matrixshaman
Flashlight Enthusiast
Ok - First I'll say DO NOT TRY ANY OF THE THINGS I have done in this thread. It is possibly very DANGEROUS. You might call me daring or just crazy but I tend to not take anyone's word for things. I check them out myself. And while my single tests here may not really prove anything other than maybe I'm lucky I'd like some discussion about why I am getting these results.
First up I wanted to check out the concept of how Lithium batteries will vent with flame or explode under a couple different conditions. If I recall correctly these were in reference to Lithium primaries but if I'm wrong someone let me know. One condition that will supposedly cause it to flame is exposure to water. So I put a used but still good working Battery Station CR123 battery in water. This is one of the older ones from about 2 years ago. I put it in water a couple minutes and nothing. Not even warm.
Next I heard that if you drive a nail through one then it will shortly vent with flame upon exposure to air. So I drove an 8" nail through the middle of the battery (the nail is the type used for hanging gutters so it is not very thick - similar in thickness to a 16p nail but is very long for safety in trying this). Nail was in and then removed. Nothing. Not even warm.
Next I put the battery with the hole in it into water and let it sit for a couple more minutes. Nothing. Not even warm. I observed some very small mount of slowly developing white foam coming out of the hole but that was it. In the picture above you are seeing it sitting on wet dirt and some of the dirt is on the sides of the battery.
Next up I decided to recharge a Surefire primary CR123 using a 3.0 volt charger made for charging LiFePO4's or other 3.0 volt Lithium batteries to 3.6 volt ( the point where this charger stops charging ). The Surefire was new right out of a SF flashlight although it was only reading 3.04 volts after brief usage. It had current dating with expiration at 2017. I had 2 batteries out of that light with identical voltage readings of 3.04 volts. I put one of them in a Fenix P2D SE Q2 where I observed normal operation and was able to get medium and low with the battery. The Fenix P2D will go into direct drive if it has a higher voltage available like a rechargeable running at 3.6 volts. With that setup you don't get medium or low level light outputs. After charging the other Surfire until it got a green light I pulled it off the charger and checked the voltage at 3.54 volts. Not even warm. Good enough. So in the past I tried this with Surefires and was told that it probably didn't really have any power at that voltage and that under load it would not stay that high. Fenix P2D SE Q2 - same as the one tested with the 3.04 volt battery was loaded up with the charged Surefire. The tests showed no noticeable difference between high, medium and low levels so it was putting the Fenix into direct drive and obviously with enough actual power (not just false voltage with no real power) to keep the Fenix at what appeared high in all levels. Also the battery that was charged still reads 3.39 volts now after 10 days and some brief use in the Fenix.
So you are saying who would want to recharge a primary when rechargeables are now very affordable. Well I wouldn't for real world use but I like to experiment with the things that most people would accept as gospel without ever checking it out their self. And I realize from my one shot test here that I may have proven nothing other than sheer luck. But I'd like to understand why things aren't happening they way I've been told they should happen.
And again - don't try these things. I'm the guy who jumped off mountain tops and high cliffs in Hang Gliders for years and who had America's statistically most dangerous job at one time. I may have Angels riding on my shoulders so this is NOT something you want to try.
:eeksign: and just to save you the trouble
First up I wanted to check out the concept of how Lithium batteries will vent with flame or explode under a couple different conditions. If I recall correctly these were in reference to Lithium primaries but if I'm wrong someone let me know. One condition that will supposedly cause it to flame is exposure to water. So I put a used but still good working Battery Station CR123 battery in water. This is one of the older ones from about 2 years ago. I put it in water a couple minutes and nothing. Not even warm.
Next I heard that if you drive a nail through one then it will shortly vent with flame upon exposure to air. So I drove an 8" nail through the middle of the battery (the nail is the type used for hanging gutters so it is not very thick - similar in thickness to a 16p nail but is very long for safety in trying this). Nail was in and then removed. Nothing. Not even warm.
Next I put the battery with the hole in it into water and let it sit for a couple more minutes. Nothing. Not even warm. I observed some very small mount of slowly developing white foam coming out of the hole but that was it. In the picture above you are seeing it sitting on wet dirt and some of the dirt is on the sides of the battery.
Next up I decided to recharge a Surefire primary CR123 using a 3.0 volt charger made for charging LiFePO4's or other 3.0 volt Lithium batteries to 3.6 volt ( the point where this charger stops charging ). The Surefire was new right out of a SF flashlight although it was only reading 3.04 volts after brief usage. It had current dating with expiration at 2017. I had 2 batteries out of that light with identical voltage readings of 3.04 volts. I put one of them in a Fenix P2D SE Q2 where I observed normal operation and was able to get medium and low with the battery. The Fenix P2D will go into direct drive if it has a higher voltage available like a rechargeable running at 3.6 volts. With that setup you don't get medium or low level light outputs. After charging the other Surfire until it got a green light I pulled it off the charger and checked the voltage at 3.54 volts. Not even warm. Good enough. So in the past I tried this with Surefires and was told that it probably didn't really have any power at that voltage and that under load it would not stay that high. Fenix P2D SE Q2 - same as the one tested with the 3.04 volt battery was loaded up with the charged Surefire. The tests showed no noticeable difference between high, medium and low levels so it was putting the Fenix into direct drive and obviously with enough actual power (not just false voltage with no real power) to keep the Fenix at what appeared high in all levels. Also the battery that was charged still reads 3.39 volts now after 10 days and some brief use in the Fenix.
So you are saying who would want to recharge a primary when rechargeables are now very affordable. Well I wouldn't for real world use but I like to experiment with the things that most people would accept as gospel without ever checking it out their self. And I realize from my one shot test here that I may have proven nothing other than sheer luck. But I'd like to understand why things aren't happening they way I've been told they should happen.
And again - don't try these things. I'm the guy who jumped off mountain tops and high cliffs in Hang Gliders for years and who had America's statistically most dangerous job at one time. I may have Angels riding on my shoulders so this is NOT something you want to try.
:eeksign: and just to save you the trouble
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or flame out? Or will this just be another 'No Show' - If so I may need to retitle this thread to 'Mythbusters' but then I know from another message thread that Fallingwater doesn't like that show 
so I guess I'll refrain from that title :laughing:
