yep one of my battery packs got very hot. and im franky lucky it didnt burn my office and house down. i was working on software, so i was not in my workshop with my electronics tools, i was testing the artnet firmware, things were going well. i decided to see how many nodes i could get running at once with what i had on hand. so i grabbed a few of the battery packs i had already constructed. but when i plugged in the first pack to the wemos board all the leds went .. "dead" .. i wonder if the lipos have drained to empty? lets try another one. still no dice. plug the wemos back into the computer: NOTHING!

so i must have accidentally done something. oops, it happens, move on. so i set aside the battery and keep working, an hour later the firmware is working well, time to get back to assembling acrylic spires, so i turn to the bag of m3 bolts...

yep it was a little warm. melted through the electrical tape, and the plastic of the ziplock bag. took the batteries out of the case IMMEDIATELY. one was warm to the touch. not hot, just ..warm. i still need to do some diagnostics to figure out what happened. but after this unfortunate incident ive revised my plan for the centerpieces. nothing is tackier that having your centerpiece burst into flames during the reception. I cant take the risk. so despite being against the hacker spirit. ill keep the lipos and boost boards for a future project and I've purchased 20 usb battery packs, from a reputable brand. this will really simplify my life going forward, because the hardware is basically finished. my wallet is cranky but who can put a price on piece of mind? 

answer: me. its about $360