Battery residue

Hey guys,
I'm not sure if it's me being paranoid or whatnot. But recently i've gotten this residue like feeling on all of my lights. I haven't really had any batteries or anything leak. But sometimes when i open up the lithium lights or nimh lights after periods of use to charge there's a slight smell inside of the battery tube. Then when i touched the batteries to put them into the charger i noticed there was a slight residue from there. But i can't really see it and i'm positive that the batteries didn't leak or anything. However this is going on with all of my lights. Now when i touch the outside of all of my lights with my hand, i guess it's phycological ?(sp?) cause it's kind of hard to get that stuff over the entire outisde of the light. Then when i wash my hands i can't help but feel that the residue is stuck on there still.

I guess this all stems back to about a year ago when i had some CBP1650 cells leak on me and then when i touched the stuff and got it onto my hands the residue was stuck on there pretty good. Even after washing 15 times my hands felt really dry at the time but the residue was still there. Of course, it would've never gotten onto the lights that i own now because i didn't own these lights then.

Anyways... i tried washing the outside of my lights with soap and water. I can't help but think that the stuff is still there.

AM I BEING TOO PARANOID???
I dont want to be shaking hands with people, or me touching my arms or something and get that stuff all over when i'm in the shower or something.

Thanks in advance.

Anyone know anything about this?

I don't think you're being too paranoid, especially after reading what has happened to some people over the past few months.

I notice a smell when I open up my lights sometimes, but I also notice it when I receive those batteries from a dealer - they smell a little like chemicals/plastics.

I'm afraid I don't have a real answer for you, but I constantly wipe off my lights with towels that have windex on them, and I always wash my hands after handling any batteries.

I now charge my batteries outside on my deck and keep them stored in my detached garage. Paranoid? Maybe, but I'd rather not have any nasty surprises.

Hmm... so you think windex will keep the lights cleaner than soap and water? Do you think it's too much to be washing your hands even after touching the light itself?

Alin10123 said:

Hmm... so you think windex will keep the lights cleaner than soap and water? Do you think it's too much to be washing your hands even after touching the light itself?

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I meant that I usually just change the batteries, close the light, wipe it off then wash my hands.

Mostly I wipe the lights off because I often get thread grease on my hands and it ends up on the light after opening it.

bump

Hello Alin,

When you open a light after use, there is usually an odor, but there should not be any residue, unless your cells have leaked. I have not had many cells leak on me, but when they do, I wipe things down with a damp paper towel. I do not notice any residue after this cleaning.

I recommend Boraxo Powered Hand Soap for deep hand cleaning. It is available at most grocery stores, and some auto parts stores. I am amazed how well it works. I use it after working on my truck as well as lots of other times when my hands need deep cleaning.

Tom

May I just add I think the smell you are referring to is the "flashahool". I just had one cell drop on me recently and another, much stronger substance probably the electrolyte came out of the cell through the little vent holes. Brand new unused cells have a very slight flashahol smell to them but barely noticeable. as you use your light and the cells heat up a bit however, the flashahool becomes stronger. I think that whatever if you don´t inhale strongly directly from up close to the vent holes nothing will happen. This one battery that I dropped stenched the whole enclosed cabinet quickly and was definitely another substance.

SilverFox said:

Hello Alin,

When you open a light after use, there is usually an odor, but there should not be any residue, unless your cells have leaked. I have not had many cells leak on me, but when they do, I wipe things down with a damp paper towel. I do not notice any residue after this cleaning.

I recommend Boraxo Powered Hand Soap for deep hand cleaning. It is available at most grocery stores, and some auto parts stores. I am amazed how well it works. I use it after working on my truck as well as lots of other times when my hands need deep cleaning.

