OutdoorIdiot
Enlightened
Newbie,
Was it definitely the "100%" cell that vented? I've been looking at the pictures (brilliant, btw) and it seems to me that the visual evidence points more to the back end of the front cell giving way, than the front end of the rear cell, in spite of the front end of a cell being the expected route.
I'll try to explain what I'm thinking based on your recent photos...
This picture:
makes me think that the cell on the right is the one that was at the front (big round clear spot in the middle, where the button from the other cell was in contact with it).
So I'm thinking that this picture:
(front cell now on the left, if my thinking is correct) might indicate that the rear of the front cell gave way.
For example, their is no pattern of debris (I'm focusing on the black stuff) that suggests two vent holes at 180 degrees (to be expected, if the batteries in the pictures vented through their vent holes). In fact, some of the patterns (I'm just looking at the back of the left cell for this...) suggest a force applied from the outer of the cell to the inner. The bottom-left quadrant shows the black stuff accumulating not under the plastic wrapper, but about 1mm away from it. Also, the top-left quadrant, where the button from the other battery has left a thin "silver" arc at the button's perimeter, shows the black stuff very reliably accumulating at the innermost point of this thin arc, not the outermost point.
Granted, the forces at play could cause all sorts of unpredictable havoc, but I think the visual evidence is enough to justify the question. I suppose another way of addressing the question is how do both cells perform electrically? If the one on the right in the last picture I quote from you still performs, then this would suggest it was indeed the one on the left that failed, quite likely through its rear.
Was it definitely the "100%" cell that vented? I've been looking at the pictures (brilliant, btw) and it seems to me that the visual evidence points more to the back end of the front cell giving way, than the front end of the rear cell, in spite of the front end of a cell being the expected route.
I'll try to explain what I'm thinking based on your recent photos...
This picture:
makes me think that the cell on the right is the one that was at the front (big round clear spot in the middle, where the button from the other cell was in contact with it).
So I'm thinking that this picture:
(front cell now on the left, if my thinking is correct) might indicate that the rear of the front cell gave way.
For example, their is no pattern of debris (I'm focusing on the black stuff) that suggests two vent holes at 180 degrees (to be expected, if the batteries in the pictures vented through their vent holes). In fact, some of the patterns (I'm just looking at the back of the left cell for this...) suggest a force applied from the outer of the cell to the inner. The bottom-left quadrant shows the black stuff accumulating not under the plastic wrapper, but about 1mm away from it. Also, the top-left quadrant, where the button from the other battery has left a thin "silver" arc at the button's perimeter, shows the black stuff very reliably accumulating at the innermost point of this thin arc, not the outermost point.
Granted, the forces at play could cause all sorts of unpredictable havoc, but I think the visual evidence is enough to justify the question. I suppose another way of addressing the question is how do both cells perform electrically? If the one on the right in the last picture I quote from you still performs, then this would suggest it was indeed the one on the left that failed, quite likely through its rear.