Damaged RCR123A

[alanagnostic]

I have an RCR123A cell that I dropped and broke the thin plastic outer case. Does anyone know if I can still charge and use the battery? I'm a little new to rechargeable cells and I don't want to burn my house down. Any help or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

 

[carbine15]

if by thin plastic outer case you mean the shrinkwrapping that insulates the body of the cell then yes you can still use it. You just need to restore the insulation. You can use tape but what I use to re-insulate torn wrapping is a dab of fingernail polish. It keeps it thin enough to still use in tight places and once it's set up it's pretty durrable. If you tore the whole sleeve off, you'll need to re-shrink wrap it with shrink wrap from your local electronics store. If the cell loses it's insulation it could short circuit and go into thermal feedback and meltdown. I'd pay close attention to this one cell for a while, but most times, you'll be okay with the repairs I mentioned.

 

[alanagnostic]

carbine15 thanks for the info. I'll try some tape to repair it since I don't have any nail polish handy. Thanks again.

 

[DM51]

If it got dented in any way when you dropped it, you may need to keep an eye on it. See if it takes a charge the same as your other cells do, what the voltage is when it comes off, if it performs OK on discharge, no unusual overheating etc.

 

[jrmcferren]

If it got dented, I would not even use it. I would treat it like a cell near thermal runaway (a.k.a a bomb). I heard that damaged cells increase the risk of thermal runaway.