shortening a CR123 battery

I bought a UltraFire 18650 w/ R2. I've always have had a 18650 in it, and recently I purchased two CR123 batteries and I put them in. But its a very very tight fit. I can barely put the tailcap on. If I twist the tailcap 1/8th a turn, it'll come off. Is it possible to sand off the nipple's, to make it a tad bit shorter? How much can I sand off before it risks it leaking/damaging?

UPDATE:

I went to my garage and pulled out my belt sander and sanded the batteries down



































I put them in my light and they fit perfectly. Instead of 1/8th a turn, I can turn it 3 times. Unfortunately, I got carried away and took off a lot more than I should have. I hope it doesn't effect the battery in a negative way, like it leaking.

i sense a darwin award coming.

those cells won't leak, they'll explode.

What with "terrorist cells" and now "sawn-off CR123As" I think this forum is being spammed... :shrug:

Holy crap dude.

Those are not CR123A batteries, those are 16340/RCR123 Lithium-Ion cells.

That's a just waiting to happen.
Warn your neighbours if you decide to put those in a charger.

haha, thanks for the heads up. I guess i'll charge them outside.

I hope that you throw those batteries away and do not try to use them.

I believe that my trustfires like those are longer than the higher quality AW brand ones. You might want to give those a try.

If you tape them to your shoes and wait a moment, you might have the first CR123A powered jet shoes, as the flames shoot out the end and you slowly disappear into the sunset ...

Id say throw them in the light and put it on high for an hour or so. Then throw them on the charger overnight just to be safe.

lol, thanks for the pics.
so you took a crappy china UltraFIRE cell, then tortured the case it was in, ripped the insulation off around the can at the top, then proceeded to put them on a hunk of metal , and you still havent shorted/blown them up yet?

i am beginning to believe in gardian angels :naughty:
you shouldnt be allowed to use lithium cells of any kind, it just is going to make it harder for us to buy them when you get done

you cant use that cell item now, if it wasnt bad before it certannly is a accident waiting to happen now.

Yucca Patrol said:

I hope that you throw those batteries away and do not try to use them.

I believe that my trustfires like those are longer than the higher quality AW brand ones. You might want to give those a try.

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Thanks for the advice. I saw on DX that it says it can take these batteries witch is why I was confused. I'll see what happens to these batteries. I'll recharge them outside soon and take pics of it if it explodes.

Mr Happy said:

What with "terrorist cells" and now "sawn-off CR123As" I think this forum is being spammed... :shrug:

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you may be correct , but think of it like this, without amoebas still in the world, how would the humans know how evolved they were?

i think stuff like this goes on everyday all around the world, i just dont like paying to be on thier same insurance companies
and this certannly explains why i cant buy plutonium

SmurfTacular said:

Thanks for the advice. I saw on DX that it says it can take these batteries witch is why I was confused. I'll see what happens to these batteries. I'll recharge them outside soon and take pics of it if it explodes.

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in case it is not obvious to you from the posts in this thread, what you have done is EXTREMELY dangerous. besides recharging, your light can easily turn into what is essentially a pipe bomb from a potential short during use.

good luck with that. :thumbsup:

There probably is nothing wrong with them to tell you the truth.

my_O_my said:

There probably is nothing wrong with them to tell you the truth.

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thats right he hasnt broken the seal yet, but what about the discoloration of the metal, that shows a certian temperature was reached?
sure busted up the insulation, then dropped the "shoulder" down so low (by clipping the nipple) that it could cause a Full short even WITH the protection there.
speaking of protection, where is it now? the opposite pole strip is needed to power the protection? and how close is it to another full short?
because the user was trying to shorten it to CRAM it into something that doesnt FIT, when it is crushed in, then dropped a full short from the Plus Side to the Minus on the Can would be without the protection.

so yes they look still operational, but beyond that :wave: the modification isnt very well done. there is now about 4 ways a full short could occur.

I'll just say... please don't use those cells anymore..

Especially, do not put them in a flashlight or any enclosed space. That's a disaster waiting to happen...

Mind you, these things can kill, I'm being serious. You could blow your hand/fingers off if your flashlight explodes in your hand.

Dude, way to go. You already made a ticking time bomb awaiting to anytime. Dispose the cell and be safe.

SmurfTacular, can't you trim the tail-cap contact spring instead of sanding the batteries?

From the posts above, the OP is certain that this arrangement will work fine and he will proceed to charge them, but if he wants to ignore good advice, we can't help him any further.