I’ve been using protected and unprotected Li-Ion rechargeable cells for a long time now. I have never had a problem of any kind except for the cells finally wearing out from usage and age.
I purchased two new blue unprotected UltraFire RCR123A cells not too long ago to use in an old Surefire E1 that had been converted to LED years ago. The fully charged cell had been in the light for several weeks. I went to use the light and it wouldn’t turn on. I removed the head of the light and to my surprise there was crap oozing out of the positive end of the cell and had covered the module and was eating away at everything.
Now I’ve read lately of folks having issues with UltraFire cells but I’ve used them a lot in the past with no problems and this is the very first rechargeable of any chemistry that has ever leaked, period.
I’ve also read that UltraFire cells have been faked. After this experience, no more UltraFires!
There are lots of questions about Ultrafire compositions, and they are usually 1/10th to 1/3rd the capacity they advertise, search a bit on this site and google. So many variations on what’s inside, sometimes its just a recycled or lower capacity cell, sometimes its a capacitor, sometimes a tiny battery of unknown configuration, sometimes seeing some of the pictures of what people have found inside the battery makes me wonder if they are shipping random hazardous material they want to get rid of sealed inside the phoney battery
I suppose I could take this opportunity to once again trash cheap batteries and those that buy them against all common sense but…………………………… I won’t. Come on folks, quit buying that crap and they will go out of business. Consider it a good deed for all mankind.
My short answer to the question is - no. The only batteries that have ever leaked on me were Eveready alkaline batteries that sat in a Mag Light for over 4 years. Never had a leak with any of the various flavors of lithium batteries I own (they are ALL AW’s). I did have one fail once, but that’s it.
Ive seen posts on message forums and websites about their shiny new flashlights, and they got a deal with chargers and xxxFire batteries, and often people will not listen to fact because they know better
I haven’t personally had one to leak, but my brother brought back a light I had modded for him a year or 2 ago and said it wouldn’t work.
The battery had leaked some clear corrosive looking liquid in the tube, the anodizing inside the tube was white colored where the liquid had made contact. I cleaned the tube up and inserted a new battery and all was fine. Can you guess what kind of battery it was. I’ll give you a hint, it had the word “fire” in the name.
It took me awhile to learn my lesson about crap batteries, because most of the one’s I had preformed ok (the fire cell’s of a few years ago where better cells than today’s fire cell’s), until the higher amperage flashlights started appearing. Then the crap batteries could not keep up. The first quality batteries I ever bought where from Callies Kustom’s. From then on I have only purchased name brand 18650 cells. And I have not had one single failure.
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You will save money and have better performance in the long run spending a little more and purchasing quality batteries, than you will buying cheap cells with terrible performance and a short life span.
I hadn’t ever heard of any Li ion battery leaking. I’m still not sure if I ever really have, because I’m not sure Ultrafires qualify as a Li ion type of battery all the time
You seem to think Ultrafire batteries are made by Ultrafire. There's some truth to that, but Ultrafire, whether it's the real deal or a fake, means recycled. That's not going to go away until prices for new quality cells are so cheap that recycling isn't worth it.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t even necessarily mean that. “Ultrafire” many times also means someone who can produce and sell something that stores a little bit of energy in cylinder form for less than probably 25 cents, bought shrinkwrap available at many websites that says “Ultrafire” on it (for x1000 for $1), and wrapped that something they have in “Ultrafire” wrappers. OR recycled. OR “real”? Ultrafire company, which I’m not entirely sure there really is only one existing, any Chinese company seems to be able to put “Ultrafire” on whatever they make. Roll the dice and see which of the 3 you’ll get, and you will most likely never know for sure.
I doubt they produce anything. Much cheaper to recycle what's already been made.
Just to make sure we're on the same page, by recycle I mean removing tabs where necessary and rewrapping the cells. Anyone can get Ultrafire wrappers. I have some 14500 Ultrafire wrappers, so I can make Ultrafire batteries too. This makes buying Ultrafire cells the biggest gamble of all the brands.
had some very old moli energy made in canada that were rusting from the inside.
business partner stuck a sanyo 2200 18650 in a shorted mech mod.after it got hot and he dumped the cell out some liquid was found.not sure whether it was leaked electrolyte or e-juice.i told him when in doubt pitch the cell and ask questions later as we have plenty more at the shop.so i did not see the suspect.
When It comes to rechargeable lithium batteries (all types) I’ve only purchased two brands - ever. AW for the common tube type batteries found in flashlights, computers and some cars (believe it or not) or Bren-Tronics BA-5590 (primary) or BB-2590 (rechargeable) batteries that I use for my Hellfighters and a few other battery operated goodies. Do AW batteries cost more? Yep. Are Bren-Tronics batteries OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive? Yep. AW only uses first run, top quality Panasonic cells and tests each one before sending them out for sale. I’ve only had one out of over a hundred AW’s fail on me and it was totally my fault. They still replaced it - no questions asked. I’ve also never had an AW not meet spec. They all get checked out on my hobby charger before using them. Maybe I’m just lucky, eh? Bren-Tronics batteries and products? Without a doubt, some of the best designed, safest and reliable batteries on the planet, in spite of the insane prices. There are good reasons why the U.S. military has awarded them contracts for over 2 decades.
Are there other quality battery brands out there for less money? Sure there are but I can’t speak to their quality or reliability because I’ve never used any of them. HJK has done some great reviews on many of them. I would check out his reviews for details on them. He has reviewed some duds too. The information is there for all to see. What he can’t tell you, is how long they will hold up or what kind of service you will get if a warranty issue pops up. Reliability and service is everything.
Taking a flashlight and making mods to it (or even a stock one for that matter) and then throwing in the cheapest battery you can get your hands on makes no sense to me. I liken that to having a race car and putting regular gas in it. It won’t run properly or for very long before it self destructs. Anybody that believes that 5000mah 18650’s exist simply has not done their homework and probably believes in the Sandman too. It’s all smoke and mirrors.
Lithium Ion batteries are dangerous to use for the novice and the uninformed. Hell, they are just plain dangerous for anybody. They have burned cars and houses to the ground and forced planes to make emergency landings. The IMR’s and the various ‘poly’/lithium blends are pretty safe. Ultimately, the choice is yours to make. I sure wouldn’t want my house to burn down because I wanted to save $5 on a battery. That said, ANY battery (including AW’s) CAN fail without warning and cause problems. Buying premium batteries will only minimize the potential danger. The OP is lucky that his XXXfire only had a leak. It could easily have been much worse. Be safe, everybody!
