My 14500 battery explosion, with pictures

This is NOT to argue with the poster suggesting nicd/nimh. My reasons for continuing to use li-ions, but with considerable more safety provisions, since my brush with being sent to the big flashlight collection in the sky?

I think that there are DISTINCT differences between crappy Chinese li-ion cells and top-notch li-ion cells from respected companies (as much as any sleazeball money-hungry public-be-damned company is a respected company these days). :wink:

Like pilotptk notes: MANY of us could not carry-on life that we consider normal without li-ion batteries in cell phones, laptops, backup batteries in some desktop computers, tablets, readers, blah, blah blah. No one worries that their arm may be blown off by their laptop the next time they click their way to ordering the new Snoop Dogg aural delight from Amazon. Because if that Dogg devotee was to crack open his/her li-ion laptop battery pack, he/she would NOT find CRAPFIRE batteries inside. They would be top-notch branded cells. With heavily tested circuitry to prevent li-ion venting, overcharging, undercharging, etc. That’s why there are no headlines screaming: “Snoop Dogg fan beheaded by laptop explosion while ordering new Dogg CD.”

There are SAFE (or relatively safe) li-ion batteries with pheomenal safety records. And then there are Chinese crap li-ion cells, which can be passable, but usually are borderline dangerous to even store in the house. I would not bet my life on a cheapie Chinese safety belt for a race car. Ditto with Chinese gray-market li-ion cells.

Can’t afford a laptop, but If I had one, it would have a NiMH pack converted to it. I have a cell phone, don’t like it and don’t trust it. I figure sooner or later it will melt down or explode. I have thought of converting it to NiMH as well.

It's not really a phobia. I just am not willing to take all the precautions that Li-ion needs.

A heavy duty fire and explosion proof box

A good/safe charger for each size of cell, or a hobby charger

A fire extinguisher

A meter to check condition

What else?

The willingness to take all that time and make sure to do checks. I would never do that. I'm an Alkaline/NiMH guy. Either toss them out or toss them in the charger and walk away.

Then there's the cost of good protected cells on top of it all. It's not a poor man's game and when you buy cheap, look at what happens.

I will just stick to NiMHs (eneloops). I know you have a very low chance of something going wrong, but if you're not willing to take the care needed, then the risk can magnify fairly quickly. I'm not about to have to show respect to a battery.

I had a 6S sub-C NiMH pack blow in a very similar manner. It was being slow charged off a lab supply at less than 1/20C (safe for constant trickle charged). Ripped open a couple of the cells big time, spewed carbon dust everywhere, including a $50,000 logic analyzer. Nothing is safe. Might as well crawl in the coffin and call it quits…

Fair enough… Was just curious. To each their own.

OL, I'll trade you some protected 18650s and a good charger for a 1D. :D

Very Interesting !

That looks to have been intense , and Im very happy no one was injured …

Situation highlights the potential li-ion has .

As to the actual cause ? If the battery showed no sign of problems , no degradation , or anything , then we have to include the charger itself in the equation …
Possibly [ Possibly ] the charger itself developed a fault , shorted and boom . It could happen , as there have been a few Trustfire TR001 charges that have flamed whilst charging [ in the last year ? ]

So , was it the chicken or the egg ? [ Battery or charger at fault ]

Still , highlights what can happen in a worst case scenario [ For battery + charger ]

I remember the thread about that but I can't seem to find it. Do you have a link? :)

So glad that you and the wife are fine and home damage was minimal!

>>>>>>So glad that you and the wife are fine and home damage was minimal!

Thank you very much. No, a hole was not blown through the wall, but those black gooey tiny flakes were the spawn of hell. Two people X 8 hours = clean-up time, for a 14500. Don’t even want to think about how much of that stuff would come out of a 18650. Just the WORST. And to this day, I’ll still find a flake every now and then. That stuff is evil. EVIL!!!

I am slowly learing that cheap Li-ion cells and chargers just aren’t worth it.Most of my lights are 18650 powered and almost all of my batteries are Tenergy 2600 protected cells. I haven’t had any problems with them.I also am using tenergy RCR123’s with the specific charger with no problems.Things are starting to change with my use of 14500 cells though.I have two grey ultrafire 14500’s, and two AW 14500’s……all four cells act diff. in both charge and discharge.I was using a tenergy charger to charge them but got bored at the .5amp rate, so started to use my 1 amp charger with a spacer.I think now that this may be a bad idea.I also just purchased some cheap ultrafire 3kmah BRC to play with…they act much like the 14500’s.So for me….I am going to stick with slow charging my 14500’s and give my ultarfire cells away.Everyone have a great night and be safe…Rick.

I too think the OPs biggest problem was likely the word "fire" in the brand name but all the same, it must have been a brown-trousers experience. I'm not sure I wouldn't be like Old-Lumens and revert back to NiMH if this explosion had happened to me. I'm glad no-one was hurt.

However.......

