I did something dumb, like poke-yoursef-in-the-eye-with-your-drinks-straw dumb. But a bit more expensive. While adding logs to a camp fire I mistakenly tossed my Convoy S2+ in the coals. After about a good solid minute I realized it, told my daughter to get back from the possible explosion, then dashed over to the fire and fished it out with a branch. Realizing how stupid that was, I covered it with snow and ran just as (I’m guessing) the 18650 battery started to vent. After a few minutes I took it apart to see the damage. So do you think it survived? No! These things are tough and you can expect Convoy products to survive dumb, but not super dumb. Most soft parts were destroyed but surprisingly the rubber boot for the switch is fine. Now just for gits and shiggles, I might see if the aluminum body can survive some birdshot from my handy dandy 12 gauge.
12 gauge destruction!!! So I’ve seen at least a couple videos where people shoot their flashlights with shotguns to see how they hold up. I’m a working man so this only happens to lights I’ve already screwed up somehow. The setup consisted of me shooting the somewhat gutted body (18650 and only it in the body) with 2 federal #7 1/2 target loads and one #4 pheasant load. The order of shooting was #7 1/2 at 7 yards, #4 at 10 yards, and #7 1/2 at 2 yards for full destruction.
First shot. Do you think the battery will survive?
You done thought wrong! Again I wouldn’t expect a light like this to survive this abuse. I would absolutely expect my L6 to but I’m not shooting that. Or hopefully tossing it into a camp fire.
Surprisingly the tailcap screwed on just fine.
Shot #2 the phesant/turkey slayer!
I only got a handful on target this time. Bigger shot, a bit more energy into the aluminum. Butt! The tailcap remained screwed on!
Shot #3! 2 yards with the light stuff. At this distance not much can take a hit and be useable. Even with smaller shot there’s a lot of energy transferred into the body.
Now why did I do this when I could save the body and build another light? Just because. Now to buy more Convoys because they’re the best bang for buck I’ve ever seen in the flashlight world.
Looks like you still might have a perfectly good host there. Sorry about your loss, but glad it didn’t turn out much worse. So, where did it end up venting from? Seems like most of the pressure came out through the head.
Unfortunately the battery has either swollen or melted itself in the tube. I believe your right, it looks like it vented near the head. That’s where the most destruction occurred. I’m no chemist but there is a weird, smelly, and thick film all over the head. I should probably wash my hands now haha.
Simon has a lot of torture photos in his S2 listing, like throwing it down from a tall building, submerging it in water, driving over it with a car etc… So we can now ask him to include one that shows him tossing one into a camp fire. :confounded:
I do wonder if the glass cracked from the heat, the battery venting, or both. All I know is I’m so glad it didn’t explode while I was trying to salvage it. Chock that up with top 5 dumb things I’ve ever done.
Just curious, do 18650s explode really catastrophically when burned?
(no I don’t want to try it, it’s already too hard to get 18650s to ship to our country… assuming I can still find one that ships). But I do have a couple of 0v 18650s from a laptop pull (they won’t get reactivated by all the chargers I tried it on) that I just kept aside…
The 18650 itself doesn’t explode as far as I know.
It’s the pressure build up from the battery venting inside a closed container.
If you are lucky the build up pressure will blow out the tailcap or the lens. If you are unlucky if the light itself will blow up like a bomb.
Thanks for sharing! The same thing happened to a friend of mine awhile back. He didn’t do it, but his wife was putting some wood into the fire pit and accidentally dropped his flashlight into it. She pulled it out as soon as possible, but was not soon enough. The flashlight no longer functioned even though it looked fine. He thought it could be covered under warranty, but that seemed ridiculous to me.
I’ve learned over the years to use a lanyard whenever I’m doing stuff with my flashlights. And when I lend my flashlights to others, I suggest they do the same.
