quick 123 exploding question?

[gottaloveit?]

Hello All,

Sorry if I kick a dead horse, but I have one question I just can't seem to find an answer for. In reguards to the "exploding" CR123 batteries. I understand that you shouldn't put different brands together, as well as never put a new battery with an old battery. But someone said that the troubles may also be due to a large current draw all of a sudden. The question I have is, how much is to much? I currently have a surefire 6P on my duty belt and have been using it for almost 7 years on a regular basis for patrol duties, and have never had a problem. I have the P61 upgrade and have melted the bezel on 3 seperate occasions while leaning on the tail cap while sitting in the cruiser. I have never had a problem. (other than the melted bezel, my bad). I am looking at the Lumens factory high output 160 lumens as an upgrade, but now not sure if it will draw too much?

Sometimes not knowing is better then knowing.....

This is my first post so if I did anything wrong let me know

Thanks

 

[carbine15]

Welcome to CPF!
Lithium Ion batteries are potentially very dangerous things and using two unprotected cells in series with this module is not safe. They are completely different from the cr123 batteries you are used to. That being said, if you get two proteted cells along with a suitable charger you should have no problems running this Lumens Factory 7.2 volt module. Depending on the cells you may have to doulble tap (that is turn on then off then on again to get the cells to accept the discharge rate).

follow this link for information on 123 primaries detonating for no good reason. Very good information on that site.

 

[gottaloveit?]

Ok, now I'm confused I am currently on days off so I don't have the light or the batteries in front of me, so mabey I was wrong. The batteries I use are the enegizer 123's (they arn't rechargable) but I could have sworn they said cr123 on the label? again mabey they don't (and by the sounds of it, they don't )

 

[gottaloveit?]

I just read that link you attached, I guess I should have read it first before replying above, sorry. It's true, there are alot of crappy things that can happen in life that are unexpected. The more I think about it the more I'm not going to turn down a 123 powered flashlight just because something "might" happen. In my line of work I have more important things to worry about than an exploding battery!Thanks for the responce though

 

[carbine15]

I'm not going to turn down a 123 powered flashlight just because something "might" happen.

My philosophy as well. There are precautions you can take to minimize the potential for this danger.
Rechargeable 3.6 volt lithium ion batteries are required to fully power the 150 lumen drop in module from the lumens factory. Very bright, but at the price of rechargeable setup plus shorter runtime. With protected cells there should be no problems with over discharge, reverse charge and overcharge. Note that lithium ion batteries have a shelf life of about 2 years regardless of frequency of use.

 

[chimo]

A great (and long) thread on Lithium battery testing and dangers can be found here.

Paul

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Gottaloveit?,

I will echo a welcome to CPF.

First of all, technically, the battery doesn't "explode..." It "rapidly vents, with flame..."

CR123 batteries are rated, from the manufacturer, at a 1C maximum continuous current draw. That means that you turn your light on and it runs for an hour.

There is usually no problems running them at 2C, but they do get hot. This means that your lights runtime is 30 minutes.

When you go beyond this, you are really pushing the limits. If you light drains a set of batteries in 10-20 minutes, it is really not suitable, from the batteries perspective, of a constant run. At these high current draws, any variation in the batteries is magnified and you can get into trouble.

However, CR123 cells can handle high pulse loads without problems. Energizer publishes 3.5 amps as a maximum pulse load, and Duracell seems to be comfortable with 5 amps. The exact definition of a "pulse" is illusive. It is not constant on, but it is probably better to let heat be your guide for the actual pulse duration. When the light heats up, it is time to end the "pulse."

Of course, all if this is for "matched" sets of batteries. If there is a mismatch, you can run into problems even at a 1C load.

All battery manufacturers recommend against shorting a battery out. Every time you turn an incandescent lamp on, it is basically pretty close to a dead short for the first few milliseconds, but there is an increased resistance as the filament warms up.

There should not be a problem when you turn the light on. It seems that most of the problems have occurred when the batteries were hot, completely drained, mismatched, and the light was left on after it had gone out. This is bad news for the battery and can lead to a situation of reverse charging for one of the cells, which can lead to rapid venting with flame.

I have gotten into the habit of removing batteries from a light after it has run down. This eliminates any possibility of accidentally leaving the circuit connected, and improves the safety of using multi cell lights.

Let us know how your very high output lamp works out...

Tom

 

[gottaloveit?]

Thanks guys, I'm not about to get into using rechargables in my surefire. HQ issued us Stinger XT's as a work light, but a couple of times I've come off my days off and on to nights only to find my stinger is dead. I can always count on my 6P . I have the spares carrier in my duty bag incase I have to change batteries in the field, just for that reason.

Usually the most the light gets turned on for is a second burst here and there, as the longer you have it on, the better chance of giving away your position is anyway, so by no means will I have it on long enough to drain the batteries in one shot. Now that I know more information about the precaustions I should take, that should make things better.

Thanks again for all the great info:rock:

 

[Oddjob]

Welcome fellow Canuck!
No input on the exploding battery question that has not already been said but I felt compelled to say that since you have joined CPF I think you are obligated to look at all kinds of other lights to either replace or supplement your duty light :naughty: Maybe ask other LEO's for their opinions. Stay safe!

 

[gottaloveit?]

Actually, I should be ordering my PL24 in the next day or so. Looking at the IR lens for it to suppliment my nightvision at work.