kaboom

silenthunterstudios

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Oct 17, 2008
Messages
9
I've switched to running rechargeable 18650s and 18350s in most of my flashlights, I have a Surefire 6PL and a Fenix that run on CR123A batteries and that's about it. I usually put batteries in my charger overnight. I have a nicadm battery for my Surefire Titan Plus, and need to get a charger for it, those lithium AAAs get expensive.

With all of the recalls and reports and memes relating to the Samsung phones blowing up, I've been thinking about my 18650s blowing up. I have name brand batteries, and the oldest might be three years. Olight, Nitecore (in all of my Nitecores), Fenix, Zebralight etc. All are fine, knock on wood. I've heard of and seen after videos of batteries that exploded, inside the lights, and in the chargers. I always check for leaks or corrosion when charging, thank God I haven't seen that. You guys and gals seem to be more knowledgeable about lights than I am, I'd like to hear your take on the issue.
 

ven

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 17, 2013
Messages
22,533
Location
Manchester UK
Although some do and some dont or say they dont maybe, its probably fairly common for people to leave over night to grab for work etc . Regardless of nimh or li ion, it is not good practice to leave alone over night. It maybe 1 in a 1,000,000 chance the charger may fail to terminate and put too much V in it. You may get away with it, they will take a beating............you might not get away with it.
* being honest, i do leave cells charging over night on a lower setting and not the 1.5a,usually 0.5a for the 5 or so hours, and not all the time but i have done it.............being honest here and admit not best practice* I do make sure my equipment is spot on and do check it, i also make sure it is in a safer area(not a bed of feathers!) and low charge it to time my getting up. Agin not 100% safe.........
Maybe i am a hypocrite, but i dont know your equipment and someone could use a *****fire $3 charger and some *beep* cells............again being open and honest here, fine to judge. I

As a public forum, many do a quick search i can not advise even with the best charger (not that there is ever a best) to leave alone. Anything electronic can fail, no matter how small that chance.......it is there!

My advice is, get a few more cells for back up, charge when your about and in the home instead of any need for over night charging. This is to eliminate or minimise the need to charge over night If and a big IF you do charge over night(as we can all say yeh ok, wont charge overnight and do it every night). Make sure you have a very good charger, make sure you test it. Make sure you leave it on whilst your about and check the V maybe after a few hours of being sat there. This is to check the charger terminates, no trickle charging after it should have stopped. This would have to be done periodically as again, anything can fail.

Some nimh chargers trickle charge after, so it will shorten their life...........

Best policy is to reduce as many or all the risks you can, this way you will have a safe and enjoyable experience.:thumbsup:
 
Last edited:

terjee

Enlightened
Joined
Jul 24, 2016
Messages
729
Location
Bergen, Norway
Signing off on pretty much all of what ven said.

Adding in that if you're unable to find enough hours to charge during a day, the are still other options than night-charging. You can use chargers that'll charge many at a time (GyrFalcon All-88, Efest LUC Blu6), more chargers, or faster chargers. The Nitecore SC2-charger for example, is fairly cheap, and will charge at up to 3A+2A, which is perfectly fine for some batteries (check their datasheets though).

Fast charging has its downsides, but I'd much rather fast-charge than night-charge.

Work-charging works well for me though. I vape, so couldn't resist the temptation to dump a charger there as well.

As a public forum, many do a quick search i can not advise even with the best charger (not that there is ever a best) to leave alone.

I've actively looked for one for a couple of years, but there's no charger that quite reaches the "I'd feel comfortable charging with this at night-time"-level of warm fussy safety-feeling. The MC3000 comes close, due to generally pretty good quality and proper temperature sensors, but even that I'd prefer not to use at night.

This isn't specific for LiIons btw. NiMH-chargers can miss their termination-points and overcharge, causing heating for example.
 
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