CR123A vs. hot AZ sun....

[StarHalo]

So what types of cells WON"T explode and are safe to keep in a hot car?

Your best bet would be Energizer Lithiums, since they can survive the same temperature range and have the same shelf life as 123s, but without the "failure event" issues. Not cheap, but they're the best odds of working when you need them, and you only have to replace them once in a great while..

 

[thunderlight]

Hi Drivie,

I live in Phoenix. I have found primary lithium battery solutions work well. If possible, I would stick to 1 cell lithiums for primary 123s if that is feasible. That would, of course, rule out the G2. You might go to multiple lithium AAs, but I recall reports of exploding Princeton Tec PT-40s loaded with lithium AAs in a car in an earlier thread from a few years back.

If you carry a cooler with you on a regular basis during the summer, loaded with ice or blue ice, you could put flashlights and batteries in the cooler; just enclose in a plastic container. You just have to reload the ice every morning. This is a pain unless you do this for other reasons on a regular basis. I like the suggestion of replacing the batteries annually that was [referenced in a recent thread], at the end of the heat season -- October, perhaps:devil:.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Drivie,

I believe the actual ignition temperature for CR123 cells is slightly above 450 F. If your truck gets that hot, you have one really hot truck...

Tom

 

[VidPro]

what i always like to point out in a discussion like this is:
What about the rest of the things in the car?
the cd/dvd players laser , it doesnt like to be that hot.
the plastic on the dash
even the power transisters for the stereo, and lots of other things like other electronics in the car.
while you probably dont drive it with a constant 140* , starting all that stuff up in the 140, then using it cant be good for it anyways.
got a cell phone?? a GPS ? most of thise devices also use a lithium type of battery (li-ion).

now whats the car cost? 6-40K itself, so why not treat the WHOLE kit and kabootle to a nice set of sun shades, mabey a cracked window (depending on the safety of that) or even a solar air moving fan.
these fully reflective sun shades, can send hundreds of "watts" of heat back out of the car , roll down shades can be modded with full reflective mylar, and windows other than the front ones, can have highly reflective (not dark that dont work) window tint film added to them.

so while your probably good to go with it under the seat, and not Charging in that kind of heat, think about your whole investment, and yourself, and the POWER needed to re-cool the car. that AC-unit runs on (not so cheap) gas. Do the whole thing, save money worry, and breakdowns and problems of everything.

they even have silver reflective car Covers (for the whole car) if you want to go for the full shaded reflected back effect, that is a bit overkill, but there is something for everyone in the land of sending the sun back away.

 

[Bonky]

get a thermos and stick the light in there, tightly capped. If it can keep heat in, it can keep heat out.

 

[ltiu]

they wont explode in your car alone (well not likely), but if the cells are of different capacitys from being in the car, then there is a higher chance of it blowing up. if you cant park in the shade, try the under the set method, shouldnt get above 140 down there.

I wonder how hot it is in the glove box?

 

[StarHalo]

I wonder how hot it is in the glove box?

It peaks at around 140 degrees when parked in the sun: http://www.randomuseless.info/318ti/temperature/temperature.html

 

[drivie]

It peaks at around 140 degrees when parked in the sun: http://www.randomuseless.info/318ti/temperature/temperature.html

Thanks for the info. I think that based on this info, I'll probably relocate the lights to the trunk. I carry an emergency kit in each vehicle so I'll probably just put the lights and spare batteries in them.

Drivie