ROAR of the Pelican (CR123 Explosion during use, firsthand account)

[snakebite]

Lunarmodule
if the reaction in the venting battery produed significant amounts of hydrofluoric acid your delayed symptoms make sense.
hfl can go into your skin and sometimes many hours later start working on nerves and causing pain.
got a tiny drop on my hand doing some glass etching and just washed it off.
later that evening it started feeling like the biggest,meanest,most venomous wasp or hornet in the world was stinging me there.this lasted 2 days.
nothing to do but wait it out.
hope you feel better soon.

[Lunarmodule]

An update: Intrepid CPFer InFLux and all around nice fellow called me at home around noontime and I was feeling much better. Very nice, checking on my condition, which is not very serious thankfully.

I felt better until I got off the phone with the hospital that did the blood analysis. The doctor I saw yesterday referred my results to a toxicologist that confirms significant hydroflouric acid poisioning. Huge thanks to the CPFers that gave me the links for the MSDS sheets on the batteries. Finally my secondary exposure symptoms jibe with what I have read. Worst is the nausea and vomiting, which are at bay for now, and today I managed normal meals, OK. There is tissue necrosis (dead stuff) at the laceration sites, explaining the black color of the cuts. At higher inhaled concentrations complete shutdown of cardiovascular organs can happen with a delayed onset. The VERY good news is the exposure is relatively small, but significant enough to cause the nasty GI symptoms, skyrocketed liver enzyme numbers, and skin rash. Some friends came by at various times during the day and poked some fun at my appearance, the skin rash covering most of my extremeties resembles a childhood case of measles. It helps to laugh about it, the worst is definitely over. It seems to be clearing, I was going to head to the ocean for a swim but dont have the energy quite yet. The toxicologist advised lots of hydration and rest, easy enough. Apparently the hydroflouric acid released in gaseous form upon combustion is extremely damaging, and is particularly nasty in that the serious exposure symptoms have a very delayed onset as the radical free flourine disassociates from the acid form and wreaks its havoc on various systems. So on top of being the lithium exposion test pilot I get to be the hydroflouric acid guinea pig too! Reiterate thanks to all those wishing me well.

I want to point out that I dont want to see any postings that specifically condemn or blame either the Pelican light or the battery station battery, rather I dont want folks to argue over who the culprit is per se. It was the combination of the ingredients. One thing that impresses the heck out of me is Kevin (batterystation)'s response to the situation. Not only has he immediately stepped up to the plate and vowed to make everything right with me, his extensive efforts to increase the safety measures and awareness by way of investigating past changes to the design, to implementing rigorous testing policies (individually sampling thousands of cells) and making the ZTS tester inexpensive and easily available to customers, sounds to me like he has back to front thrown everything in his arsenal at proactively increasing safety measures to insure the minimal likelihood of future incidents. THATS what I want most out of the post here, that ultimately this wont happen again or at the very least the odds are reduced several orders of magnitude. Kevin feels terrible for what happened to me. Actually, I feel bad for Kevin, he's likely lost a lot of sleep over this and is taking this very personally. I commend his statements and applaud his efforts. Remarkably so he has taken measures within HOURS of the original incident. If it were a government run project, a committee would have hearings in a few months, then suggested policy changes, then two years later implement them with the latest round of budget cuts.

*EDIT* I just read dano's warning. I wrote my piece before reading the most current stuff. Apparently we were thinking alike. I dont want to see any arguing or bickering over who is to blame. The point of this is to learn as much as possible from the facts and make that part of the knowledge base. The LAST thing I want is to smear a manufacturer and conduct a tar and feather campaign. Matter of fact it is the knowledge from experience shared here that makes the entire thing completely redeeming, with intrinsic value.

[nakahoshi]

Glad your feeling better! We are all pulling for you to make a full recovery!

[Lunarmodule]

These are for everyone's consideration, reiterating I have ZERO interest in targeting the products involved to be avoided, only that collectively the causal analysis brings about some useful insight that ultimately will have benefits.

