I have been concerning this question for quite some time, and did some searching related to battery explosion, balance charging… etc. Some even got serious injury from battery explosion AFAIK. I am using Trustfire 3000mah Flames in my DRY now, and recently some members here reported that the 3000mah is not reliable…
So I started to wonder, is there any signs when a battery is going to explode? Like smoke coming out, buzzing sound…? Thanks in advance.
If it gets too hot to touch, you are far too close to it. Mostly they won't kaboom, but sometimes they can. Never leave them unattended when charging - this is when the great majority of kabooms happen.
If you get a sharp, ozone like (but sharper - ozone is the smell you get from copiers and after lightning. It is the smell most people associate with electricity) smell from it, cut the power to it and get is outside while not breathing the fumes - they are very, very bad for you.
If there is smoke coming out of the cell - run!
And get upwind of it as fast as you can. That is a cell very close to doing Bad Stuff. Never seen it myself.
Most smoke you will see is from electronics that turned out not to be capable of feeding XM-Ls the current they want. This typically smells like burning fibreglass and is vile. Sharp odours are more worrying.
Realistically, cells very rarely go boom - but it is best not to be in a position to be hurt by them if they do. See any of the RC forums - those guys are really cruel to their batteries and don't expect them to last all that long.
Thanks Don for the advice. I have seen one case from CPF, that a guy being hurt by an exploded Ultrafire protected 18650. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?280909-Ultrafire-18650-3000mA-exploded
So you mean that when a li-ion battery is going to die it will put out some smokes?
It might, or it might not. If they do smoke - Bad Things are happening and they are very likely to get much worse.
My cells have died totally undramatically (except for those provoked deliberately) - they just would not hold a charge any more. One leaked an evil-smelling liquid. Some of them dropped to silly low capacities - like 24mAh for one 14500.
But if it does emit smoke or nasty fumes, I'd get that cell away from me and outdoors as fast as possible. You will know if the fumes are nasty.
The most often reported symptom of cells going really bad is a hissing noise. That is time to get away from them - quickly. Stuff can be replaced, your eyes and lungs can't.
But as I said long ago, you are more likely to be killed by a dead fish dropped by a seagull in the Sahara Desert than by a lithium ion cell going bad.
This is real. Okay so for whatever I smell it in a strange way or something strange come out from the cell I should throw it as far as I could, or attach a grenade on it and blast the cell into ashes.
So what exactly is the strange smell come out from the cell and what bad effect does it bring to us?
LOL! I saw someone put this sentence as his signature 
Ok.
Since I started the conversation that led to the now famous Don quote, it must be said that we were talking about single cell applications. If you have multiple cells t is a different story because one cell may try to charge the other and the currents involved may escalate, causing increased temperatures and real explosion risk.
Converting to examples, the rare exploding cell phones do so while charging. But people here openly joke about multiple cell high current systems being "pipe bombs". As for me, I stick to single cell flashlights, rest my chargers on no flammable shelves (granite) and toss cells at the first sign something is wrong.
I consider signs something is wrong (this is a very non scientific list):
- Low voltage protection has kicked in and is not reset by a normal charger;
- Any sign of corrosion;
- Any change in dimension (if the cell no longer fits or bulges in any place);
- Abnormal charging times (usually cells that lost their ability to keep charge have very short times);
Hope it helps,
Roberto.
Among other things, hot hydrogen fluoride - which when it gets into your lungs converts itself into hydrofluoric acid. Where it does Bad Things.
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguidelines/hydrogenfluoride/recognition.html
http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2004/03/03/things_i_wont_touch_1.php
It's not exactly good for your eyes either.
If the batteries are in a light when they go, that can be pretty dangerous. If there is a rubber tailcap, sometimes that will inflate, so if you see that, then there is trouble.
Always test your light when you put the batteries in and if it doesn't work, take the batteries out right away. You could have a dead short which is very bad. All it takes is a spring coming loose.
I've never had a battery do anything bad so far. However, I'm not driving the batteries that hard either. The worst I do is a single XM-L off of a single battery and I try to use my better batteries for that (XTAR). Well, probably the worst I do is driving my iTP A3 on an uprotected 10440, but that battery is pretty tiny and I don't run that light for very long.
