Modernflame
Flashlight Enthusiast
The mail man delivered a pair of new AW 2200 mAh 18650's and a pair of AW 18500s today. I put the two 18650's on a new Nitecore i4 Charger. Since this was the first use of both the charger and the battery, I don't know which was at fault. The 18650's had been on the charger for about 40 minutes when a dramatic-Fourth-of-July fireworks display erupted from the charger. Fireball! Thankfully, I got the wife out of the house within seconds and she was not affected by the fumes. I'm pretty sure I'm ok, too, but I did hang around long enough to douse the area with a fire extinguisher. We called the fire department and got the all clear to re-enter.
Thanks be to God, everyone is healthy and we still have a home, but I'm still one frustrated flashlight addict. Anyone have any insight as to why the cell detonated? AW cells are supposed to be first rate and I've been using Nitecore smart chargers for a long time. As I said, the battery was only on board for about 40 minutes. In fact, I touched and visually inspected the batteries at about 25 minutes into the charging process. There was no heat at all. No sign of anything abnormal. The thermal runaway occurred between the 25 and 40 minute mark. The batteries were at about 3.8 volts. Thanks in advance for the input.
Thanks be to God, everyone is healthy and we still have a home, but I'm still one frustrated flashlight addict. Anyone have any insight as to why the cell detonated? AW cells are supposed to be first rate and I've been using Nitecore smart chargers for a long time. As I said, the battery was only on board for about 40 minutes. In fact, I touched and visually inspected the batteries at about 25 minutes into the charging process. There was no heat at all. No sign of anything abnormal. The thermal runaway occurred between the 25 and 40 minute mark. The batteries were at about 3.8 volts. Thanks in advance for the input.