Cyclops Flashlight Explosion

[Illum]

All of which may contain components made in China or packaging from China. There's no escaping it, especially with anything that has electronic components.

One thing that you can't avoid is the computer that you're using. At least 75% is from China and the rest of it is most probably the product of a Southeast Asian country.

Heh, I Immigrated from Taiwan 10 years ago, relatives in both china and Taiwan.

Im trying to avoid products made my my own country, does this make me a hypocrite?

[jason9987]

On your other light are the batteries tight when putting them in? also is the tail spring very tight?
I would think if it is a battery problem the 3,4, and 6 cell surefires would be more prone to this but it seems limited to two cell lights and mostly the Pelican M6, which leads me to belive its a problem with the light

[Brighteyez]

No, it doesn't make you a hypocrite. It does make for a topic of conversation though as I'm sure there are people who would be interested in why you would prefer to not purchase products made in either of those countries. There appear to be a number of members of this site who are of Chinese ancestry, though they may American, Canadian, Australian, British, or Singaporean, by nationality (or other countries that I may have missed, my apologies,) in addition to those who might be Chinese or Taiwanese by nationality.

I'm sure there are reasons why a person may want to have as little to do with their native land, it may involve religious or political persecution, renoucing citizenship, a dislike of governmental or business practices, in some cases as a means of assimulation into their new country, amongst a myriad of other potential reasons. I'm sure whatever reason you might have, it is certainly a reasonable one, and even if it isn't, it should be reasonable from your perspective.

Heh, I Immigrated from Taiwan 10 years ago, relatives in both china and Taiwan.

Im trying to avoid products made my my own country, does this make me a hypocrite?

[Archangel]

I second the thought of keeping this thread on the original topic. While the other issue is worth discussing, it's not worth discussing *here*. Feel free to start a new thread if you'd like to carry on.

[NewBie]

There were no flying projectiles, thank God!!!! I am going to the doctor today based on all of your suggestions. Thanks.

Thank goodness everything is okay, so far!

How did your doctor visit go?

[NewBie]

In all this CR123A research and testing, I just happened to notice that I had just received my first load of Sanyos that said Made In China. No joke. I had never received them before that were made there. New factory I guess. I understand Sanyo is shifting a large part of their manufacturing process of many products to China. I remember as a kid to beware of "made in Japan" and yet now Japan is considered golden. There is a lot of good stuff that comes from China too. Heck, there is crap made right here in the USA too. To my knowledge there is only one or two remaining CR123A factories in the USA and I believe they are Duracell and Energizer. They both still say Made in USA on them.

Just a fyi, I have Streamlight, SureFire, Panasonic, Energizer, Browning, and Duracell cells sitting here, that all say made in the USA.

Upon dis-assembly of the cells, to look at the internals carefully, all but the Duracell batteries appear to be Energizer cells- Including Surefire.

[InfidelCastro]

Just a fyi, I have Streamlight, SureFire, Panasonic, Energizer, Browning, and Duracell cells sitting here, that all say made in the USA.

Upon dis-assembly of the cells, to look at the internals carefully, all but the Duracell batteries appear to be Energizer cells- Including Surefire.

I hear this often, but that always makes me wonder why my Energizer brand cells generally totally suck, while my Surefire batteries always kickass..

[frisco]

Maybe somebody in the know could chime in here. It seems to me that you should never run multi 123 cell primary batteries down to nothing. One battery is sure to dump before the other. I know there are many "thrifty" flashlight users that want to get every last penny of juice out of there batteries. Would it be wise to change at the first sign of the light level falling off?

frisco

[Lit Up]

1 watt Lux, small size and 24 hours of runtime?
GIMMIE, GIMMIE, GIMMIE!

No Surprise, there are already 1Ws powered by hydrogen
http://www.angstrompower.com/products_a2.html

"non-surefire A2"

[InfidelCastro]

1 watt Lux, small size and 24 hours of runtime?
GIMMIE, GIMMIE, GIMMIE!

Holy crap that seems dangerous though.

As the power level of flashlights goes up, it appears the danger level does too.

