Lithium RC123 included with flashlight, Leaking or Rusty ??

I bought an Olight SMINI BATON LE, when i opened flashlight the battery inside looked like the photo in the link below.

Is this leakage or rust or something else, The flashlight is clean, no damage.

EDIT: Voltage is at 3.24 volts

https://i.imgur.com/4QlPIMZ.jpg

John.

Looks like rust to me, though how the cell could get wet inside the light is a mystery.
What's the puddle on the left? Did that ooze out of the cell?
Anyway, dump it.
P

peter yetman said:

Looks like rust to me, though how the cell could get wet inside the light is a mystery.
What's the puddle on the left? Did that ooze out of the cell?
Anyway, dump it.
P

Click to expand...

Since the cell is stored in the flashlight when it arrives, the yellow plastic disk is used to isolate the cell, you have to remove this before you can use the flashlight, The yellow insulator disk was attached to the positive end of the battery and that is how it got gunk on it.

I like the way Olight has reversed the battery so the positive is facing the endcap so if you get a leak which always seems to come from the positive end it`s a lot easier to clean-up

John.

Oh, it's a yellow disc, I though it was a puddle of muck.
P

Hello John,

I agree. It looks like rust. Clean it up and put some lube on it to prevent further corrosion. Keep an eye on it but if it works well you should be good to go.

Sometimes in shipping adverse conditions are encountered (like a wave over the bow of a ship) and this can trickle down to create problems like this.

Tom

SilverFox said:

Hello John,

I agree. It looks like rust. Clean it up and put some lube on it to prevent further corrosion. Keep an eye on it but if it works well you should be good to go.

Sometimes in shipping adverse conditions are encountered (like a wave over the bow of a ship) and this can trickle down to create problems like this.

Tom

Click to expand...

Thanks Tom.

I am surprised moisture can get inside a sealed flashlight, Maybe the cell was wet when it was installed, Is 3.24 volts OK for an unused RC123A ??

John.

EDIT: I just cleaned the gunk off with Methylated Spirit and brown stuff smells like Rust.

That's OK then.
I think the voltage sounds right.
I panicked for a moment, as you transposed the R and C in CR123 and i thought you thought it was an RCR123, but you obviously know it's a primary.
Sorry, Worryguts Yetman.

Maybe was initially placed in the flashlight in a humid / marine type environment ?

Agree that it looks like rust, and for what might be a low quality primary cell worth maybe ~ $1, I think I'd replace and move on ... :shrug:

Hi.

As i was cleaning up the cell a load of clear liquid came out of the pressure release vent and i decided to dump the cell, It`s not worth the risk messing around with it.

Thanks for the help

John.

Problem solved

Yuk!
P

It looks like the protectant coating from CNC tooling, simula to cosmolene for firearms. Possibly from battery manufacturing???

There are no-oxide coatings that look like that, but have not seen any on Olights before.

Edit: Glad You figured it out.
Did You write support to see if they honor the cells warranty?

I remember reading about something similar to this happening before with cells still in packaging: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?368183-Sanyo-CR123a-leaking

It's probably the result of cheaply/poorly made cells (the ones in the post I linked to were likely counterfeit).