MascaratumB
Wow, glad you are OK (are you?)
Dang it could have been so much worse had you not take it out or placed the cell outside.
Glad you did despite the heat!
It helps that a 14500 has 1/fifth the energy of a 18650.
Hmm looks like an e-switch, so there will always be some current flowing even with the light turned off. Unfortunate that it’s not polarity protected and that it’s causing the battery to short in reverse. Just another reason why I still prefer protected batteries. Mistakes can and will eventually happen no matter how cautious you are.
Quite scary and glad that it sounds like you are okay. Good thing that you put that battery outside. The gasses from a venting cell can be extremely toxic and are measured in parts per million. Take pictures of the battery if you need to and then recycle it. You don’t want to keep it around.
I don’t totally agree. Inserting the battery the wrong way should not cause a short. At worst you turn on the light and damage the electronics if not protected, but a short rightaway is unexpected and way more dangerous then a damaged driver or led. Part of the responsibility is on Manker IMO.
The only other type of light that could behave like that are the SRKs with four 18650 hardwired in parallel. Inserting just one cell the wrong way could potentially short the equivalent of two cells in serie. However, it appears the wrapper on the minus side of the cells prevents contact on the driver side, so even in this case it may not short.
@ patmurris
Yup, you are correct. After being inserted for a while it probably heated up, and I just noticed that because I needed to use the light.
Today I experimented the same situation with a Ni-MH that also heated up a few seconds after being inside the light in reverse position.
I guess that it is very dangerous, yes!
I don’t own many lights, but for example in both Convoy S2+ I have, sometimes I insert unprotected flat top batteries (18650 and 18350) in inverse position and nothing happens! The light doesn’t switch on, but it doesn’t get hot either. The 2 Convoy + costed me the same amount of money I paid for the Manker E11…
You said that “A protected cell should prevent that”!
Even if the light doesn’t have the protection, you think that (or know if) a protected cell would avoid the heating? Would it “cut” the current or something like that?
If so, that’s a pity too, because the E11 doesn’t work with protected cells, from what I’ve read… :person_facepalming:
Thanks!!
@ HorizontalHunter
Also, you are correct. The mistake was mine, and I should have paid attention when inserting the battery.
Also, I said that I don’t blame Manker for my bad use of the light or battery! I’d never do that! 
BUT, I guess there are some things that must be considered here.
1 - if we don’t look at the battery when inserting it, once it is a flat top cell, we may overlook that we are inserting it incorrectly as our touch may be tricky. Of course, this is user’s fault, again!
2 – In the flashlight manual, as I mentioned, there is nothing saying that: a) the battery has NO reverse polarity protection, and b) that if a person inserts it invertedly the light won’t work and that may cause damage or explosion.
These are the main reasons why I posted my experience.
I would never accuse or blame the manufacturer and I already assumed my mistake.
However, the manufacturers need to know the goods and bads of their lights, and users should also know that!
Thanks!
@ djozz
I just tried to unscrew the tail cap a little bit with the battery in inverted position and it +didn´t heat u+p. So, it is like a physical lock out, and I guess that is the only thing that would prevent heating.
But…normally when we put a battery in the tube, we screw it until the tail is tight enough to make the light works. :exclamation:
And yes, it this was a 18650 cell…I don’t know if this would be so good right now!
Thank you!
@ TheMiller
Thanks for asking! I’m fine and nothing happened to me, fortunately! Now I’m just thinking about getting another 14500 cell once the other was the only one I had!
Thank you!!
@ SoCalTiger
Thanks, I’m fine!! I’m normally cautious about these things, but yesterday I was thinking about a flashlight mod I wanna do and I get distracted! Seriously!! :person_facepalming:
I had to pick some big salad tweezers to pick and put the light outside the window, unscrew the tail cap and take the battery out. And after that I left it there to cool down, the smell was intense and chemical. I’ll put it to recycle, of course! I already took some pictures of the battery, I posted the links above!
Thanks!
This issue about reverse polarity protection is a thing that some reviews address, but I guess that most of them do not talk about.
Low voltage protection and ’battery killing’ is somehow more important, but my suggestion would be to address this issue in any review of a new flashlight here on the forum.
Good point, next reviews I will put in a cell the wrong way.
Outside of course 
Eheh, better to be outside, yeah!! 
Oh, and take a look at the flashlight manual first! … Ooops, it may not have information :smiling_imp:
Out of jokes, I guess this is a matter that reviewrs may have in mind when testing and presenting a light! For other buyers / users it may be of value when using a light :+1:
Thank you!