Dangerous explosion with 2 CR123A primary

CampingMaster

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This thread is to inform the flashaholic community of a dangerous incident related to primary CR123A. This is not at all to talk against the manufacturer of the battery that was used. The manufacturer will be informed in the next few days; I will send him all the pieces and if he does'nt need them to replace the flashlight and batteries I will give them to the Montreal Fire Dept. for analysis.

I hope this very dangerous case of explosion which happened to one of my best friends will, in the future, serve for correction for the use of less dangerous batteries.

Fortunately, my friend and his wife were not injured; it happened in a very small appartment: pieces of batteries and flashlight were flying around and caught fire in two different places i.e., a carpet and on the floor, 15 feet away from the location where the flashlight actually made a first bang noise like a rifle.


Please take note that my mother tongue is French, so I will try to explain what happened as best I can with the few words I know in English, but exceptionnally this first post has been verified and corrected.


I bought from 4Sevens as many as 35 flashlights, mostly Regular Quark 123² XP-G R5 and Turbo X XM-L T6, for as many as 25 different friends, many of them Native Atikamekw from Manawan QC.


As you see my love for the 4Sevens Quark flashlights is contagious.


I hope nothing will happen to them in the future.


It happened two weeks ago, and I did go to my friend's house yesterday to pick up all the pieces and have his version (I asked him to prepare a report of what happened to be sent to 4Sevens and also inform the CPF forum users of what happened exactly - he and his wife are perfectly bilingual).


I was very surprised when he showed me his RCR123A battery charger with all the four batteries that come with it... (Since SE-H001).


He showed me also all the ten batteries that I bought for him (4Sevens batteries).


To my great astonishment the batteries inside his Regular Quark 123² XP-G R5 were the original primary 4Sevens CR123A included with the flashlight...


When the incident happened, he was using his flashlight right beside his head to look behind a wall-mounted LCD television when the flashlight made a "bang" noise, like a rifle. After the flashlight was on the floor, another "bang" noise was heard and he had to extinguish not one but two fires, the flame from the fire on the floor being ten inches long.


Looking through my notes, I found out that my friend Claude has his Regular Quark flashlight for one year now i.e. since November 15, 2010.


This incident makes me wonder if is it dangerous to keep the same batteries (Primary CR123A) for 13 months in a flashlight. (They were still good at giving light).


As you will see from the pictures below, the batteries are both completely empty, the flashlight switch is intact, and the flashlight broke in two parts.


Is it dangerous for this couple to have these two batteries emptied in their small appartment ?


Is it recommanded that he contact his doctor because they inhaled Lithium and chemical products ?

Does he has to clean up the appartment by professionnals ?


Does the manufacturer has insurance to pay the dammages on the floor and the carpet ?


For sure the flashlight and batteries will be replaced.

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You can see all the remaining pieces/fragments. There is no more glass and LED.

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Sad to see a so nice flashlight destroyed but happily no body was hurt.

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Dammaged on the floor from lower left of the picture to the refrigerator.

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Zoom on the dammaged floor. While his wife was yelling at him « FIRE FIRE FIRE » he was busy to extinguish the other fire on the carpet ten feet away.

Ultimate CampingMaster

 
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Sunburst

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Thanks for posting. Glad no one was hurt. That's not the first time I've heard of two CR123s exploding or burning up. I think a voltage difference between the two cells can trigger it. Advice I've heard was to only use topnotch U.S.-made CR123s, or one 18650 single cell, if the flashlight was made to accomodate it.

But how immune are top U.S.-made CR123s to this problem? Should we only use Surefires? I'm also using EverReady CR123s but would appreciate advice.

I even had two cheap Radio Shack AAA cells once explode on me.

I'm beginning to wonder how wise it is to stack any two CR123s one on top of the other for powering a flashlight.
 

TooManyGizmos

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~

ALL Multi-cell lights must be used with knowledge and the proper precautions .


Kinda like race cars ... 3 new tires + 1 bald tire = Something BAD's gonna happen !

( They ALL have to wear evenly and equally. )

~
 

Quiksilver

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Thats why I don't buy CR123-based lights for others.

All given lights are either AA or AAA.
 

csshih

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Last edited:

snakyjake

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From the post something is not clear to me. It was mentioned "RCR123A battery charger" and "original primary 4Sevens CR123A". I can't help but wonder if the CR123A's were being recharged.

I thought the only battery chemistry danger of explosions is lithium-ion (rechargeables). Unless the non-rechargeable batteries (primaries) are serious damaged by attempts of recharging.

I think batteries don't need to be disposed of before 13 months. Most batteries have 10 year shelf life. Or what about all those lithium batteries in fire/smoke detectors?
 

notrefined

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safety or danger is a matter of perspective, but additional complexity invariably increases risk. a single cell of most common battery chemistries will be capable of venting (some with flame), so there is risk with anything. greater energy density increases risk, more than one cell increases risk, and rechargable chemistries increase risk (mainly because multiple operations to perform means more opportunities for user error). but if you look hard enough, you will even find reports of flashlights with even single AAA alkaline cells venting explosively.
 

