Fenix Problem

I was riding my bike today. And as usual, the suburb i was riding in was very dark, so i always use my Fenix L2D on Turbo mode to illuminate my path and so cars can see me. I had seen a car that did not notice me and put my light on strobe, which always gets everybody's attention. Then I tried putting it back to the turbo setting, but to my surprise, the clicky was not so easy to push as it was inflating like a balloon! My first thought was that the battery had exploded or leaked and the chemical reaction created tension inside the flashlight, so i took out the batteries and inspected them, and no leakage, and the batteries were normal, but i did smell something funny inside the flashlight, but nothing extreme, maybe some grease or oil used by fenix to lube the flashlight.

So my question is why did my clicker inflate? Could it possibly be the weather? It was 50 degrees with a cold breeze... could it be something to do with the heat from turbo mode, and the cold wind chill creating pressure inside the flashlight?

What kind of cells were you using in there? Cells could have vented gas but not leaked fluid/ residue.

Rechargable Duracell 2650mah batteries.

CaNo said:

Rechargable Duracell 2650mah batteries.

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DC1500 NiMh

This is a battery problem, sometimes they vent with a gas and because the Fenix is sealed, the pressure will raise inside it and the switch cover will inflate.

HKJ said:

This is a battery problem, sometimes they vent with a gas and because the Fenix is sealed, the pressure will raise inside it and the switch cover will inflate.

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Now did the batteries react like this because of the weather, or the turbo mode?

Well turbo mode... kind of. Turbo on an L2D doesn't pull too many amps for a decent NiMh to handle. But if you were running it consistently you likely did give the cells a decent workout. It's just something they may do from time to time. Nothing to worry about imho. You're likely to get more detailed answers if you post a question about NiMh venting in the electronics/ battery sub-forum.

Thank you for bringing clarity to my situation.

one of the cells was really empty, while the other was far away from that - therefore #1 vented.
Might work like be4, might not.
Try to match Your cells again

PS: to fight that "ballooning", take a needle an stich through the rubber (at some hidden space). Wont fight watertightness very much (plunging in water is possible, but no longer usable for snorkeling/diving) but the gas can get out in future

(to be honest: there have not been too much of these cases, I remember 4 mentionned here now, including Yours)

yellow said:

one of the cells was really empty, while the other was far away from that - therefore #1 vented.
Might work like be4, might not.
Try to match Your cells again

PS: to fight that "ballooning", take a needle an stich through the rubber (at some hidden space). Wont fight watertightness very much (plunging in water is possible, but no longer usable for snorkeling/diving) but the gas can get out in future

(to be honest: there have not been too much of these cases, I remember 4 mentionned here now, including Yours)

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That makes alot of sense. Thank you for pointing that out!

if the battery did vent. i wonder if using eneloop rechargeable batteries will help you and your wallet?

Fenix AA or AAA lights are good especially the batteries that you will be using are not as expensive as 123.

I suspect at least one of the cells is in bad shape and needs a little TLC, or recycled.

I assume it's the same but in my PD20 manual it clearly states that Turbo mode should be used sparingly and only for 15 mintues at a time.

Maybe this is why.

Marduke said:

I suspect at least one of the cells is in bad shape and needs a little TLC, or recycled.

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Yes I believe this to be the problem. Both cells were not charged equally. One was probably beyond empty, and the other cell had to carry the weight for the other and

Nimravus said:

I assume it's the same but in my PD20 manual it clearly states that Turbo mode should be used sparingly and only for 15 mintues at a time.

Maybe this is why.

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Originally I had thought that the Turbo mode had been the issue, but then hearing the feedback from people, the battery seemed to be a more logical explanation. And I say this in reference to the Fenix light not being hot at all. I was riding in a very cold breeze which served as a natural coolant for the light.

Although I was worried about the 10min Turbo warning for the L2D that was on the manual, but doing some research and reading up on threads relating to Turbo Mode situations, I found that the majority of the people that use Turbo Mode use it for way longer than 10-15mins for months and even years from what a few people had stated. And have not had any issues. Of course some flashlights will be defective they stated, and if your unit is one of these, you will probably know early on with heavy usage in their maximum outputs. Keeping in mind... using Turbo mode does in fact decrease your lights lifespan.