These are photos of another Pelican incan lamp assembly, identical to the one involved in the incident. Notice how the spring on the bottom, which contacts the battery's anode (+) nub is just slightly larger than the diameter of the nub. When pressure is applied, the spring CAN slide over the outside edge of the nub. If somehow the spring wore through the plastic insulator around the positive nub it would result in a direct short to ground of the battery's case. This is a significant fact. As are the pressurization anomalies caused by a dozen hours in the belly of airplanes less than 24 hours before arriving here.

Again, I dont want to point the finger of blame. I am very happy to be OK. And I dont want to see anyone else go through this. Or if they do, perhaps they will know what to expect. Its not as simple as "dont use Pelican M6es" or "battery station" batteries. There are universal elements that would have effected the same result if the name brands were never known. If Pelican admits to a design flaw or undergoes a design revision, all the better. Battery station has ALREADY taken steps to improve safety (!!!). Id like the focus on the causal speculation to be constructive, completely.

[Lunarmodule]

Tremendous thanks to Nubo and Diesel bomber for providing HF toxicity links and MSDS info. Very timely and VERY helpful!!!

InFlux mentioned on the phone that he will likely use ONLY single cell lights from now on, and keep multi cell lights unloaded. I think a lot of folks will be more cautious about their battery habits. I want to reiterate that I dont see a need to be afraid of these things, I hope everyone comes away more aware, not necessarily frightened away from using their lights.

[dyyys1]

I know 2 dozen others have already said this, but I'm glad you're ok. It could have been much worse. I would like to see those videos where they induce battery failure. If someone could put up those links, I would be very happy.

[fieldops]

Just concentrate on getting well, LM! God's speed for a quick recovery. I applaud your ability to stay objective and non critical of the products and companies involved. It shows that you are truly a class act and we should all endeavor to follow such an example. GET WELL FAST!!

fieldops

[Bob_G]

I don't think any ones has mentioned vibration. Long flight, strong spring, loaded batteries to stress spring. No telling what kind of agitation, sympathetic vibration, or whatever might have been in play. A freak accident waiting to happen perhaps.

[frisco]

First time this happens on a commercial airline flight...... guess what..... it's all over for carry on flashlights!!!! I know laptop batteries catch fire also.... But we know now that we are carrying a potential pipe bomb in our pockets !!!!

Like they say.... it's all fun and games.... till someone gets hurt !!!!!

frisco

[David_Campen]

The doctor I saw yesterday referred my results to a toxicologist that confirms significant hydroflouric acid poisioning.

One more reason why flashlight manufacturers should phase out use of 123 cells in favor of Lithium AA cells. I haven't heard any reports of Lithium AA cells venting explosively like this and even in the event one did it wouldn't produce any of the extremely toxic hydrofluoric acid (the Energizer L91 MSDS does not show any fluorinated materials).

[dyyys1]

btw, I agree with templar. This thread should be stickied.

[batterystation]

I am very glad to hear Steve is feeling better. Whew! I hope everyone knows if we did not care, we would never have put our name on the batteries. I have tried once today just to short a battery in a vise. Just cranked on it. It got warm then just quit. Saturday we will attempt to recreate this in the alley here.

I also understand there are various factors at play here and just want everything SAFE. For the time being we have halted full case sales of the batteries so we can test them. It takes a while. No more are leaving here without being tested. I realize also that the ZTS thing is not perfect but it does seem to be a good way to head off a potential problem at the pass.

Steve-PMs did not get through, so please email me directly at kevin@batterystation.com so I can get your tester etc. on the way.
I have lost some sleep but I have been through personal tragedy and know how it feels. I was (am) very concerned about your recovery. It is NOT business, it is personal. I am a flashlight nut too and I feel terrible at what happened. Regardless of how or why it happened, please accept my humblest apologies.

We will work even harder on safety issues with regard to all batteries. Batteries are after all stored energy. Some are LOTS of stored energy.

[Lightmeup]

One more reason why flashlight manufacturers should phase out use of 123 cells in favor of Lithium AA cells. I haven't heard any reports of Lithium AA cells venting explosively like this and even in the event one did it wouldn't produce any of the extremely toxic hydrofluoric acid (the Energizer L91 MSDS does not show any fluorinated materials).

