Appropriate cautions, and some surprises — computers and cell phones mentioned, not flashlights.
I’m surprised they didn’t beat the bandwagon of vaping stuff
People fail to realize the energy density of Li Ion compared to older technology
Just bumping this thread for others unfamiliar with the potential dangers of the cells we often use.
So what that video teaches is don’t put your cell phone / laptop on a hotplates.
The potential of a catastrophic failure is very real and shouldnt be taken lightly. Nokia alone recalled over 46 million batteries at risk of overheating and exploding. Lithium ion cells explode ever day on many devices around the world and cause injuries.
Camp fires, blast furnaces, stoves and hot engine exhaust manifolds should probably be avoided as well. 
There is as of yet no standard way of making lithium-ion cells — and lots of variations in the materials and assembly.
The “lottery” happens when some small-time operator changes or skips a procedure, or swaps in a cheaper material, to save money.
With lithium-ion chemistry, from all I read, there were known problems from the beginning that the original designers struggled to overcome — the liquid in them will catch fire if overheated; the material chosen for the membrane that keep the chemicals apart has to last as long as the battery without failing; the chemicals used heat up rapidly if they mix; crystals can form that will poke holes in the membrane.
All those things were being addressed, slowly, over a few years. Manufacturers who put their names on the products, and stayed around, and had assets at risk, developed better batteries, with all the cost that doing that testing requires.
Have you looked in Scholar for the chemistry and materials and methods work that’s been done?
It’s truly interesting. And it’s changing really fast, because, well, they need better ways to make them.
You know why.
Just poke around, you’ll find stuff like this:
Nonflammable perfluoropolyether-based electrolytes for lithium batteries PNAS 2014 111 (9) 3327-3331; February 10, 2014, doi:10.1073/pnas.1314615111
Of course, you can buy chemicals that will work, you can look this stuff up, and lots of membrane materials, like GoreTex rain gear, will work for a while to separate them, and the metalworking gear that crimps tubes by hand or power tools is simple enough. But you’d be wise not to put your name on it, because you’ll also find stuff like this:
[and bad packaging, or short-circuiting, or puncturing, or overheating a box of these is what the airlines and other carriers are seeing problems with — it’s avoidable, says that article]
“There are a number of manufacturing quality control techniques that are commonly employed to detect gross defects. However, very subtle defects can escape notice during manufacturing and allow years of seemingly normal cell cycling before a thermal runaway reaction occurs. ”
I’m just saying, people buying nicotine inhalers aren’t doing it for their health — and I doubt they worry about battery fires all that much.
And if the end customers don’t want it to be safe, why would the people selling to them?
I avoid blast furnaces a lot more than I used to .
BFF
But in the microwave should be fine? I like to warm them up prior to use.