Hello hello!
Full disclaimer, I’m aware that I messed up here, I’m looking for advice.
I bought a ThruNite T1S and it would not charge properly. I assumed there was a protective film on the battery and damaged the shrinkwrap on the 18350 battery (it looked profoundly peelable, please don’t yell at me). It turned out that it wasn’t screwed shut properly, that’s why it did not charge.
I have a damaged 18350 now, pictures attached. Following questions:
Is this safe to use in the flashlight or should I discard/rewrap it? I wouldn’t take it out of the flashlight ever again so there’s no risk of closing any contacts outside of it.
If it shouldn’t be used, how should I safely store it until I can recycle or rewrap it? Right now it’s in a cardboard box lined with plastic bags, no metal.
Can I buy any 18350 replacement battery or will performance suffer unless I can get a thrunite one? I can’t order that specific one outside the US so I’d have to get a fresh flashlight.
Cheers!
I would not trust scotch tape to keep it down. If it gets warm the “glue” will go soft and the tape might move a bit. When it touches another surface (like the tube) and cools down again, it is possible you cause extra damage. I would suggest a tiny drop of glue instead.
You can replace the wrapping with new heat shrink. You can peel off the original wrapping and then put the new one on and shrink it with a hair dryer in about 30 seconds. Cut it a little bit longer than the battery so it wraps over the top. Just don’t have a brain fart like me where I almost bridge the two terminals with a caliper.
The 29.5mm size PVC heat shrink is the size you need. Ensure you get PVC heat shrink. because the more common polyolefin type is too thick and the battery won’t fit into the device anymore. It costs about US$1 for 1 or 2 meter on Aliexpress.
