Battery explositions?!?

[hotbossa]

I am a musician so my hands are kinda important to me. I bought some cheap CR123 batteries from Botach (I know, I know :green and found that they do not store well. After reading a few threads I found out that cheap battereiws can EXPLODE!!! Ahhhhhhh the humanity! Then after searching on exploding battereis I founds some horrible injuries to hands a feet (secondary explositions after the flashlight is dropped). So my question is this, if I stick to name brand CR123 like Duracell, Energizer Photo, Surefire, Panasonic, can I feel safer about my lights? Thanks for the information.

 

[Starlight]

Who would have thought that battereiws could have explositions?

 

[electromage]

I believe this issue has more to do with how you use and take care of your batteries. If you follow a few rules, you're far less likely to have an accident.

Here are some rules I follow and I've been through hundreds of cells with no problems:
-never recharge primary batteries
-never mix new and used batteries, or used and used
-don't mix batteries that were purchased more than 6 months apart
-don't use a battery that has physical damage
-keep batteries in a container when carrying them (to prevent physical damage and shorts)

I always treat 2-3 cell flashlights as if their batteries are one battery, once they're in the light, they are not removed until they are dead, and they are thrown away together.

I've used many brands, mainly Titanium, but also SureFire, Streamlight, Tenergy, Panasonic, and Sanyo with no issues. I would think that if there was a defect with a particular brand, it would affect a much larger sample than I've ever seen discussed. There were probably some other circumstances that contributed to the few accidents people have posted about.

Anyone feel free to correct me if you have some useful information, I don't know everything of course.

(As a side, I am not a musician, but my hands are rather important to me as well...)

 

[cdosrun]

Electromage has made all the main points but a more restrictive one would be to stick to single-celled torches. The vast majority of cases of explosions have been from mismatched cells (hypothesised), so that one ends up 'charging' another, hence the explosion; it can't happen with one cell through the same mechanism so they are considered to be safer.

Andrew

 

[hotbossa]

Electromage has made all the main points but a more restrictive one would be to stick to single-celled torches. The vast majority of cases of explosions have been from mismatched cells (hypothesised), so that one ends up 'charging' another, hence the explosion; it can't happen with one cell through the same mechanism so they are considered to be safer.

Andrew

So better quality (name brand) battereis are regulated some how so that they won't charge each other? Is there a certain rating or standard I should be looking for?

 

[MaxIcon]

I believe it's more that the good quality batteries are better matched to each other, especially from the same batch. The cheap Chinese batteries have a much wider variation in QC and charge levels, so even with new batteries, you could have mismatched ones. This results in one battery overheating and venting, which can cause a flashlight to explode.

Your best bet is to buy Made In USA CR123. This includes Panasonic, Surefire, Streamlight, Energizer, Rayovac, Duracell, Kodak, and Walgreens Ultra Photo Lithium (!), all of which are made by Panasonic in their USA plant.

You can tell at a glance by looking at the negative end of the battery to see if there's a green plastic ring between the wrapper and the battery body. Panasonic makes them this way.

FWIW, Botach also sells good quality USA batteries, so check for the green ring and brand name (or the Made In USA/China markings).