The biggest problem I have with staying exclusively with my Eneloops and Imedions is the lack of choice for high-powered lights to use them in. The reality is that the vast majority of manufacturers are now designing for Li primaries (ecologically unsound to me) or Li-Ion (with its rare but potentially lethal risks).

It seems that either we (the buying market) or the manufacturers have decided that powerful must also be small in size and we are basically being told that no-one wants to use C or D sized lights any more. Even for the "home-made" or "custom" options, has anyone tried to find a high-output boost driver (1.2A-3.5A) that would run on as low as 2.0V, which is effectively the output of two almost discharged NiMH cells? I'd actually be happy to carry something the size of a 2D or even 3D mag (but with proper heatsinking) if I could get 700+ lumens from a couple of high quality D NiMH cells. But I'm not so keen on running 6 or 8 AA eneloops in series just to get enough voltage to power a driver made for Li-Ion chemistry.

I'm curious Old-Lumems - what are your main lights?

I use 3AAA or 3AA lights or Maglites. Mostly just direct drive, On/Off (personal preference, I'm not impressed with modes at all, old school). I offer modded maglites because I like maglites, I can work with maglites and that SST-90 I just finished is totally awesome on 4D or 12AA. I know it's not for everyone, but the 1D lights I do, will take 3AA or 4AA or 1x18650/26650, so they are versatile.

What I would like to see are more lights (chinese lights) that are versatile and I'm starting to see some come out. Single 26650 that take 3AA and I think that is the way to go. A light taking one 26650/18650 or 3AA just about gives the best options. I only hope that trend becomes a reality. It's no harder for the mgf. The driver for 1 Li-ion will work fine with 3AA and the 3AA carrier is only pennies to add. So far all I see with those options are the 26650 zoomies, but I am hoping some more will be adopted. As far as Maglites, a 2D can use 3 sub-C NiMHs and it's just as bright as a 26650 and will last longer. High drain NiMHs will always last longer than Li-ions.

glad to see you ok.

I recommend you to charge batteries in another covered place. like steel cup board…

Very interesting and sobering post. Thanks a lot for sharing this with us. This pretty much convinces me to never use cheap Li-Ion batteries and chargers. I have a pair of XTAR 18700s and an XTAR charger. I think they’re pretty safe from everything I’ve read. But I, like Old Lumens, still prefer batteries that aren’t Li-Ion because I don’t enjoy worrying about complying with all of the safety instructions just to use a battery. Li-Ions sort of take the fun out of flashlights for me. Especially given my personal preference for running the battery all the way down to 0 volts. Can’t do that with a Li-Ion.

Another issue: Some of the comments here are about as explosive as the original story. Could the creators of the skirmish please delete their posts? Thanks in advance.

A few weeks ago I purchased the A8 / TF5000 / TF TR-005 charger combo deal. This evening I used the charger for the first (and last) time to charge a King Kong ICR26650E cell. I had it plugged in a wall outlet in plain view from a chair in the family room. About an hour later, my wife (who can smell a mouse fart) commented that there was a funny electrical smell as she walked by the charger. Sure enough, I checked it and both the battery and the charger were hot and giving off an ozone/burning plastic smell. This one's going in the garbage bin.

New chargers can smell - Being new and all !

And if poorly ventilated , yes they can warm up … I keep my Trustfire TR003 on its side , so that heat can not build up , electronics need ventilation …
I also have it on the floor near me , where air moves all the time . Charging some 4 x 18650 can warm it up , but just a little common sense keeps it at safe levels [ warmth ] …

I charged some 12 batteries yesterday , and my TR003 has become my go to charger …

Yes - dont trust any charger , dont trust any battery … Always check for abnormalities …
.

1/ I always check Battery voltage before charging
.
2/ Always watch the charger at the beginning for anything strange
.

Also get in the habit of checking your batteries for degradation or resistance to charging [ yes its easy to forget or get lazy ]
Li-ion demands some respect , and cudo’s to those who prefer AA , there are some nice AA lights out there to chose from .
.

Now I have to start charging more batteries , only about 30 or 40 more to go

+1 for AAs

“Responders to fires involving lithium-ion battery packs have often described a series of re-ignition events. Typically, responders report they used a fire extinguisher on a battery pack fire, thought they had extinguished the fire, and then observed the fire re-ignite as an additional cell vented.”

Funny how it’s always Ultrafire exploding.
I always measure the internal resistance to get an idea of whether a battery will deliver a decent current. It is also a fair guide of whether they are safe.
I don’t know if I was using the same Ultrafire battery as above (the label said protected, but they were bare cells, no pcb), but check the comparative internal resistance:

Internal Resistance mΩ
Ultrafire 14500 1200mAh protected? 905
GTL 14500 2000mAh 179
DLG 14500 750mAh 113
AW IMR 600mAh 64
FJD 800mAh 283
Marsfire 930mAh 150
AW 750mAh protected 168
EagleTac 750mAh protected 141
Yezl 900mAh protected 172
Trustfire 900mAh protected 151
Efest IMR 700mAh 43

Nice. :)