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Posted: 8/20/2007 7:44:27 AM EDT
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My Surefire e2 defender suffered from spontaneous combustion the other day. I was in my home office and heard a fairly loud "explosion". Went into the den and found my e2 smoking, lying on the floor +- 12' from the table it had been lying on. The lens was blown off, the part that holds the bulb was destroyed. Anyone heard of this happening? |
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battery station? they get very good reviews over at candlepower forums... i've heard quite a bit of flashlight KB's with reputable batteries and HO incadescent lights... wonder if the LEDs are seeing the same problems since they have voltage regulators built into them... contact Calvin at Brightflashlights or Kevin at Batterystation... one of them should make this right.. |
Yeah, I will. I had been wanting to order a couple other items anyway. I dont think that I left it on, but it is possible. One of the guys that work for me was with me in my office when it went off. We went to see WTF happened. When he saw my e2 smoldering on the carpet, smoke in the air, He said "That flashlight looked like it was real nice and all, boss, but that is one of the coolest things I have seen! |
That is pretty rare indeed. I would almost bet that you left it on and the fire was sure. |
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I have talked to the customer about this and regardless we'll try to get him fixed back up. He wasn't sure if it was perhaps left on from where he had just used it or if it was a possible battery failure. It was Battery St. batteries but it wasn't the bad batch that had some weak cells (05/05) so it's unclear what happened. The production date was after the bad batch and I know Kevin (at B. St.) had really clamped down on the quality controls after they had those problems. Right now they test evey single case before they ship so I have the highest confidence in them. Everyone should remember that such problems can occur (though extremely rare) and approach any such failure with caution because it can be hazardous. The danger can be from the explosion but more so the toxic fumes that can be released if you're in a poorly ventilated area. IF you see that anything has happened to your light you should carefully take it outside and open it a well ventilated area holding the light well away from you face so not to inhale any fumes. I would recommend wearing gloves when opening and to clean the light thoroughly making sure to dispose of the batteries properly. Nearly every event that I know of this has happening was either from the light being left on or someone mixing used, partially depleted cells with fresh batteries or mixing no name poorly constructed batteries with stronger batteries. This has happened with nearly every light manufacturer and battery company. You have to be cautious to keep your new batteries in known locations and if you keep any partially used batteries use them in appropriate equipment that won't have a high energy draw. I will admit to using partially depleted cells in low output LED's or single cell lights but that should be where you draw the line. These type of events also serve as a warning to make sure you have either tucked away your lights without any risk of accidental activation or be sure to lockout the tailcap if your light has that feature. |
You're not off the hook either, it can also happen with LED lights as well. If it's a high output LED the same risk still apply and if left on they can get just as hot as an incandascent light. |
| I had a SF that had Energizer batteries not explode but the battery(s) started smoking and the light got very hot--I was doing a walkthrough of a new home and the flashlight tumbled down 3 or 4 carpeted steps. About 5 minutes later the smoke started rolling out. I was in a bathroom at the time and placed it in the sink. According to the light forums, it's not an uncommon occurance. It ruined my SF and because I'm pretty sure it a battery problem, I'll not buy anymore expensive lights!! |
Does that mean that you had SF batteries do that? Or others? |
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