Lithium battery failure = boom (I'm okay)

[RayJ1]

eskimoroll , im glad youre okay
that would have been an unexpected and unpleasant situation to be in
just out of interest could you please give some details on the type of charger you use for your batteries ,average charge time you use and maybe how long you use them before recharging
ive been using unprotected cr ,cr123's and 18650's for quite a long time and am in direct daily contact with 8 other people who use my mods with these batteries as well , i have never given a second thought to the potential for this event to occur but from now on will keep this in mind when making future mods
i do only use chargers with inbuilt overcharge protection cut off circuits but all batteries are just plain unprotected types , they never even get warm when charging even when left in the charger for well over 24hrs
yes i forgot about them usually im much more dilligent about these things
if i ever do a "how to" thread i will include a warning for this situation
thanks for the heads up

If you are using a charger with overcharge protection you are okay on the charging end. Once a peak detection charger shuts the charging down... it usually shuts off or trickle charges. The risk is low here is lowered.

The problem you face is over-discharging the cells during use, and then re-charging them. Once these batteries reach a point where they are under load below there rated low end voltage(2.7 volts or so) ...internal battery cell damage could occur. If there is internal cell damage... such as a short... or cathode or anode damage... even your charger may not pick this up during the charging process. Overcharge could still result. LI-ions are very picky about staying within there prescribed voltage range of usage.(2.7 to 4.2 volts)

I would not use un-protected cells.

[youfillintheblank]

*GASP* You forgot to follow my instructions?!?!?!? Oh no....user error.

My mod has no kill switch and I had it in my purse the other day (not sure why...I never do that) and of course the button was pressed and it was on for quite sometime. Long enough to melt the cartridge and smell AWFUL!! It is scary stuff!! I AM using protected batteries though. Thanks to Nico, Sun and Lucky
Glad you weren't hurt, eskimo!

[nicowolf]

Thank you RayJ1 for the thorough explanation. I know I have read this information somewhere before but for the life of me can't place where it was. I couldn't even explain it adequately, just understand enough to know that I don't want an un-protected lithium battery.

[Oblivionrising]

Good for you and I'm glad you see the light. Also watch for mods that do not have a kill switch, which the SD, Prodigy, GG, Janty Stick and many others do not.

Hey Lucky, do you know which ones do offhand? I was looking into getting a better mod and just string to read the modders forum and this thread REALLY caught my attention.

[KoS]

The GG can use a 14500 protected AA at 3.6 V.

Me personaly am very cautious about all my rechargables. I always check with a multi meter before and after charging Always. Even with protected cells. When I got my 14500s out of 6 one of them was only reading mV. Trash right off the batt, dont even try to charge.

Also I am in the works of a fire proff charge box for all my chargers just in case. An ounce of prevention and all that.

For moders: a pcb can be purchaced seperatly for those building lithum packs. These are small and can be incorperated into those mods that have a built in charging port

[mre5674]

Hey all,

Thank you for this thread! Did some research on appropriate RCR2's from Deal Xtreme...Though they don't say "Protected", just check out the many pictures users have taken of the batteries...The UltraFire Rechargeable 3V CR2 800mAh Green 2 Packs have a charge and discharge cutoff: 3.6V and 2.0V - thus making them protected. They also have a charger that works at 3V and 3.7V with the flick of a switch. The charger is for CR123's, but with some RE Magnets, it will charge CR2's with no problem. Just purchase two packs of Super Strong Rare-Earth RE Magnets (15mm x 1mm / 10-Pack) and UltraFire 3.0V/3.6V CR123A Charger

Hope this helps!

Best,
Mr.e

[nicowolf]

Hey all,

Thank you for this thread! Did some research on appropriate RCR2's from Deal Xtreme...Though they don't say "Protected", just check out the many pictures users have taken of the batteries...The UltraFire Rechargeable 3V CR2 800mAh Green 2 Packs have a charge and discharge cutoff: 3.6V and 2.0V - thus making them protected. They also have a charger that works at 3V and 3.7V with the flick of a switch. The charger is for CR123's, but with some RE Magnets, it will charge CR2's with no problem. Just purchase two packs of Super Strong Rare-Earth RE Magnets (15mm x 1mm / 10-Pack) and UltraFire 3.0V/3.6V CR123A Charger

Hope this helps!

Best,
Mr.e

I do not believe those batteries are actually protected. Here is what is printed on an actual protected battery from the same brand.

DealExtreme: Photo Gallery - Ultrafire 3.6V 880mAh LC 16340 Protected CR123A Battery 2-Pack

Notice the difficulty with the English language and the words "Short-circuit and over-current protection" and the words "Rechargeable Battery with Re/Discharging Protection Circuit". The CR2 does not say it has protection. It says cut-off voltage, but is that manual cut-off (cut it off yourself when it reaches that voltage), or automatic cut-off (it cuts itself off and will not provide ANY power beyond that point)?

[AnglVapin]

Not long ago there was a thread about this very thing. It was a very interesting and educational read. I think there was someone who was looking for some type of proof of the danger. If I could find the thread I would link back to this one, but I read so much and am not that forum literate... so I am lucky to even find my way back to my own posts. lol

For all of you guys/gals that warned about unprotected batteries... THANKS!

To the OP... thankfully you are okay!

[RatInDaHat]

just my 2 cents here.

I agree that protected batteries are a good idea. What they won't prevent is a damaged battery exploding. if the cell is damaged from the manufacturer, the protection will be worth very little. On a working cell it should prevent most of these issues.

[LuckySevens4U]

Hey Lucky, do you know which ones do offhand? I was looking into getting a better mod and just string to read the modders forum and this thread REALLY caught my attention.

NicoWolf might make you a safe mod, you just have to ask. She makes them with kill switches and advocates using protected batteries. I do believe someday, we will see a company manufacture a safer mod, but I don't see any that are doing it yet.