Interesting. I guess I had been assuming that the internal chemical makeup of CR123 and AA Lithium primaries was the same. But you're saying they use different ingredients and that the AA are apparently less toxic? Is the CR123 designed to produce more power for its size than if it used the same formula as in the AA? Has anyone ever heard of AA Lithium primaries blowing up like this?

[enLIGHTenment]

They travelled all the way from Georgia to Hawaii by air in an unpressurized unheated compartment.

Large freight aircraft (e.g. anything made by Boeing or Airbus) and cargo compartments in passenger airliners are pressurized to around 8,000 feet pressure altitude. Thermal conditions will vary from -30C to +30C depending on the aircraft, cargo placement, thermal requirements of other cargo, and operator preferences. All of this is completely inside the published environmental conditions for 123As. No damage should be expected from routine airfreight handling. Indeed, any 123A damaged by air freight was so badly designed as to be severely defective.

Further, if airfreight conditions were a causal factor for vent with flame incidents, 123As would be burning on a regular basis given how many cells are air freighted from production in Asia to markets elsewhere and how many people take 123A powered devices on aircraft.


@Kevin/BatteryStation:

I don't know how deep your pockets are, but have you thought about hiring a forensic engineering consultant to have a look at the remains of this incident? It won't come cheap, but it will give you and your supplier a very good idea of what needs fixing.

[greg_in_canada]

I'm not trying to place blame but just wondering:

Could the tolerance range positive nipple of the Battery Station cells be wider than other manufacturers? I.E. at the small end of the tolerance range could they be more likely to fit inside the spring than other brands?

Thanks - Greg

[batterystation]

The button on our battery appears to be the same size. I will mic it tomorrow to be sure but it looks the same as Duracell, Sanyo, and Energizer.

[kromeke]

Addressing lightmeup's question about lithium batteries.

There are several different lithium chemistries used in "lithium" batteries. The primary cell (primary being non-rechargable) batteries all use lithium, but there are variations on the different materials used in the batteries. The common 1.5 volt lithium AA cells are a different chemistry than the 3v 123 cells. Now, they do manufacture an AA sized battery that is 3 volts and has the same chemistry as the 123 cells, but these are not commonly sold due to the fact that the have twice the open circuit voltage as a normal alkaline battery and would cause damage in devices that are designed for an alkaline or zinc AA cell. I believe this is why most lithium batterys have their own unique form factors, to help prevent accidental substitution in devices which cannot handle the higher voltage.

Open circuit voltage of a battery is dependent on the batteries chemistry. Alkaline, zinc-carbon and lithium-Iron cells all have an open circuit voltage of 1.5 volts.

NiCad and NiMH have a 1.2v open circuit voltage, these can usually be substituted for the 1.5v cells with no problems.

There are several different lithium chemistries that all have an open circuit voltage of around 3 volts.

Check this site for more information on the various chemistries:
http://www.powerstream.com/BatteryFAQ.html

I don't believe that getting rid of lithium batteries is a practical solution. Making lithium batteries safer would be the best. There are a lot of products which use lithium batteries. They are a real solution is certain circumstances.

I am very sorry to hear about Lunarmodule's injuries. I know that HF poisoning is very serious and generally not good. Root cause needs to be established if it is possible. Without a proper determination, you cannot make a corrective action. One can obviously choose not to use the lithium chemistries, and you will never have this type of failure. Personally, I will continue to use lithium chemistries, but I would be very careful of the configurations I choose. Personally, I will not use a flashlight which uses more that 2 123 cells in series, or that uses 2 123 cells in a high drain environment. This is no guarantee that I will never see an accident, but it is my own personal decision. I am personally fond of LED lights, and most of these will not draw the same amount of current as some of the higher wattage incandescents. This may be irrational on my part, I'm not trying to persuade anyone else. I believe that some designs out there draw more current than the 123 cell is designed to handle. But this may not be the cause of this accident.

Again, I hope that you fully recover from your injuries Lunarmodule.

I read that their has been a design change in the Pelican M6. Does anyone know specifically what this addresses?

