Laundry accident!

[Sakkath]

About a week ago I did the laundry. After I took out the laundry I first noticed two Ink pencils that had left Ink marks on some of my clothes, dang! And then I saw two CR123A batteries in the tumble drier.

They where first washed, then dried : )

Think it's safe to use em?

 

[Quickbeam]

For the ink, if it's ball-point pen type ink, alcohol should remove it - use plenty of paper towels to absorb the liquid as you dissolve the ink. Test first in an inconspicuous spot to make sure the alcohol doesn't damage the fabric. If you would rather not mess with it yourself, bring it to a dry-cleaner. They should know which chemicals will remove the ink.

As for the 123A's... Is it safe to use them? Short answer: NO! Long answer: They may have been short circuited by the laundry water as the detergent and other substances in the water allow current to flow. Also, the heat and physical abuse of the dryer may have caused both physical and thermal damage to the cells. Not worth the risk of having them explode in your light.

Personally, I'd throw them out and chalk it up to experience. Next time check your pockets.

 

[DM51]

Before you throw them out, it would be interesting to know what voltage they read (be careful when testing).

 

[Sakkath]

Heh, would have been fun to see if the batts where still "alive". If I would have had a cheapo light I could sacrifice, I might have given it a shot :naughty:.. but only might..

Thanks for the stain remover advice Quickbeam, I'll try that! :thumbsup:

DM51: Sorry, I don't own a voltmeter. And I also already threw them away in my bag for used batteries with several others Cr123a's of the same brand. So it could be hard to tell wich are them "clean" ones :naughty:

 

[matrixshaman]

I'd say between being wet and then thrown into a hot dryer it's lucky they didn't explode while being washed and dryed. I would recommend not carrying bare batteries in pockets anymore.

 

[Illum]

assuming the safety vent didnt blow out in the temperature within a dryer....I would recommend you to rewash your clothes after rinsing out the washing machine....just incase one cell blew out and lithium based chemicals are now dried into your clothes....

 

[big beam]

I once washed my down coat with my L4 in the pocket.When it was in the dryer I thought it was making a funny noise but it was prolly the sneaker I through in to fluff up the down.L4 was fine(and clean)canned the batteries,Didn't want to chance a
DON

 

[chesterqw]

the L4 should be water resistant enough for the batts to be ok.