TooManyGizmos

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From the post something is not clear to me. It was mentioned "RCR123A battery charger" and "original primary 4Sevens CR123A". I can't help but wonder if the CR123A's were being recharged.

I thought the only battery chemistry danger of explosions is lithium-ion (rechargeables). Unless the non-rechargeable batteries (primaries) are serious damaged by attempts of recharging.

I think batteries don't need to be disposed of before 13 months. Most batteries have 10 year shelf life. Or what about all those lithium batteries in fire/smoke detectors?



Uhmmm ..... He stated this :

" When the incident happened, he was using his flashlight right beside his head to look behind a wall-mounted LCD television when the flashlight made a "bang" noise, like a rifle. After the flashlight was on the floor, another "bang" noise was heard and he had to extinguish not one but two fires, the flame from the fire on the floor being ten inches long."

~


 

ElectronGuru

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I thought the only battery chemistry danger of explosions is lithium-ion (rechargeables).

Collective CPF experience/wisdom says "use only sanyo produced CR123's, especially in multi cell setups".

This is achieved by avoiding CR123's made anywhere besides Japan (sanyo) and USA (sanyo).

This rule was largely ignored when the cells above were introduced.
 

Launch Mini

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I think he was getting at, possibly the fellow tried to recharge a primary battery. The charging damaged the cell, then when drain was placed on it POOF
 

TooManyGizmos

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~

He also stated : ( I quote)

" This incident makes me wonder if is it dangerous to keep the same batteries (Primary CR123A) for 13 months in a flashlight. (They were still good at giving light). "



Yes , 13 months is a long time without testing , and can allow the two cells to become un-balanced . One cell usually drains more than the other in use .

For emergency use - I prefer single cell lights - which avoid this problem .

~
 

Lou Minescence

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We should wait for camping master to explain more about the incident. The mention about the rechargeables is confusing, but he also mentioned English is not his first language and that may be where the confusion comes from.
 

Burgess

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Awaiting further details.


Glad nobody was injured by the explosion / fire.
 

CampingMaster

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Glad to here no one was injured. No warning of danger ? No heat ? That worries me.

Very good and pertinent question « No warning of danger ? » this question is so important that I sent an email to my friend and as soon I will get his explanations I will post it. Thank you Lou Minescence for that very good remark.

I think a voltage difference between the two cells can trigger it.

This is what I said to my friend but the two originals batteries included with the flashlight are sealed together and my friend has no voltmeter and he is not a flashaholic. I gave him a voltmeter as a gift when I saw him at his place for taking pictures of the dammages. Thank you Sunburst for your interesting post.



From the post something is not clear to me. It was mentioned "RCR123A battery charger" and "original primary 4Sevens CR123A". I can't help but wonder if the CR123A's were being recharged.

When I say : «I was very surprised when he showed me his RCR123A battery charger with all the four batteries that come with it... (Since SE-H001). »
That means I was surprised he never used his rechargeable batteries, I was sure that the explosion was with his rechargeable batteries not the primary coming with the flashlight. No, snakyjake my friend never charged primary batteries, it is impossible to do that because the plain blue rechargeable batteries that come with the charger are completely different from the 4Sevens batteries on which it is written in red and capitals letters
DO NOT RECHARGE and also the primary 4Sevens batteries comes by pair sealed together, you have to unwrap them to put them in a charger which is a no nonsense.

« I think batteries don't need to be disposed of before 13 months. Most batteries have 10 year shelf life. Or what about all those lithium batteries in fire/smoke detectors? »

Your comment snakyjake is very appropriate.

Launch Mini said : I think he was getting at, possibly the fellow tried to recharge a primary battery. The charging damaged the cell, then when drain was placed on it POOF

You should read carefully and slowly, in my post there is nothing mentionning that possibility.

Yes , 13 months is a long time without testing , and can allow the two cells to become un-balanced . One cell usually drains more than the other in use .

Thank you TooManyGizmos.


LEDAdd1ct said : Was he recharging primaries?

In my post there is nothing mentionning that possibility.

LouMinescence said : The mention about the rechargeables is confusing, but he also mentioned English is not his first language and that may be where the confusion comes from.

I am sorry for the confusion. I was mentionning his charger because I was surprised to see all the four batteries that come with it, I was sure the explosion was with rechargeable batteries and I was expecting seeing two rechargeable batteries left.


Thank you everybody for all your comments.

Ultimate CampingMaster
 

CampingMaster

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More pictures :

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I took these pictures to give everybody as much details as possible of the dammages to the flashlight that broke in half.

Ultimate CampingMaster
 
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