I believe that lithium chemistry batteries will be with us for some time. Carbon-zinc is almost gone from the market. Alkaline will be with us for some time as well. The rechargable chemistries are really taking off. Most consumer lithium primary batteries have been on the market for over a decade. The 123 cell is one of the older designs out there. I believe that it is a proven design and has a pretty safe record. Lithium primary cells pack a large amout of energy. There are shipping regulations for lithium that addresses their additional hazard. The company I work for is getting ready to produce a device which uses 2 large lithium cells. I treat them with much respect because I understand the potential hazards. Our device is not for the general consumer market and their would be no other way for us to get the capacity we need in the size constraints we have. We cannot air ship our device on passenger aircraft, and to ship it by air requires very stringent packaging and weight restrictions.

I don't believe lunarmodule did anything wrong here. It is very unfortunate that this happened. I wish him the best.

[Knight Lights]

Kevin,

The one other thing that would be interesting to know is the distance from the lamp assembly spring to the tailspring with the head screwed all the way down and compared to, say an E2 or Z2 or something similar.

I had forgotten how heavy duty the spring was on those lamp assemblies!

Bill

[bole64]

Lunar, really glad to hear you are ok. I will warn my friend who is a heavy pelican user. I hope you recover from the poisoning too.

[greg_in_canada]

Thanks Kevin. The energizer data sheet only specs a maximum (http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/123.pdf) 0f 9.6mm, so it's hard to know what their minimum is.

The Sanyo data sheet only shows a nominal (http://sanyo.wslogic.com/pdf/pdfs/CR123A.pdf) of 6.3 mm.

Regards - Greg

The button on our battery appears to be the same size. I will mic it tomorrow to be sure but it looks the same as Duracell, Sanyo, and Energizer.

[enLIGHTenment]

Li/Fe lithium AAs don't produce HF when overcooked but cell failure can produce H2S (hydrogen sulfide), which can kill without warning if inhaled in quantity. See Energizer's MSDS and some comments on H2S safety.

All of the lithium battery chemestries have bad failure modes. In addition to HF formation in a Li/MnO2 failure as happened in this case, Li/SO2 (lithium/sulfur dioxide) failures can produce sulfur dioxide gas--a lung irritant.

[turbodog]

First, this is me talking out of my butt, ok?


This thread has blossomed into more than I ever figured. I was especially surprised to see the HF poisoning!

We don't have a culprit for sure, and I know that causal relationships can be inferred where none exist. But on an anecdotal level I would focus on the pelican light.

Why?

Surefire.

What?

Take the m6. It holds 6 cells in a series/parallel arrangment as I understand it. Statistically, there is a much greater probability of getting a partially dead cell in a 6 cell light than a 2 cell one. So...... if simply reverse charging caused "instant" venting/fire/explosion then we would likely see a MUCH higher incident of it with this light.

Furthermore, given that SF has several multi-cell lights, we would expect to see a whole host of failures across their product line.

But, instead we are hearing of failures that all *seem* to follow the same pattern with a pelican. And people keep hammering on and on about the incredibly strong spring that this particular light has.

All this seems fairly simple to me, but maybe that's because I don't have a pelican light to skew my perspective.

And for the record, I have had a LOT of batteries vent, spray, and explode. And all it took was the first one for me to learn one thing: RUN!




In addition, the pelican failures seem to happen while the light has been on for a while. Or am I wrong? Possibly it is the crushing force of the spring coupled with the thermal expansion from a high-drain run.

[cheapo]

there is simply no one culprate.... dont you guys see, the pelican light cant handle batteries of different voltages- other lights can, that is why only it explodes... is that the lights fault?.. not really, as long as you put in two batteries of the same voltage.

-David

[turbodog]

The batteries are used in series. Voltage has little to nothing to do with what you think you are talking about as lithium cells maintain their voltage extremely well. The real issue is SOC or state of charge.

I'm not ready to go boycott pelican, but it seems there is something about this light.

However, even IF it is the light... we're trying to pinpoint a failure mode for a light than many CPF people own. A light that _many_ have ran countless cells though. A light that certainly cells with varying SOC have been used in, and that did _not_ destructively fail.

So we've got 2 hard searches going on: 1) batterystation and 2) the pelican dissection.

there is simply no one culprate.... dont you guys see, the pelican light cant handle batteries of different voltages- other lights can, that is why only it explodes... is that the lights fault?.. not really, as long as you put in two batteries of the same voltage.

