Battery inflated in my old Mobius, opening the case.

[sam81]

This happened to my old Mobius. It may have been due to the high temperatures here in northern California (100+ the last few days). This is a replacement battery, the original battery quit working so I bought this one off of Banggood. It inflated to the point where it split the case open.

How dangerous is this? If I poke it with a needle, will it leak and catch fire? How does one dispose of this in a proper manner?

 

[Nigel]

Don't poke it with a needle, unless it is a plastic (non-conductive) needle. Putting a needle through it could start a fire.

Putting it in a bucket of water overnight to discharge will make it safe and then it could go in the garbage if local regulations allow.

A battery that size is unlikely to cause damage, but discharging it before disposal is good practice.

Maybe try a super capacitor next, should last much longer...

 

[jokiin]

How dangerous is this? If I poke it with a needle, will it leak and catch fire?

 

[kamkar]

I am thinking, maybe instead of a estes solid fuel motor, you could put a 18650 lipo battery in your model rocket and then poke a hole in the bottom of the battery.

 

[dash riposki]

a good 18650 is not cheap

 

[kamkar]

No Estes motors are probably a lot cheaper, and will go higher. + a lot less toxic for the environment.

AS OP is in NorCal he should get a capacitor kit to replace the battery.

 

[SawMaster]

then it could go in the garbage if local regulations allow.

That's not legal in the US although it happens a lot. Googling your city and state along with "battery recycling" will locate places where you can dispose of it properly Most Lowes and Home Depot stores have a box for this but sometimes you have to ask where it's at.

NiCad, NiMh, and all Li based batteries should be recycled as they can be quite poisonous to the environment and regular landfill systems can't deal with this

Phil

 

[SawMaster]

a good 18650 is not cheap

One of my flashlights was stolen off a jobsite Replacing the light is no huge deal but replacing the Samsung 30Q cells is another story altogether Air shipping of LiIon cells and batteries has become a logistical nightmare with several countries completely forbidding it, so they have to go by ground freight and by ship across oceans. For their size and weight in consumer-sized quantities that actually costs more than air freight, and the consumer pays for it

Never play with Lithium cells and batteries like you see done on YouTube. The hydrogen fluoride contained in the smoke can destroy your lungs and the effects may not show up for several days, by which point there's no longer any medical treatment which can help you

Phil

 

[Nigel]

That's not legal in the US although it happens a lot. Googling your city and state along with "battery recycling" will locate places where you can dispose of it properly Most Lowes and Home Depot stores have a box for this but sometimes you have to ask where it's at.

NiCad, NiMh, and all Li based batteries should be recycled as they can be quite poisonous to the environment and regular landfill systems can't deal with this

Phil

These days all garbage should be recycled, so a battery recycling box at the local supermarket/electronics store counts as garbage!

I believe that if I put a battery in the "other waste" bin here, it will be extracted and recycled with the ones I put in special "battery bins" at the supermarket, so I don't normally bother separating them. We are advised to tape the terminals on lithium batteries, but I discharge them in water instead since it seems safer.

Our county no longer runs any landfill sites.

 

[sam81]

Don't poke it with a needle, unless it is a plastic (non-conductive) needle. Putting a needle through it could start a fire.

Putting it in a bucket of water overnight to discharge will make it safe and then it could go in the garbage if local regulations allow.

A battery that size is unlikely to cause damage, but discharging it before disposal is good practice.

Maybe try a super capacitor next, should last much longer...

Regarding a super capacitor, do they inflate like this battery did? If they are a safer option, I'm thinking about replacing my other Mobius' battery as well.

Will the super capacitor work in both the Mobius 1 and 2? I'm looking at this one.

 

[Dashmellow]

Regarding a super capacitor, do they inflate like this battery did? If they are a safer option, I'm thinking about replacing my other Mobius' battery as well.

Will the super capacitor work in both the Mobius 1 and 2? I'm looking at this one.

No a super-capacitor should not swell up like a battery. Actually, that can indeed happen with a super-cap but it is very, very rare. You can count on it being safe and reliable but without power it will only keep the date and time for about a week or so without being charged up.

Both the M1 and M2 will work with a capacitor.

 

[Nigel]

Regarding a super capacitor, do they inflate like this battery did? If they are a safer option, I'm thinking about replacing my other Mobius' battery as well.

Will the super capacitor work in both the Mobius 1 and 2? I'm looking at this one.

Temperature range for charging is something like -40°C to 80°C instead of 0°C to 40°C for a lipo battery, so they are far less likely to fail.
If they do fail then they can vent gas, but that are sealed aluminium cans with a pressure relief valve so they will not inflate, just stop working, and sometimes leave a bit of mess deposited on the inside of the camera. They don't catch fire like lipos can. They also have a much longer lifespan when used within limits, with no limit on the number of recharges.