A suggestion about stupid, redundant and unnecessary vent holes.

[sailorman]

O.k, I can understand why Altsmoke is bending to the recent exploding battery hysteria and feels like they need to provide the visual hand-holding by mutilating their masterpiece with vent holes that can be seen.

May I remind advocates of this change not to complain about it when the finish begins to wear out around the sharp edges at the perimeter of those vent holes, as it will. If you've had your SB or BB for any length of time, take a look at the seams, the sharp edges between the top and bottom halves. Take a look at the hard edges of the bezel and the recess around the switch button. See that silvery line? That's what you're going to get around your vent holes.

So here's a suggestion. How about filling the holes, before plating or powder coating, with a softer metal or other material that will rupture and allow the release of gasses. It seems to me that such a "plug" could be designed to withstand a fairly high pressure so that, if the vent hole is unobstructed underneath the switch, it will remain intact. In effect, it would act as a secondary mechanism in the unlikely event the primary vent failed. If it was designed this way, there would be virtually no chance that these little vent plugs would be propelled across the room when a battery vented.

Or, you could use some material, a thin lead cup shape perhaps, that would melt or simply split when exposed to hot gas. Think of them like freeze-plugs on an engine block. They needn't detach, but merely split and release gas if the main vent under the switch failed.


Oh Wait...... Here's an even better idea. Drill a couple of hole from the inside of the battery compartment to within .001" (or whatever) of the outside surface. In effect, you'd be making a couple weak points in the metal tube bottom that would blow through before there was any excessive gas build up. They'd be invisible from the outside. They wouldn't allow crap to get in the battery compartment, and they wouldn't require any change in the final finish process. If someone wanted to reassure themselves, they could take out the spring and peer at the deep wells in the bottom of their battery compartment.

As you can tell, I hate the idea of unsightly mutilations being done to these units just to appease the Chicken-Littles in the crowd.

 

[cddz]

O.k, I can understand why Altsmoke is bending to the recent exploding battery hysteria and feels like they need to provide the visual hand-holding by mutilating their masterpiece with vent holes that can be seen.

May I remind advocates of this change not to complain about it when the finish begins to wear out around the sharp edges at the perimeter of those vent holes, as it will. If you've had your SB or BB for any length of time, take a look at the seams, the sharp edges between the top and bottom halves. Take a look at the hard edges of the bezel and the recess around the switch button. See that silvery line? That's what you're going to get around your vent holes.

So here's a suggestion. How about filling the holes, before plating or powder coating, with a softer metal or other material that will rupture and allow the release of gasses. It seems to me that such a "plug" could be designed to withstand a fairly high pressure so that, if the vent hole is unobstructed underneath the switch, it will remain intact. In effect, it would act as a secondary mechanism in the unlikely event the primary vent failed. If it was designed this way, there would be virtually no chance that these little vent plugs would be propelled across the room when a battery vented.

Or, you could use some material, a thin lead cup shape perhaps, that would melt or simply split when exposed to hot gas. Think of them like freeze-plugs on an engine block. They needn't detach, but merely split and release gas if the main vent under the switch failed.


Oh Wait...... Here's an even better idea. Drill a couple of hole from the inside of the battery compartment to within .001" (or whatever) of the outside surface. In effect, you'd be making a couple weak points in the metal tube bottom that would blow through before there was any excessive gas build up. They'd be invisible from the outside. They wouldn't allow crap to get in the battery compartment, and they wouldn't require any change in the final finish process. If someone wanted to reassure themselves, they could take out the spring and peer at the deep wells in the bottom of their battery compartment.

As you can tell, I hate the idea of unsightly mutilations being done to these units just to appease the Chicken-Littles in the crowd.

The holes in the bottom will be slightly champhered, I don't think the finish will wear off. They will be on the bottom



The switch vents WILL remain in place as well. As I have said before, many folks have to see to believe. I do not agree with the slots on the sides at all. I feel that with your hand blocking those side slots will cause more injury than anything else. Kinda like closing your hand around a fire cracker, it is not gonna turn out good. The SB at it's thinnest is .125 inch thick, .175 in the battery chamber. I tried to get an Ebay unprotected 18650 to vent, filmed for over 6 mins. I was diapointed that it did not vent, the housing got pretty warm, but a no go. I think I am going to have to short 2 cr123 to get the dramatics that I am looking for to demonstrate the venting ability as the SB is now. The fella in this video thought that he was making a SB with IMR vent, but he only fried the wires and switch with the high current drain the IMR is capable of. As you can see though from the smoke comming from behind the switch, the vents are there and DO function. In the worst vent situations that I have been told of with a stacked battery in the SB, is that the switch raised from the housing a bit over an 1/8th inch. I actually have repaired one with that same outcome.

