Hi folks,
Here’s my worries, I have only IMR batteries like Sony VTC5’s etc. all with no protection AND I have had thermal runaways happen to me on 3 occasions and it’s not funny one bit.
So how did this happen, I smoked for 40 yrs and gave vaping a try and was into it big time for many years and I also just love gadgets and there’s plenty of gadgets within the vaping community,
So I’ve kind of given up on the vaping scene but own many batteries and I was trying to figure out something I could move on to and still use all these batteries, hence discovering your forum with flashlights and I am all in already believe me.
But I can’t help but think of what is a worse case scenario with a 18650/26650 unprotected battery in a waterproof flashlight, there’s no vent abilities so if there was in anyway a short, well I don’t need to say anymore.
My question I suppose is what are the odds of this happening and has anyone known this to ever happen?
Thanks in advance, I’m not really spooked but honestly I can’t help but wonder.
This could be informative…https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/31507
stay worried, be happy. Springs generally overheat and deform first. More common is cells venting while charging. It’s possible to have a problem but waterproof is not pressure proof and a vent would blow by the o-rings before the tube ruptured and likely before lens failure as well. A scuba light would be more of a concern but it would depend on the design. Test the cells regularly for charge voltage, self discharge, and capacity and recycle them when they no longer measure up.
That is an interesting thread well worth reading, but remember that it’s a one-in-a-billion thing as long as you’re careful.
Many better flashlights have some form of low-voltage assistance, such as ramping down to a lower mode as cell voltage drops or by shutting down at a preset voltage level to prevent over-discharge or blinking to let you know to stop. Almost all will exhibit dimming to let you know you need to stop. None of that helps with battery shorts but those are rare. Sometimes you can unscrew the tailcap and stop things in time and sometimes you can’t.
It’s a lot like driving a car in today’s traffic- if you’re careful and always attentive then you probably won’t be in in a crash, but there is never a 100% certainty of that. It’s a known risk that you accept if you’re going to play the game. Vaping pushes the cells a lot harder than we do so the risk here is less but not absent altogether nor can it be.
As I see it, at my current age I’m 2/3 of the way to death already so I ain’t going to be reckless but I’m going to enjoy whatever time I have left and LiIon flashlights are going to play a part of that unless something better comes along!
Phil