Reference to the Roar of the Pelican thread.

[SilverFox]

Here is the link to the Roar of the Pelican thread.

This was one of the first incidents reported on CPF.

Lessons learned:

Make sure the batteries in your multi cell CR123 light are at the same state of charge.

This can be done by using a tester like the ZTS tester, measuring the cell voltage under some kind of load, or recycling cells after they have been partially used to avoid mixing up a partially used cell with a new cell.

It is also a good idea to use a quality cell.

Tom

 

[csshih]

hey tom.. lunarmodule hasn't posted on CPF a while after that incident... do you know what happened to him?

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Csshih,

No idea.

Tom

 

[cmacclel]

hey tom.. lunarmodule hasn't posted on CPF a while after that incident... do you know what happened to him?

He got banned for having multiple username's then got pissed at the world including me and left. He was a great guy to bad he has not re-appeared.

Mac

 

[LuxLuthor]

I bet Battery Station loves seeing that thread highlighted again, although it was part of the impetus for them to reportedly completely redo their QA/safety manufacturing now in the USA of those cells...although seeing the DSD charger at the bottom of that page doesn't give me warm feelings inside.

Seeing his blood on that mess made the thread so much more poignant.

 

[Alan B]

I bet Battery Station loves seeing that thread highlighted again, although it was part of the impetus for them to reportedly completely redo their QA/safety manufacturing now in the USA of those cells...although seeing the DSD charger at the bottom of that page doesn't give me warm feelings inside.

Seeing his blood on that mess made the thread so much more poignant.

I see that batterystation has not posted in over a year also. IIRC they stepped in after a small lantern exploded around the end of 2007. I was so impressed with their response that I bought a bunch of ROV CR123's from their website. Hope they're still watching CPF. I think they still have the CPF discount, I found it not long ago for a friend. It is good to see dealers with that much support.

 

[dalekcommander]

Here is the link to the Roar of the Pelican thread.

Make sure the batteries in your multi cell CR123 light are at the same state of charge.

Tom

Question:
Would marking the batteries somehow, and always keeping the same two or three together be enough to assure that they are always within 'the same state of charge'?

For example, I have 5 LRB168a's for my M90. Three are marked and always kept together/used/charged for the 13v config.

If I did the same with RC123's and kept them together, am I safe?

I have always used the regular duracell or energizer 123's from the local supermarket, but am considering getting some RC's to cut down on cost.

And concerning some of the explosions that have turned our lights into plam sized pipe-bombs...Could some of these explosions been averted by simply letting the batteries sit for a minute after charging? I would do that with my M90 if the batteries seemed too warm after a charge.
I would think the danger of a vent or leak would be most likely right after charging and not a half hour or so later. Or am I missing something here?