li-ion concerns

[littlemagic]

hi! I just bought a crelant v6cs neutral. it is my first 18650 light.

its been awhile since I've been here so I checked up on li-ions and 18650s... and I got ALOT of information, but I want to get some things clear since some threads are several years old and this industry moves fast.

my main concern is hazardous fumes. I recently became a father to an awesome baby boy and there's just no way I'm risking exposing him to those... I know 1 protected cell is relatively safe, and I will get a multimeter and good charger as well as take necessary precautions but if there's any risk of fumes, forget it-ill sell the light. Im also aware of the explosion risk... Id like to avoid that as well.

Ive heard of "safe chemistry" 18650s. is this the trick? or are they just less likely to fume?

If there are fume-free18650s, does anyone know which ones will fit my light? or which will perform best for my particular light? thanks in advance!

 

[alpg88]

Ive heard of "safe chemistry" 18650s. is this the trick? or are they just less likely to fume?

If there are fume-free18650s, does anyone know which ones will fit my light? or which will perform best for my particular light? thanks in advance!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ErKyND4_Gf4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoFRrmhXoVw

 

[littlemagic]

Im on my phone at the moment- streaming these will overload my data plan so I'll have to wait till I get home. from the initial images though it doesn't look good

 

[markr6]

I had some hesitation to join the Li-ion party a few months ago. I'm over it now. I got a quality charger, quality protected batteries, quality light. You just have to decide how much risk you want in life just like everything else. I see this as a 1/1,000,000 at best.

Look at anything...cars for example. A 3000lb chunk of metal, plastic, glass, lead acid battery, sitting on a 15 gallon tank of highly flammable gasoline all going at 50, 60, 70mph everyday. Add in hundreds of others with the same thing zooming all around you...scary stuff if you look at it that way. But you still see 82 year old grandma driving around like it's no big deal.

If I use all quality products and I'm responsible with them, how is that different from a cheap $199 laptop with 6 of these batteries all wired together?

OK, have at it...I'm ready to put the flames out... :)

 

[littlemagic]

hahaha, I didn't mean to be part of a flame war... though I guess I could since I don't drive ;P

ok ok. if there's a battery/charger combo that'll give me lottery odds I'll consider it. which is it? like I said alot of things change and some of the posts i was looking at were from 2008. from what I could tell the eagletacs, aws, carries, and Panasonics were good-but apparently some batteries wont fit some lights... especially when protected. and something about xmls doing better with the lesser capacities

 

[mccririck]

I just started using them recently. I honestly dont envisage any problems with them. I'll just keep an eye on the voltage so it doesnt drop too low and let my Xtar SP2 charger do the rest.

 

[mvyrmnd]

The long and the short of it is this:

Buy quality protected cells and a quality charger - AW Cells, Pila/Nitecore i4/Xtar chargers.
If you run the battery flat, charge it straight away - don't leave it for very long at "flat".
Don't let it get too hot (ie. leaving it in the car on a summer day 60°C and above).
If you're going to store the cell long-term (6 months or more) discharge it to 50% before storing it.
Don't drop it.
Don't be afraid to run it until the protection cuts off - it really won't hurt the battery, but remember point 2.
They don't mind frequent top-offs - there's no harm in sticking your EDC battery in the charger every few days, even if it's only half discharged. Li-Ions like shallow charge/discharge cycles.
Buy quality protected cells and a quality charger,
and finally,
Buy quality protected cells and a quality charger.

 

[oKtosiTe]

Im on my phone at the moment

So... you already have at least one lithium-ion cell in the house. :P
If used responsibly, your 18650 should be just as safe as or safer than using a mobile phone around your child.

 

[littlemagic]

if thats the case its alright I suppose.

which should I get? callies with cottonpickers charger?

 

[mvyrmnd]

if thats the case its alright I suppose.

which should I get? callies with cottonpickers charger?

Yes, those are both very good options.

 

[uk_caver]

When I hear 'lithium' and 'small child', my mind turns not to venting Li-Ion (or exploding CR123s) but to a clip I saw on a medical reality program where a doctor had extracted a lithium button cell from a child's stomach/esophagus.

It seemed that it was not uncommon for such cells to get swallowed, and they can potentially cause serious or even fatal damage. Googling suggests it's a significantly growing issue.

I'm sure many people are already aware of this, but in case some people aren't, it's definitely worth knowing about.

 

[oKtosiTe]

I'm sure many people are already aware of this, but in case some people aren't, it's definitely worth knowing about.

Indeed! Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[snakyjake]

I prefer not to take any risks with LiCo, when there's other options.
I also don't like the spurious correlation of a car given above. A more apt correlation is driving a motorcycle with your kid as a passenger, or a 5 star safety rated vehicle.
There's a big power difference between the tiny cell phone battery and a 18650. A laptop is more apt. But even laptop, cell phones, and billion dollar jets have battery explosions...and these have far more/better/advanced safety technologies.

The main thing I don't like about the consumer LiCo batteries is the human error and lack of safety tests. I haven't seen tests that prove the safety, therefore I don't put much faith into the safety. For me it just isn't worth it.

And as a bonus, I don't have my light unexpectedly shut off!

 

[markr6]

I prefer not to take any risks with LiCo, when there's other options.
I also don't like the spurious correlation of a car given above. A more apt correlation is driving a motorcycle with your kid as a passenger, or a 5 star safety rated vehicle.
There's a big power difference between the tiny cell phone battery and a 18650. A laptop is more apt. But even laptop, cell phones, and billion dollar jets have battery explosions...and these have far more/better/advanced safety technologies.

The main thing I don't like about the consumer LiCo batteries is the human error and lack of safety tests. I haven't seen tests that prove the safety, therefore I don't put much faith into the safety. For me it just isn't worth it.

And as a bonus, I don't have my light unexpectedly shut off!

I don't know how that was spurious...but if you still feel that way just take one of the 9,000 other examples people live daily and roll with that.