What is black powder on CR123 lithium batteries?

[shellylh]

After the batteries in the laundry, I decided to check all the battery powered devices for corrosion/leaks last night.

I have a tactical flashlight with CR123a lithium batteries in it. When I opened it up, there was black powder around the batteries. I put the batteries back in the flashlight, I tried googling this and the only thing I could find was black residue after a lithium battery explosion which seems quite toxic. I'm hoping that this is just carbon or something. The batteries work, although to guess this could be from the last pair when they went bad (they didn't explode either).

Does anyone know what this might be? Should it throw away the batteries and/or flashlight? Should I remove the batteries from the flashlight before trashing if I should trash both?  I think the black powder just got on a tissue which I threw in the trash. There is certainly more black powder inside the flashlight. If the black powder get on the counter, what should I clean it with?

I thought that lithium batteries very rarely leaked so I was surprised to see this.

Edited March 3, 2015 by shellylh

[nikongod]

Lithium battery explosions/fires are quite violent. They are also SIGNIFICANTLY less common in non-rechargeable batteries than they are in rechargeable batteries. There is basically no chance that happened here. 

 

My bet is something flaking off from inside the flashlight.

[shellylh]

I agree that there is no case that these have exploded.  I am just wondering if these are disintegrating or slightly leaking the powder.  I've certainly never seen this powder before when I changed the batteries.  The fact that when they explode they leave black residue makes me concerned.   The residue seems more like powder (like toner) rather than flaking paint. 

[shellylh]

I looked at the flashlight and there are little scratches in the inside so I guess it could be very fine amounts of paint scratched off where the battery is inserted into the flashlight.

 

What happens when a CR123a battery vents (without fire)?  Might there be some minor amount of discharge?  The ones I have are made by Surefire (not a cheap knockoff from China). 

Edited March 3, 2015 by shellylh

[naamanf]

I have never seen any sort of discharge from a lithium battery or heard of any. They are the primary type of battery used in military equipment from crypto memory, to gps, to flashlights.Think harsh environments with continual vibration and large temperature swings. More likely paint or metal dust from the contacts. When in doubt toss and replace.

[naamanf]

The MSDS

 

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/f7/f701b625-1761-4ff0-a002-bf07de4a799b.pdf

[shellylh]

They seem like it. Perhaps I'm just going insane.