CMG Infinity pressure build up

Has anyone had a CMG Infinity with pressure build up inside the light?

I took 2 old Rayovac alkaline AA batteries from an incan. flashlight that wasn't lighting up and put them into a CMG Infinity standard green LED and a CMG Infinity Ultra white to check the battery killing capabilities of these lights.
After half a day of both being on the green one stopped working. I picked it up and shook it and the battery rattled a little bit. After screwing the head down farther it flickered on and off a few times and then stayed off. I began unscrewing the head and as soon as the O-ring almost cleared the body there was a pretty good 'pop' and the O-ring was pushed partway from its groove. I pulled the battery and it didn't look to be split or leaking or have any kind of damage. Inside the barrel is still shiny with no corrosion damage.
The white Ultra is still going, dimmer but still usable light after 30+ hours. The green Infinity is one of the closeouts from Batterystation and had the black tar-like stuff on the head which I removed. I plan on putting another battery in the green LED and let it go for a few hours and see if it does it again.

Could this happen with the following batteries?

1. NiCad
2. NiMh
3. Lithium

Batteries are vented so that the pressure can get out of them. Rechargeable batteries have noticeable vents but the ones in primary batteries are more like one time check valves. It's uncommon for them to vent except under unusual conditions such as a high discharge rate or a very low battery. Sometimes a battery might be shorted.

But it's somewhat of a hazard to run batteries stone cold dead in a waterproof housing like the infinity or ultra. Whatever you do, don't leave them in your car or other HOT environment in that run down condition, on or not. Don't forget that the self discharge rate can cause them to run down after a short period in your car. I can tell you from experience that the pressure could be high enough to be hazardous. Don't point it at your eyes, you might find more than light in one.

Had something similar happen to my Arc AAA. Went to turn it on, but it felt like the head was already screwed down. Wondered why I had left my Arc on and let the batteries run dead. When I unscrewed the head there was a distinct "pop". Screwed it back on and sure enough the battery was still good.

This battery was definitely low. I had them in a Duracell Durabeam 2AA flashlight that had been stashed in a box for about 2 years. I left it on until it died, let it sit for a few hours and repeated twice. The other CMG was still going but I pulled that battery and tossed them. I'll put a good battery in the green one and let it go for a few hours and check it for pressure.

Yes, I had few experience on the 'POP' even there are no battery inside.

WHY !

I put a new Diehard AA battery in the green CMG and left it on for about 6 hours. After carefully unscrewing the head I didn't hear anything or notice anything wrong with it. I guess it was the old battery I had in it. I'll guess I'll use new batteries in these sealed lights from now on.

bump

Happenes to my Arc all the time

Happens occasionally w/ my Ultra. I open it now and then, just to release pressure, and I don't notice any build up.

This type of problem has caused underwater cameras to explode in the past, when the outgassing of the batteries was ignited by the internal camera flash unit.

Common problem with sealed waterproof/resistant lights. ARC, Pelican Products and other advise about this problem. Some take measures such as incorporating a sintered pellet to absorb gases, others build in relief valves.

I have not had this happen, but I know with my dive light they have a small cylinder of some material that is supposed to abosrb battery gasses. Maybe this should be incorporated in all water proof lights. Just a thought.
shawn

Sounds like its time to regularly open ALL my lights once in a while. I am a nut that puts silicon grease on ALL the Orings in any light I have. None of them leak at all. I never thought about out gassing of batteries till now. Wow- I have dive lights to better check them first. I don't need no "Kapow" here.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

NikolaTesla /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

An Arc lamp is the Spark that takes away the Dark--HID Forever!

My Lights

I had the same happen with my Ultra G. At one time I was using it to run down all my used AAs by running it as a night light. When i got up one morning to turn off the light, there was no light at all, so I thought that it really sucked the battery dry... when I tried to unscrew the bezel to remove the battery, it got stuck! So i had to forcefully pull the bezel and there was a pretty loud 'pop' as well. Threw out the battery and looked into the barrel, geez there's some of that black tar-like gunk there now. Scraped most of it off but there's still some there... Moral of the story, don't be a cheapskate like me, if the battery's low, throw it out (or recycle)... I think RussH may have hit a nail on the head there, don't run your batts dead in a waterproof light!!

I just had one of my Ultra G's pop. I'm sure it was due to the battery being very discharged. I was letting it go until there was absolutely no light visible on the LED.

Sounds like I better not be doing that anymore. Glad I found this thread!

I wonder if we have unrealistic expectations of batteries these days? When I was a kid batteries lasted until they were not up to powering the incandescent bulb in a light and then tossed. I was always botherd about the battery leaking and ruining the light more than the expense of replacement. Nowadays we tend to think that we can run & run batteries until every last bit of juice is gone but forget that we are actually using a chemical generator which is potentially unstable.
Just a thought..............................?
Doug

Hi all,

It's been a while since I looked at this thread, but re-reading it now makes me think that not all of the posted cases are due to battery venting.

Look at evanlocc's post where he states that this happens to him even when there is no battery in the light. And look at Stanley's post where he states that the head was being sucked into the light due to pressure.

Both of these sound like a combination of airtight seals and atmospheric pressure to me. Evanlocc's experience was definitely not caused by battery outgassing since there was no battery. Stanley's experience would have been the exact opposite if the battery was expelling gas and the pressure would have been trying to force the head off instead of in.

It seems more likely that a lot of these "popping" cases are due to replacing the battery and sealing the light up at one barometric extreme, then trying to open it at another.

Just my opinion anyway.. You could always try to check this theory. If you remember the date that you installed the battery and the date it "popped", you could check weather.com or a similar site for historic barometric pressure data.

pb

pb, I get the same effect on my Nalgene bottles when I travel by plane. Good hypothesis.

Anyone want to do a barometric test to see whether the weather affects the pressure inside the flashlight?

I put the old battery in it at home and then fired it up so I don't think pressure or the temperature would affect it. I had put the old one in specifically to run it down. It is nice to know that it will use up batteries like that if needed in an emergency.