I love the 18650 battery, probably cause I get them for free and have so many
in addition they pack a lot of power in a small body
I have converted many things to run off them.(including those handheld “million candlepower” jobs that use SLA 6 or 12 volt batteries)
I have a bunch of 18650 equipped flashlights (including the modded ones) in the home
however
I am paranoid about having an 18650 flashlight in the car as I worry that in a severe accident the battery could short and explode and cause the gasoline to ignite.
I know some cars use Li-ion cells but they are designed around that and even the tesla has been known to explode. http://laist.com/2014/07/04/tesla_splits_in_half_and_explodes_a.php
so can anyone tell me of any professionally done studies that would show me wrong.
after all UPS, USPS and Fedex are all quite serious about Li-ION battery safety.
Have you ever seen a report where that has happened?
Because if it did, you can bet your bottom dollar the media would have a field day reporting it.
The flashlight would have to become in contact with gasoline which does not leak in most accidents, and the light would have to be crushed somehow to start the explosion, better chance of winning the lottery than for this to happen.
How many million laptops, cell phones etc. survive accidents and never blow, so no measurable risk.
So to answer your question, Yes, you are probably paranoid.
interesting points, however most people don’t leave laptops and phones in the car for years on end like a flashlight
consider this from batteryspace.com:
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When transporting or temporarily storing in a vehicle, temperature range should be greater than 20 degrees F but no more than 150 degrees F.
Storing battery at temperatures greater than 170 degrees F for extended periods of time (more than 2 hours) may cause damage to battery and possible fire.
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and this from battery university
Asia produces many non-brand replacement batteries that are popular with cell phone users because of low price. Many of these batteries don’t provide the same high safety standard as the main brand equivalent. A wise shopper spends a little more and replaces the battery with an approved model. Figure 1 shows a cell phone that was destroyed while charging in a car. The owner believes that a no-name pack caused the destruction.
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Figure 2: A cell phone with a no-brand battery that vented with flame while charging in the back of a car.
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To prevent the infiltration of unsafe packs on the market, most manufacturers sell lithium-ion cells only to approved battery pack assemblers. The inclusion of an approved safety circuit is part of the purchasing requirement. This makes it difficult for a hobbyist to purchase single lithium-ion cells off-the-shelf in a store. The hobbyist will have no other choice than to revert to nickel-based batteries. I would caution against using an unidentified lithium-ion battery from an Asian source, if such cells is available.
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If you read the report regarding the Tesla Model S, the force of the crash split the car in half after initially smashing into several other vehicles. So unless you plan to recreate the accident I think you'll be fine :)
If the flashlight in question is going to be a rarely used item, using a rechargeable 18650 isn’t a good idea simply based on how quickly it will deteorate in a hot environment. Have you considered a cheap single AA or CR123 flashlight running on lithium primaries?
Where I live, it wouldnt be hot enough for 95% of the year for heat to really worry about it if you cracked the windows. But down south it would be a different story, so it depends on your location. Laptop pulls are relatively cheap to keep in for a while then check and replace if it degrades too, and I’d drive any Tesla car someone gave me, so I don’t see why not.
“… the investigators learned that the battery system performed in unexpected ways, ”outside of the design envelope”…. In short, the Japanese are saying that the 787 Dreamliner … continues to baffle the scientists and engineers who designed it and those who supervise its safety.”
Buy a Starry light before they are gone, use eneloops and this entire discussion becomes moot. In addition a year form now the eneloops will have more capacity then a overheated and worn out li ion (worn out from heat, its one of the killers of li ion battery capacity, as well as high state of charge which you would keep your li ion at in a car for emergency use)
Please elaborate because many of us have it and don’t have any problems except the missing mode inconvenience
Its my second most used light and I have very few problems with it
I have seen severe car damage, very rarely does the gas tank explode. American hand grenades that carry far more explosives (179 grams) than their European (40-80 grams) or Russian (110 gram) versions will not set the gas tank off when tossed in the front seat. But if you want to be extra safe then get a diesel.
I left 3 flashlights in my car as a backup lights, 2 of them takes AA batteries as i filled them with enegrizer lithium, and lastly one 18650 flashlight filled with two surefire cr123, why? because they work in extreme temperature condition, if you are like me worried about the same issue. I only use Li-ion on flashlights that i carry everyday.
regardless even if it didnt explode, the capacity most likely is going to lost quite a bit under long term cooking by hot temperature in vehicle anyways.
There’s a lot to be said for not using Li-ion as a stashed car light. Depending on climate they can get pushed below their operating temp, above temp (with permanent degradation), or both in the same year. It’s a good application for lithium primaries (either 123s or Energizer Lithium AA/AAA). Alkaline that get swapped regularly (say every spring and fall and anytime you use the light for a significant time) aren’t bad as long as you use a light that you’re willing to accept the risk of them leaking in. Li-ion are my last choice in that role…although free and recycling them often makes it more an option.
That said, your fear of Li-ion lights plus gasoline is verging on the paranoid. The light by itself is probably much less likely to be damaged by an impact than a large battery bank. It’s a metal tube light enough to get throw around rather than damaged as long as it’s not wedged in somewhere where it has to suffer the impact directly. You’re already in a vehicle that contains lots of gas, an electrical system that can provide very high power for brief periods, and has a very hot engine where controlled explosions are going off regularly. There’s more likely sources of ignition, if you suffer a collision severe enough to cause leaking fuel.
I think that Hollywood has given many people a greatly exaggerated idea of the risk of cars igniting and exploding in a crash. If you believe Hollywood it is common and almost inevitable in a bad crash but real world it is not so. Mythbusters has had to add fire accelerators and explosives to vehicles, purposely detonated, to emulate Hollywood’s spectacular effects.
For car use even so I would go with Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries lights just from their shelf life and very wide working and storage temperature range. Energizer lists both storage and operating from –40C to 60C. That is –40F to 140F. The CR123A Duracell is listed as having a temperature range of –20C to 75C . That high is 167F but the low is only –4F, easily exceeded in many winter areas. Looks like for summer use a CR123A light and for winter go with a Ultimate Lithium light. Those should cover the extremes except in some areas of North America, Northern Europe and Russia during the coldest periods.
You are paranoid. It seems pretty unlikely to me that something as small as a flashlight would receive enough force in a car crash to damage the battery inside at all, much less enough for it to catch fire. Perhaps if you were traveling above to mach 0.5, and if you were, I think you’d have other problems.
