Urgent safety warning: Beaver Sports HALO dive light

[Diver0001]

Divers,

This message is to inform you of a potentially serious flaw with the HALO dive light (linkage to random website selling this product), which is marketed in the EU by Beaver sports.

If this light floods then it can literally explode. This is not a joke.

Attached to this post are three pictures. The first one shows the lamp after flooding and then subsequently and without warning exploding during inspection once on the surface. Notice that the glass has been blown out.

The glass front of the light exploded with such force that there was literally nothing left of it. The diver, who is a friend of mine, was fortunately wearing glasses or he would have received a serious injury to his eyes from the blast. (picture #2 shows the damage to his glasses).

The third picture was taken after all of the shards of glass had been removed from his face. All of those wounds are a direct result of the exploding dive light. Furthermore, what cannot be seen from the pictures is that the explosion was so violent that it left his ears ringing for 45 minutes after the incident.

In early September Beaver sports was contacted about this incident but after two months of no meaningful communication we must assume that they are not taking this problem seriously and have therefore decided to warn divers ourselves. These lights are still on the market and although Beaver said the OEM has been informed (we have no proof of this apart from their word) no action has been taken by the OEM either to the best of my knowledge.

I have no no agenda here aside from doing my part to help avoid similar accidents by other divers. My advice therefore is this: DO NOT BUY AND DO NOT USE THESE DIVE LIGHTS until a proper recall has been made to remedy the explosion hazard.

R..

 

[Jax]

Thanks, Rob; glad your friend is okay.

 

[fdog]

Wow. Thanks for the warning!

What type of batteries were in the light when it exploded, and were they included with the light when purchased? I can see where a flood would cause Lithium or NiMH batteries to deflagrate, and over-pressurize any light.

All the best, James

 

[decobart]

@ Fdog: The batteries that exploded are the ones that actually came with the light (cheap, non rechargeable): someone from the shop assembled the light and we never opened it again.... until the light "opened" itself.
@Jax: thanx!

 

[fdog]

Thanks for the info. Luckily you were wearing glasses - that would have been a life-altering event without them! Glad you're ok now.

All the best, James

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I suspect that what is happening here is that the battery, upon getting wet (salt water?) deteriorated and released hydrogen gas. I had a similar explosion years ago with a Subsea underwater strobe. It took a 510 volt alkaline battery, and that battery after months sealed in the strobe had released enough hydrogen gas that when I turned the strobe on, blew the unit apart. I had to get a new housing from Subsea. The lower explosive limit (LEL) of hydrogen is just 4% in air, so care must be taken with any type of battery which could release hydrogen gas into a confined space such as a light or strobe.

'Glad he was not injured severely. Glasses (especially safety glasses) work well.

SeaRat

 

[RubberDucky]

Very informative post, John!

 

[phantomrfa]

So we are saying water got in the lamp.what depth is it rated.To what depth was it taken too?.As water entered the lamp air is compressed to 2x,3x,4x sealevel depending on depth ,Ok the cheap batterys may have had something to do with it, to increase pressure by degradeing with the water .Its just bad luck it went off on land .

 

[bleeb]

I suspect that what is happening here is that the battery, upon getting wet (salt water?) deteriorated and released hydrogen gas. I had a similar explosion years ago with a Subsea underwater strobe. It took a 510 volt alkaline battery, and that battery after months sealed in the strobe had released enough hydrogen gas that when I turned the strobe on, blew the unit apart. I had to get a new housing from Subsea. The lower explosive limit (LEL) of hydrogen is just 4% in air, so care must be taken with any type of battery which could release hydrogen gas into a confined space such as a light or strobe.

I've heard the argument before that just about all floods that short out the batteries will generate lots of hydrogen, and have never been able to come up with any reason why this wouldn't be the case. Also, several rechargeable battery manufacturers actually recommend against using their products in sealed housings, because they also sometimes release hydrogen as part of their normal operation. There have been quite a few posting here on SB over the years where one postulated cause of particular floods has been a small hydrogen explosion popping a housing seal enough to water in.

In the incident that started this thread, it seems the real failure is explosively shattering the glass lens. Floods will happen, and hydrogen explosions are therefor inevitable. The issue is a light design or manufacture that's dangerously catastrophic about it.