cr123 issue

[milob40]

i just cleaned out my cupboard and found a disturbing sweet but strong ether like smell coming from some unused goldston cr123 primary batteries :thinking:.
is this to be expected?

 

[greenLED]

Ah, the sweet scent of flashohol!
(it's perfectly normal)

 

[Niconical]

What is the cause of the smell?
Is it just CR123A, or Lithium in general?

:thinking:

 

[milob40]

bumping up, any clues on this?

 

[cdosrun]

This comes up quite frequently as a topic, I think the general consensus is that the smell is diethyl ether from the cells. It may be used as a solvent during manufacture and leaks out of the cells via the blow-off vents over time although I haven't seen the exact cause documented; it doesn't happen with the Lithium-iron cells though (Energizer E2 AAA/AA). It is quite normal and nothing to be concerned about; all the CR123s I have do it.

Andrew