[TORCH_BOY]

I have never realy been keen on Cr3 Cells,
Imagine having you camera blow up while taking a picture

[DownUnderLite]

Yes, good Idea! If your flashlight dims then it would be good practice to remove the cell/cells and test on a battery checker. Anything in the 20% mark or below should be disposed of or recharged (if RCR123). Don't be in the belief of "should be able to get another Xminutes out of them". If you think this; and put them back into your flashlight, you will be asking for trouble!!

What would happen if you forgot how much charge was in your cell/cells?
"Hmm... Torch is getting warm! A lot warmer than usual...Oh Crap!! thats right!! Now I remember"- At this stage you better start to throw your torch AKA stick of gelignite very far from you or property.

[Lit Up]

Holy crap that seems dangerous though.

As the power level of flashlights goes up, it appears the danger level does too.

Too true. A little tank of hydrogen or methanol next to "the boys" doesn't sound real comforting. I can assure you though it's going to be coming to cell phones. Nokia and other manufacturers were having a gripe awhile back about how battery technology is not keeping up with all the newer features becoming available.

[cy]

room200, welcome to cpf... have you posted pic's yet? pretty bad news for your first posts?

I agree with battery station's comments.

problem with products out of china is wide range of quality with little to no recognition of design/property rights.

one has no idea if a mfg is leaving off PTC to save on costs or simply don't know a PTC device is required.

if what you claimed actually happened, Sam's Club has a ton of clout and will take quick action. once they find out.

[damon]

now even laptop started to Explode


http://www.i4u.com/article5924.html

[firefly99]

To my knowledge there is only one or two remaining CR123A factories in the USA and I believe they are Duracell and Energizer. They both still say Made in USA on them.

Please note I had a batch of Duracell that say "Made in China"

[NewBie]

I hear this often, but that always makes me wonder why my Energizer brand cells generally totally suck, while my Surefire batteries always kickass..

I hear comments from folks like this. Dunno, I've even gotten a near match for runtimes too, as much of a match as one gets from multiple tests from different cells you pull out of a SureFire battery box.

For example, here is a Duracell:



Here, take a look there is alot more:


http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/show...64955&posted=1


.

[NewBie]

Please note I had a batch of Duracell that say "Made in China"

Were those from the factory, or were they copies from china, remember this happens with batteries alot.

[Brighteyez]

Proctor and Gamble has facilities all over the world. The Duracell batteries that are made in China are the ones that are often packaged with flashlights that are manufactured in China. I've also seen some that had indicia of "For OEM use only", I guess they are bulk batteries and the text is to minimize the potential that they will be introduced into the retail market; a somewhat futile effort as there are always people looking to buy grey market products.

Were those from the factory, or were they copies from china, remember this happens with batteries alot.

[Redjam]

Too true. A little tank of hydrogen or methanol next to "the boys" doesn't sound real comforting. I can assure you though it's going to be coming to cell phones. Nokia and other manufacturers were having a gripe awhile back about how battery technology is not keeping up with all the newer features becoming available.

I am pretty sure that one of the drivers of the metal hydride approach for carrying hydrogen for fuel cells was finding a safer form to store the hydrogen. If given the chance right now I would not hesitate to try one out for a while.

[NewBie]

I've never been to this forum until today, but I had a very scary thing happen; my flashlight or batteries exploded. I had never heard of this happening before, so as you can imagine, I was scared to death. I put the flashlight down after using it about 10 minutes (the battery started to go dim while I was using it and getting hot). I waited for the thing to cool off while I ate a sandwhich. All of a sudden BANG! The sound was like a firecracker or gunshot. At first, I didn't know where it came from. I actually started looking at my windows to see if there was a gunshot that came through the window. I then noticed a very pungent odor, and this is how I realized what had happened. I reluctantly opened the flashlight to find black residue inside the battery case and all over the batteries. One of the batteries seems to be fused inside the case, and it won't come out. The name of the battery is Cyclops. The brand of flashlight is Cyclops, and the battery is a CR123A. It says made in China. I normally have the flashlight in my pocket, and I can only imagine what could have happened if I'd followed my normal routine. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

How you doing? What did the doctor say?