That be me! :bigsmile:
Time to update my sig.
On multiple cell flashlights, wouldnt the protection circuit prevent an kinda empty battery from being loaded with >5A?
[quote=bibihang]
I am using Trustfire 3000mah Flames in my DRY now, and recently some members here reported that the 3000mah is not reliable…quote]
Where did you read these reports? I recall reading that these batteries tested out just fine by one of our reviewers not long ago.
Yeah I know it is alot safer staying with single cell flashlight, but now I'm playing around with my DRY while it uses 3 cells, so that's what make me worried, especially some comments here in BLF said that the Trustfire 3000mah Flame doesn't seems to be reliable as the protection failed to kick in...
Some claimed that the Trustfire cell is crap due to its low capacity after their testing, but actually I'm still OK with that, as long as its protection does work and make sure everything is SAFE while having fun with the flashlights.
Holy... it's deadly!
My girlfriend's father has requested a flashlight, and I recommended him the Kaidomain XM-L C8. I never want to introduce those multi-cell flashlight to a non-flashaholic, because we all know their potential hazard if not being taken care well...
And BTW, I don't understand why the unbalanced cell's voltage in a flashlight will cause one cell charging the other? Isn't that the cells are in series configuration, while charging only take place when it is in parallel confifuration? 
When the Trustfire new Flame just hit Manafont, Stephen Wallace's review seems not bad,
https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/6503
However, after some time some guys have some complaints. All the bad comments are from HKJ review here,
https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/5969
And here is an issue face by Aleister, the protection circuit failed to kick in,
https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/7254
EDIT: Stephen Wallace's Trustfire 3000mah Flame is not from Manafont but provided by someone from Ebay, while my Trustfire 3000mah Flame are bought from Manafont. Not sure if this does matter though (quality variation?).
[quote=Streamer]
In my test they where fine, but some other people got the same battery but with much lower capacity.
When my to do pile of batteries are lower, I will probably order a new set and do a test more.
The charging that occurs in parallel connection is not dangerous, because it’s same direction as charging by a charger, whereby when used in series, emptied cell will get reverse-charged (changing it’s polarity), which often leads to very bad things (venting cell, possibly w/ flames).
Just a small safety rule with cheap li-ion.
1. NEVER use them in series. Single use - is probably ok.
2. Never leave them charging "alone" (any battery).
3. Store them in metal boxes or something non-flameable.
I even store all my cells (incl non RCR primary Sanyo Cr123A) in metal boxes... just in case.
Using "trusties" in DRY - is a 50% winning lottery :) It pulls too much A from each battery, and they are in series! Thats like a bomb...
I have some trust 18650, but now with ordering Sky ray king and TR-3T6 I also ordered xtar's 18650 3100 and xtar charger. Better pay $50 more, but feel yourself safe.
Here's an example of a cell that should under no circumstances be used.
I had a pile of cells to charge and found this one amongst them. It has been used recently and it most certainly hadn't leaked then - nor did it have a huge dent in the base as it now does. It is getting its contacts taped over and disposed of (Nobody here recycles lithium cells).
Edit: Just found another one that was bouncing between 3.2 and 4.2V on the charger - it was a cell that I knew to be weak anyway. It's now an ex-cell. Those were cells that could have caused trouble down the road and most certainly wouldn't have been much use in a light. Which shows why it is a good idea to keep an eye on your cells.
You are more likely to be injured (not killed) by a Lithium cell than by a dead fish anywhere in the world. There’s quite a few accounts of injuries by Lithium, mostly burns and illness from fumes. I’ve never seen one explode, but I have heard them “fizz”, then pop or leak and emit toxic fumes. The ones I have seen in laptops just started leaking and then smoking and swelling the laptop till it popped, which resulted in bad burns to the owner.
Of course ALL batteries can and have hurt people. Lead acid, NiMH, Alkaline, etc., but Lithium are some of the most toxic and most sensitive.
"Statistics from the Tokyo Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health indicate 20 to 44 incidents of fugu poisoning per year between 1996 and 2006 in Japan (a single incident may involve multiple diners). Each year, these incidents led to between 34 and 64 victims being hospitalized and zero to six deaths, an average fatality rate of 6.8%."
Fugu is dead fish...