A new tenant in the fourplex is charging e- bikes in the basement.
The basement does have a smoke detector.

No one lives in the basement.
Two apts. On the ground level,two on a second floor.
All are over 60 y.o.

Charging is done w/o people present.

Question:
Should I make the landlord aware ?
How concerned should I be about the possibility of a fire?

Choices:
Zero probability, no concern nessecary
Moderate concern have her charge them in her apt. While she's home
Raise a major ruckus that's too dangerous to ignor
Tell the land lord , consider getting apt insurance

 

One question.

When the smoke detector activates and sounds in the basement with the bikes .

1) Does the alarm sound for the entire complex and automatically has fire department notification.

2) Or does the smoke detector only sound and activate for the basement and others may not hear the alarm?

FWIW, the University of South Florida does not allow E-bikes, E-scooters, E-skateboards, etc. inside any of the buildings on campus. USF’s Green rating is 97 out of 99, so it’s pretty much all in on environmental, sustainability, save the planet ideology.

Yes, I would notify the landlord. When you say he is charging ebikes. What does that mean exactly. Does he have two and is charging them. Or is running some kind of ebike charging business or scam. Those damn things are dangerous chicom fire hazards imho.

If it is his place he can do as he damn well pleases and deal with any consequences.

Not his place, than the LL should be made aware.

A 60 year old fourplex could easily have substandard wiring. I'd complain.

Not complain; but inform. Landlords insurance premium may be at risk once notified

Smoke alarm screams only in the basement.

If people can do thing wrong, they will.

Inadequate alarms, unattended charging.

Batteries are pyrotechnic devices, mostly working at the speed of turtle until they go full rabbit.

Then your hare's on fire.

Now what are you gonna do?

This news story seems relevant...

E-bike battery explosion leaves home destroyed, cat dies in fire

(KDVR) – Denver firefighters say the source of an August 13 fire that left a cat dead and has forced a family to stay in a hotel was an electric vehicle battery.

The blaze destroyed the home in the 800 block of South Locust, and one of the family’s cats died in the fire.

Amber Hilbert lives in the townhome with her son and daughter. Hilbert was home alone at the time and said that she had plugged in an electric bicycle battery.

When she went to check in on the process a couple of hours later, there was a “hiss” and then fire. She was able to self-evacuate, along with another cat and the family dog.

For the past week, they have been staying at a local hotel. The American Red Cross has also been assisting. Hilbert said she had just recently purchased the used electric bicycle, but likely won’t be purchasing one again.

No humans were injured.

The family has established a GoFundMe fundraiser to help with day-to-day expenses.

https://kdvr.com/news/local/e-...ed-cat-dies-in-fire/

What does your lease agreement say about this specific instance? It is possible the new tenant is in violation of the agreement. Either way, I would inform the landlord. Too much at stake, for you and other residents. Even unattended charging is too risky per john's post, above. Once it ignites, it's too late.

As ORC stated, they are all chicom crap.

The turnover in these apts. is very very low.
The lease agreement doesn't address this issue.

Will check with the land lord, this week.

I've been pretty big into bikes for a long time and have read up on e-bikes. This is one of things where quality matters. The biggest name brands like Trek & Specialized are sourcing quality batteries and chargers. Yes the components are from China but there's quality contol.

The cheap no name brands are sourcing as cheap as they can get and the cheap lithium batteries frequently spontaneously combust and will burn your house down. These are being sold by the thousands. These are disposable bikes as most bike shops won't work on them. I think it is entirely reasonable to ask for them to be charged in the apartment while present or in a detached garage.

Let the Landlord know, he/she might not have thought about e-bike issues in the building and need to incorporate rules into the lease, and check with his insurance carrier, making sure it's not an exclusion...

He may want them to take out renters insurance with enough coverage to fix the building should they ignite...

Personally I’d be concerned. Charging batteries are a hazard. I only charge my tool
batteries when we are home and awake. I never leave the batteries in the tools and they are all stored in metal ammo cans. I keep the cans in the house in the air conditioning during the summer and in the garage during the winter.

My neighbor leaves his yard equipment batteries plugged in to the chargers all the time, in his garage, which is also stacked up with cardboard boxes next to his BMW. I said something to him once about leaving his batteries plugged in and his response was that the chargers had safety devices built in.

Monkeys said it correctly and with his usual humor.

quote:

Originally posted by BOATTRASH1:
Personally I’d be concerned. Charging batteries are a hazard. I only charge my tool
batteries when we are home and awake. I never leave the batteries in the tools and they are all stored in metal ammo cans. I keep the cans in the house in the air conditioning during the summer and in the garage during the winter.

My neighbor leaves his yard equipment batteries plugged in to the chargers all the time, in his garage, which is also stacked up with cardboard boxes next to his BMW. I said something to him once about leaving his batteries plugged in and his response was that the chargers had safety devices built in.

To be honest, I, too, have never given it a second thought. I've always just left my tool batteries on the charger or in the tool. I just Googled it and it seems that these lithium batteries can and do have "thermal runaway" both on and off chargers. Apparently I need to reevaluate how and where I store them. I'm not sure an ammo can would contain a lithium fire.

Who's paying for that electricity?

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
Smoke alarm screams only in the basement.

I voted Raise a major ruckus that's too dangerous to ignor.

Because of the fire system in place is not good enough when the problem starts with charging of the e bikes.

Yes, this does not sound like it should wait, Bendable. You need to be all over this with the landlord. Do it in email, or some other method that has a record, and make sure someone you trust is copied on the emails, or other form of commmunication.



.

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:

A 60 year old fourplex could easily have substandard wiring.

OP did not say anything about the age of the building. The tenants are over 60 years old.

quote:

I think it is entirely reasonable to ask for them to be charged in the apartment while present

Take another read of ORC's post. The resident was present when the battery 'popped' and could do nothing about the ensuing fire - just get herself, a dog and a cat out. Lithium fires, once they start, are virtually impossible to quickly put out. IMO, charging need to be outside and away from any building.