New Poster: CR-123 Shipping and Storage

I recently made my first serious flashlight purchase for myself and the online vendor (an authorized Surefire dealer) threw in some free Surefire batteries...literally. They were tossed in a sealed plastic bag and wrapped in bubble wrap.

Though I am new to quality flashlights, I have done some reading and was under the impression that this is a terrible way to ship CR-123 batteries. Should I be concerned that the batteries are damaged? They look fine but looks can be deceiving.

I also wonder about battery storage. I recently purchased some Pelican cases with foam cutout inserts and am very pleased with them. I got to wondering though; will the batteries vent enough to overpower the case? The pressure valve seems to be at least partially blocked as the foam block fills the case interior. As of now I have the batteries in them and the closing hasp open to allow for venting.

Thanks for helping the new guy.

You say "tossed". Were the batteries wrapped tightly, or were they so loosely packed that they were bouncing against each other when you took them out of the package. Was there sufficient pressure on the batteries via the wrapping that they would not bounce around, in transit? Did you shake the box to see if you could hear or feel them rattling around? I have tested cells that have been loosely stored in drawers, with nothing else around but the same type of cell and I have noticed no damage, shorting out, or whatever.

Bill

I was using a colloquialism but, yes, I could hear them rattle in the box.

redware said:

... online vendor (an authorized Surefire dealer) threw in some free Surefire batteries...literally. They were tossed in a sealed plastic bag and wrapped in bubble wrap.
... They look fine but looks can be deceiving.

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I have the utmost confident in SureFire batteries, they are pretty tough without deliberate abuse. If they look fine, they probably are. :thumbsup:
If you have a DMM, you can take a reading, you should get 3.23-3.28V for fine new SureFire batteries.

redware said:

...will the batteries vent enough to overpower the case? The pressure valve seems to be at least partially blocked as the foam block fills the case interior. As of now I have the batteries in them and the closing hasp open to allow for venting.

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Don't worry, these SureFire batteries won't vent for no reason. Just don't "cook" your pelican case with "any" Lithium batteries under a HOT desert sun and keep it dry. As long as there are no conditions for it to short circuit or thermal built-up, you are fine. Just fyi, most Lithium primary battery list -40°C to 60°C (-40°F to 140°F) as their storage and operating temperature.

redware said:

I was using a colloquialism but, yes, I could hear them rattle in the box.

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Don't worry. Just enjoy your SureFire.

A DMM...is this something a new and casual flashlight owner should think about purchasing or is it something for the more dedicated hobbiest?

...and many thanks to those who have answered this and my previous thread. It's nice to see a group so willing to give of its knowledge.

I used batteries for years without a Digital Multimeter, though I would buy a cheap battery tester to check the condition of my AA's. When I started using CR123's for my Surefire flashlights I started using a DMM, even before joining CPF. After some exposure on CPF, I found that I really needed a DMM to not only measure voltage , but check the current delivered from my batteries to my flashlights. When I got into LiIon cells, the importance of a DMM became more apparent to me. A cauual user of of flashlights you are not any more, if you have joined CPF. You will now want to know, for sure, that CR123's you place in your lights are at least of similar voltage to each other for safety reasons, and why. We can give you some reasons here but do not just depend on this one thread for your information, do some searching, and the best format is the google, cpf only, tool bar at the top of every CPF page.

Bill

+1 to what Bullzeyebill said.
The DMM is a handy little piece of equipment that helps to answer those occasional why-what-how. You can check out the following thread:
Simple guide to using a DMM for measurements
created and maintain by member HKJ for information on how a DMM is use to learn more about the working of flashlights and batteries. :twothumbs

Ever since I use DMM, I've learned and resolved a few "mysteries" about the flashlights and batteries that puzzled me for some time.