 

[matrixxu]

Step 1 : unscrew top cap of the silver bullet
Step 2 : insert into mouth
Step 3 : blow into it, and notice that air is passing without any issues, and the venting hole is there, and it always was.
Step 4 : look at pictures that CDDZ posted where the vent holes are visible

There is no need for changes , the holes are there. Ask Chad for them if you are one of the 20 customers that panic when someone mentions "lithium" in close proximity to you, but dont force everyone to buy bottoms with holes in them so you get to feel safe.

 

[sailorman]

Thanks for the reply and the video. I have absolutely no doubt that the hole behind the switch is adequate. Like I said in another thread, a battery isn't a stick of dynamite and worst case, the switch would be displaced a bit. Your post pretty much confirmed that.

While chamfered holes are better looking than non-chamfered holes, unless you can radius the edges, there will still be wear to the finish at the sharp edges, possibly excepting the chrome. But, even chrome doesn't adhere to a thin edge very well.

Sorry, but all those holes in the bottom of that SB make it look like a cheap pepper shaker. Is it even necessary to have five holes? Won't one or two do the job just as well, especially considering they're redundant in the first place?

I use my BB outdoors, camping, fishing, etc. It sits on bars where it's subject to spilled beer, etc. One of the things I liked best about it was that it was practically impervious to liquids and crap getting inside. With holes like that, you might as well just replace the bottom with mesh.

BTW, if you want to make unprotected batteries vent, feed them a straight 6-12V charging current through the 510 connector. I accidentally tried to charge a 7.4V LIPO pack with my multi-volt charger set to 11.1V. After about an hour, it made a very nice fire that I luckily saw in time to keep my ceiling from catching fire. But it couldn't be described as an "explosion" the way some people seem to envision what happens when a battery vents.

 

[sailorman]

Step 1 : unscrew top cap of the silver bullet
Step 2 : insert into mouth
Step 3 : blow into it, and notice that air is passing without any issues, and the venting hole is there, and it always was.
Step 4 : look at pictures that CDDZ posted where the vent holes are visible

There is no need for changes , the holes are there. Ask Chad for them if you are one of the 20 customers that panic when someone mentions "lithium" in close proximity to you, but dont force everyone to buy bottoms with holes in them so you get to feel safe.

I wish I could "like" that a few more times. Yes, Chad needs to make "nanny holes" optional on request. This current hysteria will blow over soon enough. It's not an issue of liability, or my opinion would be different. This is a change made for purely psychological reasons and shouldn't be imposed on everyone. Plus, it creates unnecessary costs.

Also, what happens when someone gets saltwater in their battery compartment through those stupid holes and it shorts their batteries? The danger of that happening is greater than any additional safety imparted by that pepper-shaker bottom.

 

[Dellboy]

I could not agree more with all these posts.

Please! no holes in the SB

 

[sailorman]

I just remembered an incident I had once when I used to fly RC planes. I was flying at the beach one morning, landing and taking off on the hard-packed sand near the water's edge. My plane was electric, powered by a 2500mah LIPO, enclosed but not sealed, in the lower fuselage, below what would be the cockpit. I misjudged a landing, parallel to the shoreline and was overtaken by a small wavelet of saltwater. It was only a couple inches high, not enough to knock the plane over or even deflect it, but a little saltwater got splashed into the battery bay. By the time I got to it, the fireworks had just about started.

Luckily, the LIPO had melted it's rubber band tie downs as well as the bay door which had swung open and left the battery hanging in the wet sand by the cable, which had burned almost completely through right at the battery. It was far enough away from the plane that I could toss a handful of wet sand on it and kick the plane away from what would have been certain, total incineration.

As my username might hint, I sail. It's not unusual for my PV to be briefly exposed to saltwater spray, or puddles. A Li-Ion or IMR battery ain't going to react like that LIPO did, but there's no way I'd ever buy a PV with big old holes in the bottom. No way. If I had one, I'd tape them over or plug them with something. But I'd just as soon not bother with that.