CR123 Safety - While flashlight not in use?

I recently misplaced my SureFire 6P LED. Aside from being upset that I lost a good flashlight, I'm concerned about the batteries in it.

I use SureFire batteries, and they were both new when I put them in. I had used the flashlight a bit.

So now, the flashlight is sitting somewhere, with batteries, and I don't know where. Of course, I've been spending a lot of time looking for it, but haven't found it yet.

Should I be concerned about the batteries venting in it when it's not in use?

Those are the cells you choose when you want to stick a light in a box for 5-10 years, ready to go.

What kinds of temperature extremes can these batteries handle?

I'm concerned that it could be in my car or an uninsulated storage area of my house, which means it could get pretty hot during the summer. Hopefully I'll find it before then.

I'd say no more than 120F, but that is likely to be a conservative number. If you choose to store cells in the car, follow a couple guidelines:
Keep it out of the sun, a small icebox for example will maintain a more stabilized ambient temperature than your car. Do not store cells loosely as they will offgas [see flashahol], roll around, knocking against each other, and possibly shorting.
I keep my cells in Surefires SC1,2 and 3 carriers depending on the flashlight it is paired with and stored in the center console. Certain cells may self discharge faster than others. It is recommended that all CR123A owners invest in a ZTS tester, it is different than traditional battery testers in the use of a low current load to test the batteries capacity. On occiasion [Not often] batteries tested to be all 100% will give inconsistent readings after been placed on the car and endured a couple dozen summer weeks. It is recommended to test your batteries often to minimize due to unbalanced cells being used simultaneously.

Older Surefire models occiasionally turn up here unopened and still new in box after a decade or two after rolling off the production line, I have not heard of any accidents. Of course the really old lights had batteries packed seperately but unless there is excessive spring tension on the batteries, they are pretty self contained. Only issue would be an electrical short should you operate with cells that have damaged packaging, or the use of magnets to stack cells to compensate for height.
Decent cells are so well made I sometimes wonder if recycling can be done.

Hello Awyeah,

CR123 cells are good for temperatures in the -40 F to 140 F range.

Assuming the light was turned off before you lost it, there should be no problems with "storing" it in an "undisclosed" place. If the light somehow got turned on and the temperatures are on the hot side, there could be an issue if the cells did not drain evenly. This issue would only exist until the cells are dead, then there would be no issue.

All in all, I would worry more about loosing the light than about cell issues during storage.

Tom

Thanks everyone, that makes me feel a bit better about the situation. I'll keep looking for it, but I'm not as panicked about it now