Shot-circuit a CR2032 battery - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: canibalimao
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 10, 2015, 09:13:31 pm
content: I was here testing a couple of LEDs that arrived today on a CR2032 battery and I just got a big scare when some smoke came out of the batteryThen I checked the battery and I figured out that I made a smal shot circuit with the LED lead.Besides the smoke, booth battery and LED still work but now I know that these batteries are awesome to make these mistakes

author: FrankBuss
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 10, 2015, 11:08:37 pm
content: This is interesting, CR2032 batteries shouldn't do this, becaus of the high internal resistance (like 30 ohm). What brand did you use? I tested it with a fresh CR2032 Energizer and a BM257s multimeter in the 10A range (less than 0.1 ohm shunt resistance) and recorded it (sorry, I'm too dumb to open these battery packages)Initial short circuit current was about 70 mA and dropped after a few seconds to less than 20 mA (only rough measurements, because of the 10A range. I wasn't sure about the current and didn't want to blow the 0.6 A fuse for the mA range). Temperature increased by about 2°C, measured with a Fluke VT02 (visual and IR image is not overlapping for this short distance). I forgot to measure the open loop voltage before the test, but I bought the battery 3 weeks ago, package says "best before july 2022".

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 12:11:33 am
content: I shorted some Panasonic cr2032's last week. The SC current was ~200ma and fell to under 100ma instantly.Only time I've seen them explode is when they get hot from soldering iron or hot air gun used too close to them. They burst from the pressure

author: crispy_tofu
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 12:18:32 am
content: This linksays that CR2032 batteries can explode when short-circuited, but I'm not really sure about the reliability of the article...I would hope that the CR2032 battery manufacturers put some kind of protection in, because it's much easier to short button cells than AAs

author: Brutte
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 12:41:42 am
content: Neither I believe in smoke theory of CR2032.Perhaps if OP applied an external source then maybe... But not with a wire.BTW, if you want smoke then try shorting something of lower internal resistance and not equipped with protecting fuse.

author: FrankBuss
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 01:06:45 am
content: Quote from: crispy_tofu on November 11, 2015, 12:18:32 amEven with 200 mA that Psi measured it would be only 0.6 W, and current drops very fast. Barely enough to heat it up by some degrees. I would say it is impossible that a CR2032 battery explode just by shorting it.

author: JoeO
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 02:10:14 am
content: I worked in a company that shredded circuit boards. About 2 times a year, a tech would not see a 2032 battery, the battery would get shredded and a fire would start in the shredded material bin.

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 08:47:42 am
content: Quote from: canibalimao on November 10, 2015, 09:13:31 pmSure it was a CR and not an LIR?LIR might be able to smoke it up but a CR is a bit meek and mild for excitement I'd have thought.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 09:48:18 am
content: hehe yeah, a LIR2032 would definitely get quite annoyed if you shorted it.

author: canibalimao
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 10:27:53 am
content: Quote from: sleemanj on November 11, 2015, 08:47:42 amIt's a CR, i'm shure.I would love to tell you the brand, but I can't understand chinese/japanese charactersThese came out of a TV STB remote control.The smoke was nothing like a fire, was just a small trace. However it was enought to scare me.I have also short circuited a CR2025 battery before, also with an LED, but that time I have only seen a very small "spark", not any sign of smoke.

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2015, 09:24:21 am
content: Quote from: canibalimao on November 11, 2015, 10:27:53 amA sufficiently small path of appropriate resistance can certainly heat up enough to smoke slightly even with relatively small currents.Quote from: JoeO on November 11, 2015, 02:10:14 amThat's because they contain metallic lithium, which will react quite a bit more violently when exposed to the air than inside the environment of a cell.

author: Artlav
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2015, 11:53:26 pm
content: I just tried shorting one, and got over an amp!It's labelled "EEMB corp USA".More of a burst, really - it fell down to 0.6A in a second.For fun also tried a LIR2032 (brand-less), got 1.8A, which sagged to 1.5 after a sec, and it got quite warm.I feel like they are limited by the shunt resistance in the meter.EDIT: Nope. Just measured the meter, and it's only 0.1 Ohm.So i guess it's manufacturer dependend?

author: FrankBuss
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 21, 2015, 10:46:40 pm
content: I just noticed it and I feel so stupidDo you see in the video what was wrong with my test? Hint: take a closer look at top left of the multimeter display. Shops are closed, but I'll buy a new battery on monday and will do another test and video.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2015, 11:23:12 pm
content: Quote from: FrankBuss on November 21, 2015, 10:46:40 pmBe careful you don't get an American battery, they are a different frequency you know . . . .

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2015, 07:46:23 pm
content: I have never seen any coin batteries smoke but assume it's possible.The following comment was taken from:http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/lithiumion_psds.pdfQuotehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C7sXUg5N6M&feature=youtu.be

author: Seekonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2015, 08:51:23 pm
content: I was in the stockroom one day and the stock person had dumped a new shipment of more than 50 coin cells out of the packaging into a cardboard bin to save space. No fire.

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2015, 06:12:07 pm
content: So a bunch of coin cells, loose in a cardboard box.Someone told them to do this or they figured it out on their own?

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2016, 07:17:34 pm
content: Never thought this was possible, but happened today.CR2430 caught fire and destroyed the circuit board.It is in a relatively hot environment (52C+), so I think that contributed to the fire. Although its well within the spec.

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2016, 09:32:50 pm
content: Bloody coin cells!The lip on them puts the anode and cathode like a millimeter apart!How do they expect us not to short them? They should come with tiny PTC fuses inside for that.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2016, 01:17:39 am
content: The connector on the right looks a bit sick (I assume the board was vertical and it got the worst of the heat), but the rest of it apart fronm the coin cell holder doesn't look bad. Unless its badly charred under the holder, its probably salvageable. However there is probably a fault that's letting current flow back into the coin cell. It should have a diode (or an ideal diode chip) blocking it from being charged. If that circuit was defective it would explain the fire, so if you do try to fix it, make sure that any stray current back into the battery is right down at the single uA level.