down the house or kill the occupants with noxious fumes. To be listed or certified, at some time the supply was put through extensive tests to prove reduced flameability (sacrificial component) or made of materials that when burned are not hazardous.
I have checked every supply shipped with wyze cameras (30 ish) and they have all had the logo.
I am concerned that in the last month or so this is the second case Iāve seen on this forum. I am hoping wyze has quietly reached out to the users so a post mortem can be perfomed. I donāt expect wyze to publish what they are doing but I have to believe they are taking it seriously.
Bottom line donāt plug it in unless you see the UL or ETL logos. Unless you know what your doing use the vendors power supply and cables.
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In this case it was probably nothing to do with current draw or any circuitry in the device. Once a lithium battery goes into thermal runaway, it generates a ton of heat even if it is drawing no power from the wall.
There isnāt a USB adapter out there capable of melting the plastic like that. Even with USB-C youād need a major failure of the PD protocol which is extremely unlikely to happen due to the way it was designed.
The previous post from last month was regarding the wall wart supply, and unfortunately those are more prone to issue since they connect to AC power and an internal short or failure has much more potential for damage.
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For some reason the battery didnāt register with me (senior moment). I agree 100% with your comments. I still stand by what I said.
The lithium delima is interesting. I do not know the failure rate of spontaneous combustion of lithium batteries. Iām sure it has to be something in the magnitude of 1 in x million. It is getting better and may become a problem of the past with the advent of solid state batteries. It has caused me to spend sometime categorizing our household use of lithium batteries. The numbers are a bit concerning especially for 2 people.
15+ power banks
15+ devices with internal bateries
50+ rechargeable batteries
Thatās at least 80 batteries. It changes the whole equations from 1 in x million to 80 in x million.
So I said to self how do I minimize the risk (I use conservative recharging strategies). Maybe Iāll move the majority of the batteries to the external shed. I may even move the recharge equip to the shed. If the shed burns down itās not the end of the world
One thought is holding me back. The shed is not conditioned. We have mild weather in the bay area. Rare if below 35 or above 102Ā°F. Basically that would be the storage range for the batteries. Iām concerned that a prolonged heat wave can get the shed Temp over 120Ā°F sustained.
Still debating it in my headā
When you consider that those power banks and many devices with larger batteries actually contain multiple cells, the numbers actually get more concerning, since any one cell failing will set off the others.
I avoid generic/non OEM replacement batteries for devices, and try to stick with proven brands when I get a power bank or similar. But nothing is immune.
In reality everyone should probably have one or more ābattery bagsā, relatively cheap fireproof bags. They have ones rated for small and large devices. Of course if you can pick said item up and get it in a bag, tossing it out the window is always an option too.
Temperature is definitely a problem, extreme high and low temperatures are both bad for lithium batteries. The ones that concern me most are LiPo and the newer lithium ion that are basically just contained in foil and thin plastic in order to make them flat.
There have been a few epidemics like those cheap chinese hoverboards years ago. But generally speaking, overall the risk is low-ish. Many devices make it obvious, when they start to swell, time to get that sucker out of the house and find a replacement. But some have room inside for the battery to expand without being seen, those are the more concerning ones (not sure if this cam in particular showed any signs or not).
Generally speaking, if a battery isnāt in use or charging, 120 is probably ok, but probably is something Iād want to avoid if possible.
The biggest thing is being aware of the limitations of lithium batteries and as you say, being conservative with charging, and also avoid charging or discharging in extreme temperatures. My phone has adaptive charging so it charges at a slow rate and aims to be fully charged just before my alarm goes off in the morning. But previous phones I just used a 750ma charger (3.75 watt) and it accomplished about the same thing, and that battery is still going after 10 years, though at reduced capacity obviously.
I do wish it was possible to see what cells are used in each device before buying. Some people have taken apart Ecoflow and other brand power stations, and obviously the bigger brand, more expensive ones use good batteries, and the no name cheaper ones use generic chinese ones that are more risky.
With several brands making whole house battery backups which are just loaded full of the same cells you might find in an electric car, that has potential to be catastrophic. Try getting that thing out of your basement when it is in a runaway stateā¦. thatās one case where you want to go with a really good brand and even try to determine the brand of batteries they used.
People who fast charge their phones for a few minutes at a time several times throughout the day (phone zombies that canāt be without their screen for the most part) and ones who keep using and trying to charge a device even when the battery capacity is severely reduced are the ones most at risk. Once a laptop battery falls below about 50% capacity, leaving it plugged in all the time becomes dangerous. Iāve seen people using a laptop that wonāt work off battery at all, they leave it plugged in all the time and the battery is constantly receiving power. If youāre going to do that, at least remove the battery and dispose of it.
Edit to add - most of the large power stations use LiFeP04/LFP batteries which are somewhat safer than LiOn, but still need to be treated with respect and care. Iām wondering if the Outdoor cam uses LiPo (bag) batteries or not. Those are the ones that scare me the most and they got a lot of use at one point due to their small size and relatively cheap cost, but in reality none of them are immune.
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From what I have been reading, it looks like voltage is the bigger concern regarding chargersā¦
It sort of depends. Yes over (or even under) voltage is a surefire (no pun intended) way to kill electronics. But if something is shorted or failing, the ability to draw more current is definitely an issue. Fuses and fusible links mostly trip off current and not voltage.
It is a combination of both. High voltage low current generally will damage something but usually not lead to a fire, since you need current to actually do āworkā. But low voltage high current can do a ton of damage, just look at a 12 volt car battery and what it is capable of doing.
WCO Batteries. I guess we have to wait for the OP to say if the cam was charging or recently charged.
āå ēµéå¶ēµåļ¼Max.ChargeVoltageļ¼ļ¼8.4Vā
Yeah but thatās after internal circuitry, hooking up anything more than 5v USB input would fry the cam circuitry, probably not hurt the battery at all.
Does this risk only apply to battery-powered cams? I have v3 cams and presume that, as they run from mains power, they do not have internal batteries that could malfunction or explode.
Technically any electronic device is some amount of risk but in this case, that was almost definitely caused by the battery.
With a traditional wired/non battery cam, the risk is going to be more in the power adapter than in the camera. Power adapters do have some safety mechanisms in them but they are not fool proof and some here have had them melt or even spark/flare up. Better quality power adapters from name brands are typically more reliable, but again, nothing is immune.
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I wanted to address your reliance on UL approvals. Itās important to note that the approval for the charger applies only to the charger itself and does not extend to the downstream device being charged. Furthermore, the UL approval pertains to the chargerās resistance to electrical shock and flammability. While this means the charger has been tested for fire spread in the event of ignition, it does not guarantee that the charger will never catch fire. Essentially, the charger is designed with self-extinguishing materials to minimize fire risk.
Moreover, UL approval does not govern charging rates. A common misconception is that a charger can āpushā energy to a device, but this is inaccurate. The charger provides power, and the device being charged draws power from it. You can think of this as the chargerās ācapacity.ā
~Doug
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