Tom

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I guess i'm just being extra careful.
A few times after handling my lights (not the batteries) and i went to go take out my contacts after rinsing my hands off, there was a slight burning sensation. I quickly rinsed my eyes out and this feeling went away. I then washed my hands with soap and water. The burning sensation in my eyes were gone when i touched them again. It's times like this that makes me wonder what's on my light and whether or not a simple handwashing will fix it because i've washed my lights with soap and water before. Yet they dont seem to be all that clean because my hands still seemed to be dirty. I drenched my lights last night in windex and wiped them down with a dry paper towel after soaking for a few minutes. The light seem a lot cleaner now. However... for some reason i'm still nervous. My batteries have never leaked in these lights before. They are all pretty new. Any idea what it could be? Either i'm being a little too careful, or anodizing usualy leaves a sensation of leftover residue on your hands?

As far as that deep hand cleaning stuff, does it make your hands all dry when you're done? What about hospital soap? That stuff seems to clean everything off of your hands.

Thanks

LED61 said:

May I just add I think the smell you are referring to is the "flashahool". I just had one cell drop on me recently and another, much stronger substance probably the electrolyte came out of the cell through the little vent holes. Brand new unused cells have a very slight flashahol smell to them but barely noticeable. as you use your light and the cells heat up a bit however, the flashahool becomes stronger. I think that whatever if you don´t inhale strongly directly from up close to the vent holes nothing will happen. This one battery that I dropped stenched the whole enclosed cabinet quickly and was definitely another substance.

Click to expand...

Yea, i that's the smell. When there's a smell of something, usually that means the molecules of the stuff are present in the air. When it's trapped some place like inside of the light, isnt' it possible that it condenses on the light? I hope just a soap and water washing will clean it ALL off of your hands.

Hello Alin,

I don't wear contacts, so I don't regularly touch my eyes. If you eyes sting, I would pay attention to that and take the proper precautions.

I believe Borax is actually a skin conditioner, but at any rate, it does not leave your hands dry.

Tom

SilverFox said:

Hello Alin,

I don't wear contacts, so I don't regularly touch my eyes. If you eyes sting, I would pay attention to that and take the proper precautions.

I believe Borax is actually a skin conditioner, but at any rate, it does not leave your hands dry.

Tom

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yea, that's why i'm being really paranoid. I'm sure if there's residue on your hands and it stings your eyes, it may not be TOO damaging to your eyes. But like think about when you have to use the bathroom or something. LOL
Um... yea.

By the way, will that borax stuff clean off my lights as well? Or is there anything 100% that will clean up battery acid without damaging my lights?

Thanks

A slow loss of eye sight comes with age. you can try to blame it on rechargeable batteries but it's a fact of life. Now where did I leave my L4? lol. I need a good flashllight to find my favorite flashlihgts, It's Hell to get old but it just means we need better and brighter flashlights

Hello Alin,

I have never tried it, so I don't know...

A solution with liquid dish washing soap in it will work, and it won't leave a residue. General purpose cleaners like Simple Green should also work.

Tom

SilverFox said:

Hello Alin,

I have never tried it, so I don't know...

A solution with liquid dish washing soap in it will work, and it won't leave a residue. General purpose cleaners like Simple Green should also work.

Tom

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Thanks. i think i'll go all out to make sure 100% that everythings clean. I'll try dishwashing solution with soap and water, then i'll soak it in windex again. think i'm going too far using baking soda before i do the windex?

Or should i do baking soda, windex, then dishwashing solution?

I want to make sure 100% that ANYTHIGN that could've possibly got onto there is clean because i know that battery residue is very stubborn and doesn't clean up all the way really easily.

Think it'll clean up 100%?

Thanks
Aaron

Hello Aaron,

I would just go with the dish washing soap solution.

If you wanted to go a step beyond that, and are comfortable using harsh chemicals, you could try a chemical solvent, followed by dish washing soap solution.

I view a flashlight as a tool. If I hand you one of my wrenches, you will find that they have a coating of protective oil on them. If I hand you a flashlight, you should treat it as a tool. Proper clean up is recommended after using tools.

With that said, I do have some lights that I carry for "dress" use. I keep those lights cleaner than my tools...

Tom

Yea, thats what i was going for. Keeping all my lights as clean as my "dress" stuff since i often cook and stuff like that.

Thanks for your suggestions.