BOOM! AND MY HOUSE WAS ON FIRE!

[Northern Lights]

What the hell is the first picture? It looks like a horribly stained coffee pot.

Cases like this make me VERY cautious, and somewhat afraid of my hotwire build.

cnofused? (sic)

Lookat the 2cd pict. You are looking down the bell of the very same light! After the blow and before. Rag is around tube as it was still HOT.

I have had SLA, NiMh and Liion Batteries all blow at one time or another in different chargers.

[bstrickler]

cnofused? (sic)

Lookat the 2cd pict. You are looking down the bell of the very same light! After the blow and before. Rag is around tube as it was still HOT.

I have had SLA, NiMh and Liion Batteries all blow at one time or another in different chargers.

Ah, it was just so unrecognizeable.

Man, that's nuts. I'm lucky so far, and havent had a battery explode yet (had a primary 123 get super hot, but was able to toss it outside to cool down, then discharged it via 5mm LED in the backyard, and tossed it in the trash, in a superglued film canister)

[ShawnHu]

Lucky no one was hurt, would a protected cell have avoided this?

[LuxLuthor]

Lucky no one was hurt, would a protected cell have avoided this?

Perhaps, depending on the health and quality of the cells, their starting voltages, the quality and verified functioning of protection circuit, and other variables.

The main take home lesson in this thread is to only charge Li-Ion cells in safe location, and if charging in series--you must use balance tap leads. Another viable strategy is to charge a number of Li-Ion cells in parallel (assumes they are all identical brand/aged cells, voltages close to each other, etc.), but depending on your charger output, that can take a very long time.