-David

[turbodog]

I know of a local pelican dealer for these lights and might pick one up on Fri.


Can we tell which cell failed? The front or rear one...

[Lightmeup]

There are several different lithium chemistries used in "lithium" batteries. The primary cell (primary being non-rechargable) batteries all use lithium, but there are variations on the different materials used in the batteries.

So, a similar scenario could happen with AA Lithiums, but the resulting hazardous material created would be hydrogen sulfide instead of hydrofluoric acid?

[turbodog]

Hydrogen sulfide is nothing to sneeze at (pun intended), but HF is positively EVIL.

I leaches the calcium from your bones.

Frickin' nasty. Any way you slice it.

wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrofluoric_acid

So, a similar scenario could happen with AA Lithiums, but the resulting hazardous material created would be hydrogen sulfide instead of hydrofluoric acid?

[kromeke]

And for the record, I have had a LOT of batteries vent, spray, and explode. And all it took was the first one for me to learn one thing: RUN!

Can you elaborate on this? Why have you had a lot of batteries vent, spay, and explode? Were they lithium batteries? 123 cells?

I'm just curious, I'd like to know the potential failure modes.

Also, can you elaborate on the M6 circuit. I don't have one, so I am curious as to its specific configuration. It it 3 banks of 2 series connected cells? Does Surefire have anything special to prevent cell charging? Again, we can't blame cell reversal and charging for this specific accident, but it seems to be a possible failure mode in any flashlight with more than one cell connected in series.

Is there any good data on catastrophic failure modes of lithium batteries? Is cell charging a guarantee of venting? (with flames or otherwise) Short circuiting a cell should not produce venting in consumer cells. What are the failure modes? Can anyone here give any difinitive answers to these questions?

[kromeke]

Lightmeup:

I don't know. I can't claim to be a battery expert, I just have a little knowledge about the lithium-thionyl chloride cells we use at work. This is not a normal consumer chemistry, but is often used in other devices. We do have a battery handbook, but I haven't read up much on battery failures. I am interested in this thread, as a lithium battery user.

I do get the impression that some people may be modding lights without understanding the potential dangers of the lithium chemistries. I would say that lithium primary cells have the most potential danger of the consumer battery market (excluding wet lead acid batteries, like you have in cars) due to two factors: they have the highest energy density of common consumer batteries, and they can be more acutely toxic if they fail. I have done some reading in the Radio Control market about lithium-ion rechargables. There have been some fires associated with them. This is a little different as lithium-ion is a different animal, with the exception that they also have a very high energy density.

Edit: When I talk about modded lights, this is another subject. LM has made it clear that his light was unmodified. I do not wish to imply otherwise.

[turbodog]

I mentioned this just to sympathize with the OP. The first time you see a battery explode you are curious. After that, you run.

Most of my exploding cells were nicd cells which were charged at a 40 amp rate. And yes, that wasn't real smart of me.


Surefire m6. I believe the bottom 3 cells are parallel as are the top 3, with the top and bottom array being series connected. In any case I don't see that it matters much. There are 6 cells there. And regardless of how they are connected (unless they are all in parallel, which is virtually impossible), there is a tremendous potential for reverse charging.

I submit that it is not going to be reverse charging. My money is on a mechanically induced internal cell failure.

Can you elaborate on this? Why have you had a lot of batteries vent, spay, and explode? Were they lithium batteries? 123 cells?

I'm just curious, I'd like to know the potential failure modes.

Also, can you elaborate on the M6 circuit. I don't have one, so I am curious as to its specific configuration. It it 3 banks of 2 series connected cells? Does Surefire have anything special to prevent cell charging? Again, we can't blame cell reversal and charging for this specific accident, but it seems to be a possible failure mode in any flashlight with more than one cell connected in series.

Is there any good data on catastrophic failure modes of lithium batteries? Is cell charging a guarantee of venting? (with flames or otherwise) Short circuiting a cell should not produce venting in consumer cells. What are the failure modes? Can anyone here give any difinitive answers to these questions?