Cheapo batteries explode

http://www.trailscotland.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9462

Vented or exploded? Looks like vented. I’m gonna point to cheap charger on this, OC’d the battery and it vented as supposed to.

Crap ultrafire battery + battery pack + crap charger + no surveillance = worst case scenario

On local listings is full of garbage Ultrafire packs with free chargers for many flashlights sold. Everyone likes them and if you tell them they are truly garbage from all points of view, built-in safety, capacity, and garbage overcharging chargers no one cares because they say: "they are cheap, they are good enough for amateur usage"
Li-ion safety should not be taken in terms of amateur-usage or cheap-enough for just playing around!

A very informative thread about thread about cheap cells.

wow big surprise!
a shitfire battery explosion.
some folks will never learn!

“venting” is a controlled explosion :wink:

I have a MagicShine bike light that came with a 4-cell heat-shrink-wrapped pack. The charger is just a wall wart that plugs in to the cord that connects the pack and the light. I’m assuming this setup is similar to the one linked and probably not the safest.

Is there a direct replacement for this charger that won’t make the cells explode, or should I just build a pack that allows me to remove the cells and use a proper 18650 charger?

I do it outside on concrete in driveway. In a lipo safety bag in a drilled (for power cord) & vented .50 cal ammo can. So far been lucky.

Half of the cathode / anode roll is hanging out! :smiley: Picture. I think this one exploded.

Oh Boy, is the vented gas poisonous? I ever seen a youtube clip where an kid got choke by the gas due to unexpected venting.

It appears that vent gasses typically contain carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and light hydrocarbons. Carbon monoxide is toxic, however the maximum amount released by venting an 18650 was a bit over 2 grams, which is insufficient to produce a lethal concentration from venting a small number of cells indoors.

A precise and concise way to explain what happened :beer:

You forgot the Hydrofluoric acid. :smiley:

HF Hydrogen fluoride is very dangerous, forms corrosive, penetrating hydrofluoric acid upon contact with tissue.

Yikes…venting battery = bad juju if you breath the toxic cloud coming from it

CatchFire!

Those $20 2000 lumen bike lights with 4xbattery pack and charger have to be getting the bottom of the barrel batteries. I use single battery C8 style flashlight on the bars and a shorter barrel shaped one on the helmet. Single 18650 only flashlights thank you. Panasonic batteries, XTAR charger. I charge in the kitchen counter while I am in the next room watching tv where I can see the charging lights. I remove them from the charger when the light goes green. I do own a fire extinguisher.

And I don’t leave my laptop plugged in unattended either.

I’m glad this guy didn’t lose his house. Scary times.

I was under the impression that the gas cloud was highly toxic, but only Halo and Warhawk seem to have really picked up on this.

In case anyone else is looking at the pictures in the OP's post, I'd just like to say there is no way in hell I'd be in the same building with that cloud, let alone holding the leaking mess with bare hands and taking photos.

Simple ignorance or Darwin Award candidate?

Another factor not mentioned above is over-discharge. Crap cells, crap charger, probable overcharge + possible over-discharge in a crap light.

Yea, anyone who reads up on research into what li-ions vent would not likely be in the room with a cloud of that. The toxicity of all the gases and vaporized chemicals has not been fully established. A mysterious adventure with every cloud. :party:

Hydrogen fluoride (HF) has a IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health) value of 30 ppm. In addition to HF there may also be some nice phosphorous oxyfluoride (POF3) which could be even more toxic than HF.

Reduce your risk by using panasonic, sanyo, sony, lg etc with quality seiko protection, tested quality chargers & charge in a metal box so that you can worry less about fire, more about the cloud.

Whoops! Well, minor detail. That stuff’s mostly harmless

“the big problem is how penetrating it is. As soon as it hits anything moist - like your lungs - it dissolves in the water and turns into hydrofluoric acid again. And that soaks into tissue very readily, with the acid part doing its damage along the way, and the fluoride merrily poisoning enzymes and wreaking havoc. The damage isn’t immediately apparent, and there are terrible cases of people who’ve been exposed and didn’t realize it for hours - by which time a lot of irreversible damage had been done.” Things I Won’t Touch (1) – Corante

Hammering on the point with explicit link — a good one — because sarcasm is wasted on the young, irony is dead, and people who wish to believe they’re not at risk will fool themselves about the risks.