[mechanic in the nite]

Hello Room

I am surprised really it seems you and I are the only ones who ever bought these lights from Sam's Club...Either people know something we don't or we found a deal they haven't. These lights that Sam's sells for 2 for $20 are 1 for $80 on cyclopssolutions.com

Anyways I have bought two packs of these lights a total of 4 lights about three months ago. Mine did not have the batteries installed the were in the packaging. I tested them all before installing them 3.7 on the money. I ran down about all of them to nothing, but I removed them immediately afterward. I have since fed them titanium brand cells. Drained about a dozen of those still no problems yet. I'm glad you posted this because now I'm concerned about leaving my light in my car and will be taking it out now.

Also after ten minutes of on time the head of this light will natuarlly get very hot. They seem to be pretty well made lights to me. It does have a tight spring/clickie though.

Hope all is well room.

[HarryN]

Just bumping Newbie's concern about your health. PLEASE go to a trauma unit / burn ward and tell them that you have had HF exposure. Not tomorrow, today.

[NewBie]

Just bumping Newbie's concern about your health. PLEASE go to a trauma unit / burn ward and tell them that you have had HF exposure. Not tomorrow, today.

HarryN,

I'd invite you to come over and catch up on what we know so far, and the testing that has been done, around post 647 (and earlier if you have not seen it):
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/show...92#post1492092


Food for thought- It doesn't even take a flashlight for a fireball(sorry, missed the fireball and burning battery parts):

[whiteman]

I just had my "cyclops" flashlight explode while I was working at my desk. It suddenly dimmed down and I thought that the battery was going dim so I shut it off and put it down. About 3 to 4 minutes later there was a loud explosion like a gunshot and something went past my head and hit the wall hard enough to dent the wall. It was the lens and o ring from the light. I turned and looked at the light and it had blown the rubber switch out of the back of the light. There was smoke coming from the light and I could not touch the light for at least 10 minutes as the casing of the light was red hot. I took a handkerchief and picked it up and moved it off the desk to keep from burning the desk.

[KeyGrip]

Good thing you used a handkerchief. Ventilate the area as well as possible to get rid of any fumes and wear gloves when handling the light, even if it's cold. Where are my manners?

[yaesumofo]

I am not familiar with the Cyclops flashlight.
Is it a single or multiple cell flashlight?
Is it possible that if it was a multiple cell flashlight that one of the cells was inserted reversed?

What type of batteries are you using?
Rechargeable or primary?
What brand?
Most TOP brands are very interested in these types of failures and will repair or replace the damaged equipment if found to be the fault of the battery (Duracell and energizer).
I hope that this doesn't become a trend. I also hope you did not get injured.
Be careful out there guys!!
Yaesumofo

I just had my "cyclops" flashlight explode while I was working at my desk. It suddenly dimmed down and I thought that the battery was going dim so I shut it off and put it down. About 3 to 4 minutes later there was a loud explosion like a gunshot and something went past my head and hit the wall hard enough to dent the wall. It was the lens and o ring from the light. I turned and looked at the light and it had blown the rubber switch out of the back of the light. There was smoke coming from the light and I could not touch the light for at least 10 minutes as the casing of the light was red hot. I took a handkerchief and picked it up and moved it off the desk to keep from burning the desk.

[mhubble]

Ive got 4 CYCLOPS batteries that came with a set of the CYCLOPS LIGHTS. After reading this thread Im not about to use them.

SO IF ANYBODY WANTS THESE BATTERIES FOR TESTING PURPOSES ONLY JUST EMAIL ME YOUR ADDRESS AND ILL GET THEM IN THE MAIL TO YOU.

EMAIL IS mfh@jetbroadband.com

[xlr8]

Hello all,

I realize this is a very old post but I bought a couple of those cyclops flashlights as well and have used them extensively for a couple of years without incident I've used Energizer lithium Photo CR123's. The only reason I found this forum was because I was looking for a replacement xenon bulb for one of them. Thank you for the wakeup call I have apparently done about everything wrong that I could of but fortunately haven't had any problems.

Cyclops appears to be selling the same flashlight with an added belt clip called the XCF http://www.cyclopssolutions.com/HTML/flashlights.html

My question is, should I abandon these flashlights that have until now performed very well. If so what would you recommend for replacements?

Alternatively now that I know not to run them all the way down I can be a more conscientious user and try to find a replacement bulb, (if any of you have any suggestions on where to find one).

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Guy's Dropper]

Nah, they're fine lights. Just don't mix batteries.