I have one of those 2-cell CR123A lithium (metal content!) battery halogen "tactical" flashlights that I use on a fairly regular basis.
I was using it yesterday, clicked it off for a minute and then tried to turn it back on a minute later, only to have nothing happen. "Humph, another set of those spendy batteries must be depleted... odd that I didn't notice it dimming this time!" and continued on with my project using another light source.
About 5 minutes later there was a loud hissing noise and the flashlight fell over on my workbench, emitting a truly vile odor and a fine white mist/smoke.
I picked up the flashlight and the inside of the lens was opaque with what looked like water vapor and a black powdery residue. Oddly enough, the flashlight was not significantly warm to the touch... I moved the flashlight out into the garage and ventilated my work area for a while before returning :)
I opened the flashlight up this morning and the cause, was as expected, one of the batteries:
Questions:
- What caused this failure? Did the battery spontaneously develop an internal short?
- What gas does a lithium battery emit when it fails like this?
- Is the black residue something toxic/unpleasant that I should be worried about?