So it is still a possibility that the heat from the L2D's turbo mode and the cold windchill could have caused pressure inside the unit, but as i stated before... i am leaning towards the battery conclusion due to the gaseous smell and credible information stated by you CPF'ers.

"using Turbo mode does in fact decrease your lights lifespan"

Revving a car harder also decreases it's lifespan. But you don't see anyone driving round with the needle under 2000rpm at all times because they want their great grandchildren to drive the car, do you?

Nimravus said:

I assume it's the same but in my PD20 manual it clearly states that Turbo mode should be used sparingly and only for 15 mintues at a time.

Maybe this is why.

Click to expand...

Forget about that, Fenix tells you with all their multimode lights that have a turbo. It's due to possible overheat problems. If you mount the light on a bike, you can leave it on turbo without any fear as long as you ride and the light gets cooling. Even in your hand you can leave it on, if you don't mind the heat, your blood-circuit will be the cooling. Just never leave it lying somewhere on turbo and pay attention that it doesn't activate in a pocket or in the holster, that would kill it and might lead to injuries or even fire.

The bump comes from venting cells, that's all. I had it too, with Panasonic Infinium cells which were not equally charged probably. I use the original charger that is built for those cells, but as it seems, they don't work well sometimes. So, what I do is switching the cells in the charger once the charging is over. Charging begins again, sometimes it takes only a few minutes until teh charger stops, sometimes it takes again a few hours. The charger has been replaced, the problem stayed, so they cells are double-charged now and the cells seem to be all on the same level. I don't know if I harm them that way, I'll see in a few months or years and buy new cells. Better than exploding rubber boots!

Jarl said:

"using Turbo mode does in fact decrease your lights lifespan"

Revving a car harder also decreases it's lifespan. But you don't see anyone driving round with the needle under 2000rpm at all times because they want their great grandchildren to drive the car, do you?

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Haha
That sucker will be sold or traded in for a new one when the mood hits lol
Cars and flashlights alike.
I blame it on my compulsiveness
Who doesn't want the finer things in life? I know I do..... Even though this lifestyle leaves you lol

Henk_Lu said:

Forget about that, Fenix tells you with all their multimode lights that have a turbo. It's due to possible overheat problems. If you mount the light on a bike, you can leave it on turbo without any fear as long as you ride and the light gets cooling. Even in your hand you can leave it on, if you don't mind the heat, your blood-circuit will be the cooling. Just never leave it lying somewhere on turbo and pay attention that it doesn't activate in a pocket or in the holster, that would kill it and might lead to injuries or even fire.

The bump comes from venting cells, that's all. I had it too, with Panasonic Infinium cells which were not equally charged probably. I use the original charger that is built for those cells, but as it seems, they don't work well sometimes. So, what I do is switching the cells in the charger once the charging is over. Charging begins again, sometimes it takes only a few minutes until teh charger stops, sometimes it takes again a few hours. The charger has been replaced, the problem stayed, so they cells are double-charged now and the cells seem to be all on the same level. I don't know if I harm them that way, I'll see in a few months or years and buy new cells. Better than exploding rubber boots!

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Yes in room temperature this can be costly as well, like what you said accidental turn ons, neglect, etc

As for the battery situation, a few people talked me into getting a Lacrosse BC-700 for these situations. It is affordable ($26 shipped), and beneficial in the long run. I also bought my first pack of Eneloops to see what the big hype is about lol

Im just wondering if I will notice a huge difference losing out on the extra 650mah.... (from Duracell 2650mah to Eneloop's 2000mah) Im going to pay attention to the brightness and runtimes.... or if anyone knows right off the bat, feel free to tag in

Eneloop type AA or normal NiMh depend on your use of your lights and other devices.

If you use your light each day for a long time, stay with the 2650 mAh, there won't be any self-discharge. I have 20 cells for a few lights which aren't used each day, not even each weekend, and a GPS that is used on weekends. So, it can take 10 months until I use my cells, therefore I need Eneloop-type. On special days I sometimes need 6 to 10 cells a day, so I wanna be prepared.

I don't think that you'll notice a brightness change and with fully charged cells, runtime should simply be about 25% shorter.