Battery spacer = spring collapse+burning smell?

[DevilFishPhil]

I just received an P18 I'd bought from the classifieds and at first I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't fire with my IMR 18650. I realized that it was simply too short and wasn't making contact so I threw a magnetic battery spacer on the top of the battery and that got things going. Finally I found out that it was a o-ring issue and since I bought it from the classifieds I didn't get the original set of o-rings.

So I decided to slap on the spacer again and when I tried firing it the bottom of the mod starting heating up and I got a burnt smell. I unscrew the top and bottom, pop the battery out and I noticed the spring had collapsed (a safety feature I assume?)

Now for the questions

1. Why did this happen?
2. Is it not safe to use a battery spacer?
3. Is it safe to keep using that battery or is it now dead?
4. Is there any hardware/hobby/craft store that I could get a replacement spring? (being in Canada shipping from Super-T would take 1 week+).
5. What kind of o-ring do I need to use for a IMR 18650 batt? Right now there only appears to be one o-ring in there and as a result the battery is rattling around.

Sorry for bombarding you guys with questions, I'm a first time Precise owner

Thanks!

 

[DevilFishPhil]

Update - I managed to "fluff" up the spring again so it's usable, I bought all sorts of o-rings at Home Depot and managed to find one that fits perfectly so now there's no more rattling.

I guess my only concerns now are if that spring is still OK and if that overheating could've been the battery shorting?

 

[forcedfuel50]

Welcome DevilFishPhil!

If there was one oring in the bottom, it sounds like they had it set up for the longer AW Protected 2600mah battery, the AW IMR 18650 is nearly 2mm shorter and the correct set up for that is usually 2 orings under the battery (one .100 thick and one .070 thick) and then run 4 washers on the rhodium switch contact post.

Do not run spacers(as you already found out), they can move or touch the top cap or sides and cause a short.

I do sell replacement springs if you need them too. They are a custom spring, so you won't find them at the hardware store unfortunately. I have a HD stiffer version too.

 

[DevilFishPhil]

Thanks I actually just placed an order for the stiffer springs as well as the OEM springs

Right now I have it running like a dream and loving every single minute of it!