A cautionary tale of cheap lights

[Levo-Lon]

People are the problem...i wont charge anything chinese in the house..unless it came from a very reputable shop .
bloody ebay and the cheap deal is the problem but i wont pay £200 for lights either.

i like my cheap cre lights..night mtb in the woods is so easy with mega bright lights, but i know there cheap and may be a hazard..
i only use top quality chainsaw chains and quality diamond blades in my cutter as cheap items will kill you even when used as instructed.cheap crap fails...but risk can be limited

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

That doesn't have any bearing on the validity of the safety advice from the battery manufacturer or your erroneous assertion.

It does. Anyone with a sliver on sense would know to not put water onto an electrical fire. Next time my toast is burning I'll make sure to throw the toaster into the sink..

water may not extinguish them, but will cool the adjacent batteries and control the spread of fire.

Still a bowl of water on an electrical fire that it did not control. Which adjacent batteries?? This was a pack of 4 cells.

Burning batteries will burn themselves out

When there is no energy left in what was probably an overcharged battery that remained connected to power for some time

When water is used, however, hydrogen gas may be evolved which can form an explosive mixture with air. LITH-X (powdered graphite) or copper powder fire extinguishers, sand, dry ground dolomite or soda ash may also be used. These materials act as smothering agents

Moral of the story, ^ charge batteries in proper charge bags/containers and keep a bucket of sand handy.

 

[Tin Pot]

It's incredible that people are allowed in homes

...without helmets.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

People are the problem...i wont charge anything chinese in the house..unless it came from a very reputable shop .
bloody ebay and the cheap deal is the problem but i wont pay £200 for lights either.

i like my cheap cre lights..night mtb in the woods is so easy with mega bright lights, but i know there cheap and may be a hazard..
i only use top quality chainsaw chains and quality diamond blades in my cutter as cheap items will kill you even when used as instructed.cheap crap fails...but risk can be limited

The lights themselves aren't the issue here, the questionable battery quality, chargers with no cut-offs (and to a lesser extent) unsupervised and un-bagged charging is.

FWIW, the Solarstorm light is great offroad, but I never used the battery or charger that came with it. Genuine gear only

ps: Cree only manufacture the LED chip for lights, they do not make every light body/torch casing that appears on dealextreme/aliexpress/ebay/amazon etc

 

[vernon]

Moral of the story, ^ charge batteries in proper charge bags/containers and keep a bucket of sand handy.

And by extension of your flawed logic....

Always charge your mobile phone and any other lipo cell powered device in a charge bag next to a bucket of sand.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

And by extension of your flawed logic....

Always charge your mobile phone and any other lipo cell powered device in a charge bag next to a bucket of sand.

Yep. Who does though?

 

[Tim Hall]

And by extension of your flawed logic....

Always charge your mobile phone and any other lipo cell powered device in a charge bag next to a bucket of sand.

I always keep my laptop in a bucket of sand. My boss complains about the mess though. I tell him you can't be too careful.

 

[vernon]

I always keep my laptop in a bucket of sand. My boss complains about the mess though. I tell him you can't be too careful.

If your boss truly valued your personal safety while using li-ion battery powered laptops (s)he'd not object to shelling out £3000+ for a Panasonic Toughbook. They can be stored in sand with impunity.

While you at it when demanding a safety upgrade ask for a ruggedised dust impervious phone too. You never know, you might forget that it's in the bucket of sand when you need to use the sand to put out a toaster fire.

 

[gbb]

I'm gonna buy one then while its reputation is at an all time low...bargain to be had...
TBF im semi serious, buy the lamp and chuck the batteries/charger...ive already got quality charger/battery combos, you couldnt make a light for the price they go for on ebay.

 

[night cycler]

S

...without helmets.

.....and a bucket of sand!

 

[night cycler]

People are the problem...i wont charge anything chinese in the house..unless it came from a very reputable shop .
bloody ebay and the cheap deal is the problem but i wont pay £200 for lights either.

i like my cheap cre lights..night mtb in the woods is so easy with mega bright lights, but i know there cheap and may be a hazard..
i only use top quality chainsaw chains and quality diamond blades in my cutter as cheap items will kill you even when used as instructed.cheap crap fails...but risk can be limited

I blame the Chinese.

 

[Julia9054]

Blimey! I have these lights. Used it all last winter but have abandoned it this winter as it now only holds its charge for about 10 minutes.
I always charged it in the garage

 

[gbb]

People are the problem...i wont charge anything chinese in the house..unless it came from a very reputable shop .
bloody ebay and the cheap deal is the problem but i wont pay £200 for lights either.

i like my cheap cre lights..night mtb in the woods is so easy with mega bright lights, but i know there cheap and may be a hazard..
i only use top quality chainsaw chains and quality diamond blades in my cutter as cheap items will kill you even when used as instructed.cheap crap fails...but risk can be limited

I blame the Chinese.

A bit of both methinks.
The Chinese are responding to demand, an insatiable demand for cheaper products.
Price is everything for lots of people, its short sighted of course, buy cheap, buy twice...but many dont see it that way...cheapest is best. If only....

 

[Bollo]

Even good manufacturers will tell you to put the battery in a metal box while charging. Sweet tin does the job.

I've never seen this in any instructions for UK sourced non-eBay bike lights. Could you tell me which manufacturers recommend this so I can avoid them? Thanks.

 

[SD1]

Trailtec, battery space the latter is US.
Its called don't take a risk where the work involved is minimal.