battery explosion. #$%@ it was too close

[rojo-toro]

Saft 14500 battery+TrustFire All-in-One Charger (dx: sku 4151)

I bought it a few weeks ago.
I charged it only 2 times.
In the 2 time it explodes.

As you can see in the pictures, in was very violent explosion.
There are shards in my kitchen wall.
The all house become full with acid fumes in a few second.
And my wife received a drastic asthma attack.
And my 2 years of age sun is ok. Because I took him out immediately.

How could I prevent this:

With protected batteries?
With smart charger (I thought it is??)?


Thank you god we ok

 

[Roger Sully]

Thank goodness everyone's safe!

 

[MorePower]

That wasn't a rechargeable cell, it was a single use only primary cell. Li-SoCl2 cells are not made to be recharged.

To prevent this, make sure you know what you're doing next time and don't try to recharge primary cells.

 

[45/70]

How could I prevent this:

The best way is to not recharge non-rechargeable battery cells!

Glad you're OK and the damage was limited.

Dave

 

[bogster]

Reads post.
Looks across at 2 x 18650 cells charging about a foot away.
Walks into garage and gets a metal box and puts charger in.
Sits back down at computer and posts this.

Regards,

bogster

 

[GarageBoy]

Doesn't happen if you don't try to charge a non rechargable battery.
Check the chemistries before sticking batteries in a charger.
Glad you're okay

bogster- why not fill the box with nails while you're at it ?

 

[Marduke]

It says the chemistry and "do not recharge" right on the label...

 

[Mr Happy]

You are lucky nobody was hurt. But as everyone else has said, you were trying to charge a NON-RECHARGEABLE BATTERY.

Please, for heaven's sake, make sure you know what you are doing in future before you do crazy things and put your family at risk.

 

[JBorneu]

I don't think he realised the cell was not a rechargeable.

To the OP: Next time, make sure the cells you pick are rechargeable and can be charged with the charger you use. 14500 is a size of cells, not a chemistry. You have all kinds of primary and rechargeable 14500 cells. The charger you were using is not the best charger on the market, but the problem was that you were recharging a primary lithium cell, not a li-ion rechargeable.

If you want to use lithium based rechargeables you want a protected 14500 li-ion cell. Get them from AW here on CPFMP, they are the safest on the market. The charger was not the problem here, but it is still far from the best charger. The absolute safest plug & play li-ion charger is the Pila IBC charger. It's expensive, but it is the safest and, apart from a properly tuned hobby charger, the best.

Also, you should read the thread linked in my signature, because you clearly do not know enough about li-ion cells to use them in a safe manner.

 

[Nyctophiliac]

Crikey!!!

Glad no one is hurt. I hope you cleaned your hands thoroughly after handling the battery parts. I can quite understand your confusion/ignorance of the correct batteries to charge - it can be a (literal) minefield.

Just be thankful it only cost you a charger and a couple of primary cells. Get your wife checked out by a doctor since she seems to have been affected seriously - I do not like the sound of the asthma attack - hope you are all over the worst.

Were you sold the charger and cells together as part of a package - if so you may have recourse to the shop you bought them from - that would be criminal neglect in my book. If not, time for some serious experience chalking.

Good luck.

 

[Illum]

Were you sold Saft Lithium-thionyl chloride cells with the claim that they are rechargeable or did you buy them yourself thinking that they were rechargeable?:shrug:

Other than a few RCR123As here and there, it is not possible to find the rechargeable variety of lithium ions in singles from any general consumer store, the LiCoO2 chemistry we use around here, commonly found in laptop batteries, are exactly that: non-user replaceable parts, and it is just that when outside the forum.

As mentioned above Li-SOCl2 cell chemistry is primarily used for memory backup or other loads where very small current draw is needed over a long period of time. They are not rechargeable even when the voltage per cell is consistent with that of the rechargeable lithium ion variety. In essence they are the "Zinc Oxide" batteries in the Alkaline battery world.

but anyway, have a mod move this to the fire and smoke section

 

[Sgt. LED]

Another way to read the label is: TrustFire

See, you can trust it to burst into flames!
You want to go rechargable then buy RECHARGABLE CELLS.

 

[compasillo]

A very dangerous confusion indeed.
From now on you'll never forget carefully read before use a battery.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Rojo-toro,

Glad to hear that everyone survived.

I will move this over to the Smoke and Fire section and we can continue on there.

Tom

 

[kramer5150]

Noob mistake... trying to charge non-rechargable Lithium cells. I too have made that mistake before. I was lucky though.

thanks goodness no one was seriously hurt. You should take your wife to the doctor. Inhaling Lithium gas can have lingering respiratory side effects... AFIAK

 

[tsmith35]

Glad to hear you're okay and hope your wife gets better soon. As for recharging Saft batteries, I was concerned because I didn't immediately notice any warnings on Saft battery labels, but there it is on the back in tiny writing:

WARNING:
Fire, explosion and severe burn hazard.
Do not recharge, short circuit,
crush, disassemble, heat above
100°C (212°F), incinerate, or expose
contents to water. Do not solder
directly to the cell.
​

Given the high potential for damage combined with the unusual voltage (same as a rechargeable, 3.6V), it's unfortunate that Saft didn't label the battery better. A simple "DO NOT RECHARGE" under the "3.6V" marking would have sufficed. Panasonic includes this warning, boxed and in bold red letters. Sanyo includes the warning in bold blue letters. Saft prints it on the back of the label in tiny print. A pro will likely notice this warning. An average person likely will not.

Sure, experience could have prevented this accident, but good labeling could have done the same. With the increase in popularity of lithium batteries, good labeling will go a long way towards increasing public safety and decreasing manufacturer liability. Poor labeling is just fine for alkalines. Lithium batteries are much more dangerous and need better labeling. Battery manufacturers should be doing this on their own, without the need for government intervention.

 

[MorePower]

Given the high potential for damage combined with the unusual voltage (same as a rechargeable, 3.6V), it's unfortunate that Saft didn't label the battery better. A simple "DO NOT RECHARGE" under the "3.6V" marking would have sufficed. Panasonic includes this warning, boxed and in bold red letters. Sanyo includes the warning in bold blue letters. Saft prints it on the back of the label in tiny print. A pro will likely notice this warning. An average person likely will not.

An average person wouldn't buy a Li-SOCl2 cell and try to recharge it. I'm glad no one was seriously injured, but anyone who thinks they know enough to try to use unprotected lithium ion cells (as the OP implied by asking if a protected cell would have prevented this incident) should be at least knowledgeable enough to know that the cell they bought can or can't be recharged.

 

[csshih]

the moment I saw saft cells..

..I thought, "oh dear".

Indeed! those are not chargeable!

I am very glad you are O.K.

 

[DimeRazorback]

Glad to hear that everyone is safe.

 

[Mr Happy]

Saft prints it on the back of the label in tiny print. A pro will likely notice this warning. An average person likely will not.

An average person wouldn't buy a Li-SOCl2 cell and try to recharge it.

I'm sorry MorePower, but you have this backwards. A pro would not buy a Li-SOCl2 cell and try to recharge it -- they would know better. An average person is exactly who did in fact buy the cell and try to charge it.

When you have a device that looks much the same on the outside as other things, but which is very different on the inside, then that is where clear and obvious warnings on the label are needed.