Foo - Are lithium batteries really unsafe?

As you know i colect flashlights and most require litium cells and i keep reading there unsafe is this true?Because im thinking of importing a boat load of flash lights and batts to resell

Lithium is not unsafe if handled properly. In the earlier days when the cells did not have failsafe measures it was a bit more risky. The main rules are don't overdraw it, short it(terminals together) or charge it above its rated current. I have used lithium for years in model aircraft, power tools and other items(everybody's cell phones for instance) and the only issue I had was with one set freezing. Most are freeze tolerant but some are not, certainly not as tolerant as nicd or nimh. That is why my bike headlight setup is Nimh at the moment. Lipo would be way lighter and smaller...

Occassionally one will go boom....but for the size battery you are talking about, no biggie....just a melted flashlight.

Nah these are kinda big 3400 mah and they are unprotected there the panasonic ncr18650b

The quality of the charger is more important than the size of the cells. Good chargers don't have to cost much but they will have specific peak detection modes and thermal sensors, both of which will prevent a thermal melt down before it goes haywire.

This is my charger wel i have like 7 of them but the main one is this one i like it because it can charge any battery http://www.amazon.com/Intellicharge-JETBeam-Nitecore-Battery-Charger/dp/B007S9P3BC

They have been known to destroy cargo planes.

http://www.avherald.com/h?article=44062b99/0012&opt=0

Here's a couple other passenger incidents.
http://www.avherald.com/h?article=4521d5ef&opt=0
http://www.avherald.com/h?article=43d462c7&opt=0

The batts i almost went with can put on 10 amps thats a lot of darn current but they was only like 2200 mah so the run time wouldnt be good. last night i was doing a run time test on one of my flashlights and in 1 hour it was to hot to touch .made me wonder what would happen if it released all its emery at once

to resell
Be sure you understand well the shipping requirements and constraints if you plan on reselling and any of your shipments will be by air/UPS/USPS/Fedex/etc.

http://safetravel.dot.gov/PHMSA_battery_guide.pdf

Be sure you understand well the shipping requirements and constraints if you plan on reselling and any of your shipments will be by air/UPS/USPS/Fedex/etc.

http://safetravel.dot.gov/PHMSA_battery_guide.pdf
yeah good point right now im just trying to find a supllier of flashlight first company only wanted to give me 30 percent of retail for 100 units.id never make any money that way

Be sure you understand well the shipping requirements and constraints if you plan on reselling and any of your shipments will be by air/UPS/USPS/Fedex/etc.

http://safetravel.dot.gov/PHMSA_battery_guide.pdf

+1

You will need to meet labeling and documentation requirements and are limited as to the number of units you can ship in one box. If you plan on selling to Europe, there are a whole bunch of other regulations you'll need to meet.

Guess now ill stick to just the flashlights but man i think ill lose lots of sales since the lights i will sell use a odd cell that cant be found eaiser for the end consumer .thats why i wanted to sell the light with the battery and charger

Can be dangerous. I know of a F-15E pilot that threw a spare lithium battery for his NVGs in a chest pocket of his flight suit. The battery came in contact with his car keys and shorted. The resulting runaway condition of the battery caused 3rd degree burns and shrapnel wounds from the exploding battery.

Whats weird is the main cell i use and want to sell is in everyones home they just dont know it.But if you open ya laptops battery most are made up of the cells i want to sell

With lithium batteries...

impact is bad
moisture is bad

shrapnel wounds

You don't hear that one often in peace time.

You don't hear that one often in peace time.

No kidding. I became a big believer in a strip of electrical tape around those suckers.

Lithium's power couldn't save Kurt from her. :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkcJEvMcnEg