The cold may have broken my d25c2

This morning I tried to use my car light, an old D25c2 with protected RCR123s, and when I turned it on, the light came on for a fraction of a second, and then went out and refused to cut back on

The light has been in my car all night, and the temperature in Michigan has been running subzero.

Is it bad to cut on a flashlight when it is that cold??

Check the batteries...maybe the protection circuit tripped?

Your batteries are the most likely suspect. All chemical reactions are slower in the cold. Warm up the flashlight and batteries, then charge them, and try again.

Got home and checked with new batteries: the light works

Then checked each battery on a single cr123a light, one is good and the other isnt.

Bad battery wont charge either. Of course it is a cheapo ultrafire battery so no surprise

So now my question is, did this battery bust randomly and it was just pure coincidence that it was really cold out? Or does keeping the battery in extreme cold for a long period of time make it more likely to fail?

What's the voltage on the bad cell? Probably zero, meaning you tripped the protection circuit - cold weakens the cell, then the high draw of a flashlight sags the voltage until the protection circuit trips. A charger should reset the PCB, but who knows on crappy UF cells. You could try a parallel jump with a fresh 16340 (ie, hold the cells + to + and then connect a wire - to - for 1 second).

If the voltage is showing ~2.7V or less - toss it and buy quality cells. Cheap cells are not worth the Roman Candle risk.

res1cue said:

did this battery bust randomly and it was just pure coincidence that it was really cold out? Or does keeping the battery in extreme cold for a long period of time make it more likely to fail?

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Just cold? My guess would be probably not. Rapid temperature swings? Yeah, that may have done it.

Last night, I left my Surefire/Oveready (with IMRx2) in the car (below freezing.) I brought it into the shower room and didn't think a thing of it. When ready to slip it into my pocket, I realized that it sucked up condensation like you wouldn't believe. It was dripping wet, soaking the towel it was sitting on.

I felt that turning it on at that point was a really bad idea. After the temps equalized, I took it apart and it's sitting in a dry room. Moisture invasion can do really bad things. I felt dumb because I know better than to leave a lion in the car.

more_vampires said:

Just cold? My guess would be probably not. Rapid temperature swings? Yeah, that may have done it.

Last night, I left my Surefire/Oveready (with IMRx2) in the car (below freezing.) I brought it into the shower room and didn't think a thing of it. When ready to slip it into my pocket, I realized that it sucked up condensation like you wouldn't believe. It was dripping wet, soaking the towel it was sitting on.

I felt that turning it on at that point was a really bad idea. After the temps equalized, I took it apart and it's sitting in a dry room. Moisture invasion can do really bad things. I felt dumb because I know better than to leave a lion in the car.

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Isn't a Surefire light supposed to be water proof? Why would you care if it has condensation on the outside of the light? It's not doing any harm.

Any swing of temperature from cold to warm, would cause an increase in air pressure on the inside of the light, so again, no moist air from outside would get inside.

I don't see the problem.

Yeah... that "supposed to be" word. I'm very cautious by nature and take electronics safety very seriously. I used to get paid to remind people that if they didn't take off their wedding ring, it could blow their finger off.

I guess how I feel is that if you're unsure about a high powered light, don't test it by power on (unless you've no choice.) I saw no traces of moisture inside, but better to err on the side of caution. All it takes is a nicked cheap little o-ring...

Was it a problem? No. Could it have been a problem? No. I refused to energize under the condition of rapid temperature swings, as I had a choice in the matter. The light is just fine, no problems here. Overcautious? Yep! I still have all my fingers and eyeballs and I play with deflagrants for fun.

I still have NiMh from 2 wives ago. I probably take better care of my lights and batteries than I did the wives.

Anyway, don't forget Subalpine's story. He energized a cold light under damp conditions. (Campfire Scary Stories of CPF.)

more_vampires said:

I used to get paid to remind people that if they didn't take off their wedding ring, it could blow their finger off.

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That must have been those trit Wedding Rings.

more_vampires said:

I felt dumb because I know better than to leave a lion in the car.

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If I had a nickel for every time I've said that....

Using multiple RCRs in a light that accepts 17650/18650s is probably not the best idea in the first place. Add the words Ultrafire and rapid temperature change to the mix and you've got a recipe for disaster. Having to recycle a cell is the least of your concerns.

oKtosiTe said:

Using multiple RCRs in a light that accepts 17650/18650s is probably not the best idea in the first place. Add the words Ultrafire and rapid temperature change to the mix and you've got a recipe for disaster. Having to recycle a cell is the least of your concerns.

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+1

Multiple cells in cold conditions is a risk. The NiMH batteries in my T25 popped the tailcap out. One of them had about 500 mAh less capacity than the other and it then let out some gas (hydrogen most likely, I think). Li-ions have much more power, so I'd be careful with them. I wouldn't try to recharge the bad batter anymore.