First battery blowout

Chingyul

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I was playing with my Fenix P2D last night. I knew the battery was low.
Anyways, I ended up standing on its tail and got distracted with something else. Next thing I know, I hear a bang and it's lying on its side. Was confused how it falling over could make that loud a sound.

Took a closer look, and saw that the rear clicky rubber cover was blown out. Opened it up and what a smell!

Anyways, I let everything cool off, and bagged up the batter.


So in this is a question. I cleared much of the black residue out of the light. If the light still works, I should be safe to use it right? I'm assuming with the rubber cover blown off, I've lost the water resistance of the light right?
 

netprince

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a single cell blew? I've not read about that before. I'm curious about the brand as well.
 

Helmut.G

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I remember there was once a single cell in a similar incident (actually worse, I think the light exploded) in a fenix P1, but it's very unusual. That might have been reported in a german forum, I don't remember.

Thank you very much for sharing your experience, but please tell us more details about the battery, everything you know! Was it a rechargeable or a primary battery? What brand? If rechargeable, what type was it, and was it protected? How old was it, and did you use it rather heavily or rather sparingly (only if rechargeable)?
What level was the light in? I assume turbo or high?


About recovering your light:

Clean the tube very well and you should be fine.
The rubber end cap on the tailswitch can be replaced, fenix even includes a spare cap with every light as far as I recall.
 

Johnbeck180

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I have the eagletac t20c2 XML, the t10c and the t100c2. They use 2 cr123's. And the t10 uses one. I have two children that like to mess around with them. I use Surefire 123's in them. Is there any chance of this happening to the batteries when they have the lights. It seems uncommon but I just want to make sure. I'm fairly new to the world of flashlights and quickly becoming a flashaholic. thanks.
 

Helmut.G

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there's definitely a chance, but it's low and there are a lot of things you can do to keep it as low as possible (in order of importance):
0. use your common sense.
1. use quality batteries. (surefires are perfectly fine, they are designed to endure extreme abuse e.g. in the SF M6, M4, M3 and P60 compatible lights with the ultra high output incandescent bulbs and are proven many thousands of times)
2. in flashlights that use more than one battery, always use batteries that are of the same brand, same charging state and similar age. NEVER use a depleted battery combined with full batteries in the same light. this is the most dangerous and lead to many incidents in the past, especially with a very high-power light.
also try not to reverse one cell against the rest. this doesn't matter for a two cell light, it wouldn't light up. but in a light using three or more cells, one cell in reverse would be dangerous.
3. replace batteries when they are empty, don't torture them to the end if you can avoid it.
4. turn off a light that gets very hot, or turn it down to a lower level. I mean hot, too hot to hold, not just warm. Flashlights getting warm in use is perfectly normal, don't be scared by this.
5. and of course, if a light makes hissing noises etc and you fear it's about to explode (which is hopefully never going to happen to you and very unlikely), throw it away where it can't hurt anybody and take cover.
 
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Norm

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Moved To Smoke and Fire, Hot Cells and Close Calls - The dangerous side of batteries
Norm
 

Chingyul

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Ah yes, I forgot to state the brand and type of battery.
It was a primary CR123, Titanium brand battery. I believe I got them from Battery Junction. Orange colour cells.
As for age, they were pretty old. 3 or 4 years?

Will have to find a replacement rubber cap as I got this light used.
 

aimxplode

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That sucks, but at least no one was hurt. Do you have any pictures? Also, I'd recommend staying with US made cells from now on. BatteryJunction has some Rayovacs 12 pcs for $15, which I bought and are great.

Also, I thought there was nothing wrong with running single cell primary cr123a's low. I always run them until they are completely dead and never had a problem.
 

CKOD

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That sucks, but at least no one was hurt. Do you have any pictures? Also, I'd recommend staying with US made cells from now on. BatteryJunction has some Rayovacs 12 pcs for $15, which I bought and are great.

Also, I thought there was nothing wrong with running single cell primary cr123a's low. I always run them until they are completely dead and never had a problem.

There shouldnt be. Any cell should be fine with draining it to 0V. Li-Ion is dangerous to charge after completely discharging like that, but a primary should be completely fine with going to 0V. Very strange incident, a 1x primary cell light should be the safest configuration in theory...
 
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cave dave

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I had a "Titanium" CR2 leak black goo in storage in a bag, and several just go dead in storage. I buy American Li batteries now.
 
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Helmut.G

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Ah yes, I forgot to state the brand and type of battery.
It was a primary CR123, Titanium brand battery. I believe I got them from Battery Junction. Orange colour cells.
As for age, they were pretty old. 3 or 4 years?

Will have to find a replacement rubber cap as I got this light used.
I'm sure you can find someone close to you willing to send you one :)
what level was the light on?
 

MikeWilson

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...snip...
5. and of course, if a light makes hissing noises etc and you fear it's about to explode (which is hopefully never going to happen to you and very unlikely), throw it away where it can't hurt anybody and take cover.

Seriously? (I'm a lithium flashlight newbie - I only have NiMH powered torches). Lithium laptop and cellphone batteries have been known to explode but it's an exceedingly rare occurrence. Do reports of flashlights-cum-handgrenades happen relatively often in this community?
 

TyJo

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Seriously? (I'm a lithium flashlight newbie - I only have NiMH powered torches). Lithium laptop and cellphone batteries have been known to explode but it's an exceedingly rare occurrence. Do reports of flashlights-cum-handgrenades happen relatively often in this community?
When using primary cells it is rare when using USA manufactured cells (I don't recall ever hearing of an incident with USA primary cells). Mixing old cells with new cells, using cheap cells, etc. can cause issues from what I've read on here.

As far as rechargables go... Consumer electronics have electronic safety mechanisms built in (both during charging and discharging), it is common for batteries, flashlights, and some chargers to lack these safety measures. Accidents are extremely, almost unbelievably rare, if you educate yourself, use quality cells/chargers, and take the necessary precautions. That being said, these batteries can be dangerous, and like all dangerous things (cars, guns, etc.), if you are reckless accidents can happen.

EDIT: I'm not implying that the OP was reckless or anyone else for that matter, just emphasizing there is potential danger with li-ion batteries if care is not taken, they are mistreated, etc.
 
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american

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I've had a rayovac hybrid leak a brownish color once in my light aa. Don't know why took q while to clean the light out
 

Helmut.G

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Seriously? (I'm a lithium flashlight newbie - I only have NiMH powered torches). Lithium laptop and cellphone batteries have been known to explode but it's an exceedingly rare occurrence. Do reports of flashlights-cum-handgrenades happen relatively often in this community?
Yes, incidents are reported several times a year.

In my personal reading experience you can sort the incidents into the following categories:

1. Use of cheap/fake cells.
2. Mixing used/unsused/cheap/expensive/rechargeable/non-rechargeable or even different sizes of cells in one light.
3. Running down a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery way too low (=overdischarging) and putting it in the charger afterwards. Many times the cell will overheat or worse. Good chargers recognize those cells and charge them at using lower current or refuse to charge them.
4. Using lots of rechargeable cells under extreme power draw in homemade "monster" lights such as hotwires.
5. Running down a CR123 primary cell all the way at a high current (=max setting on the flashlight) and not switching the light of after it dims, in flashlighs using a boost driver, i.e. 1xCR123 LED lights. The boost driver will try to suck any remaining power out of the cell.
 
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