EA4 button ballooned at RT

Starik1

Newly Enlightened
Joined
May 23, 2013
Messages
120
I know a lot of people have reported that their nitecore ea4 buttons balloon in the heat of a car, but I just had mine do it in a house at 70F (21C).

It was in use. It was on the 3rd "low" setting for about 3 hours straight before I noticed it. The light wasn't hot at all, and nothing weird was going on with the batteries. I took the tailcap off and the button deflated. Put it back on and it's fine again.

Just FYI.
 

ven

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 17, 2013
Messages
22,533
Location
Manchester UK
That is strange,was there any kind of pressure released when cap removed,no sign of cells venting....

What cells were in the ea4 please? and is it a newer version with uprated button(say uprated,more thicker material) or is it an "older " version.

My ea4 and ea8 buttons on later model
 

oKtosiTe

Enlightened
Joined
Jan 7, 2012
Messages
974
Location
Sweden
Could the light or the batteries have been stored a fair bit colder (relative to the 21°C)?
 

swan

Banned
Joined
Apr 21, 2011
Messages
669
Location
sydney aus
Do not use alkaline batteries under any circumstances with this light- or risk permanent damage. My 12/2012 example is still going strong with no ballooning - i only use eneloops.
 

Starik1

Newly Enlightened
Joined
May 23, 2013
Messages
120
That is strange,was there any kind of pressure released when cap removed,no sign of cells venting....

What cells were in the ea4 please? and is it a newer version with uprated button(say uprated,more thicker material) or is it an "older " version.

My ea4 and ea8 buttons on later model
My button is more transparent than that, so mine is probably the older version.

Could the light or the batteries have been stored a fair bit colder (relative to the 21°C)?
The batteries and the light have been in the same room of the same house for weeks.

This is why I recommended leaving the tailcap loose. I still have not had any issues. But I use Eneloops.

Were you by chance using alkaline batteries?
They were eneloops and they're still working fine.

I didn't notice any venting when I took off the tailcap, but it had to have vented something if the bubble deflated.
 

markr6

Flashaholic
Joined
Jul 16, 2012
Messages
9,258
Such a bizarre thing with these lights. This makes it seem like heat is not the issue. If it's not pressure, I wonder if there is something we've overlooked, like a grease or some type of residue leftover inside from the manufacturing process that would make this happen. But that seems unlikely too since it would probably have happened during/soon after manufacturing.
 
Top