thatdecade:
Clovis was running the battery packs in parallel, making a single 12V supply from 2 12V cells. The 2 fans were also in parallel, resulting in a load of ~16 ohms. This results in a total draw of 0.76 amps, which is 0.38 amps from each of the 12V cells. It also results in each fan getting 0.38 amps and using 4.56 Watts. Which is exactly what they were rated to do.
The smaller 5V fans work in a similar fashion to the larger 12V fans, except they move less air, and consume less power. It's more a matter of personal preference. If you want less air being moved, and likewise, less battery power being used, then you use the 5V fans. If you want more airflow, you use 12V fans.
I've ran all the numbers 3 times to make sure I'm not making a silly mistake. There is no reason that any battery should have exploded. The maximum current draw from any single battery was 0.38 amps.
Here's some data sheets from Energizer on their AA batteries:
http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/E91.pdf <- Regular "Energizer Max" cheap battery. Can run at a constant 500 mA (0.5 amps) discharge for 3 hours before dropping below nominal voltage. Maximum current draw = 10 amps.
http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/nh15-2300.pdf <- Rechargable "Energizer Recharge" NiMH (Nickel-Metal Hydride) battery. Can run at 460 mA for over 4 hours before dropping below nominal. Can also run up to 4600 mA (4.6 amps) discharge and last for like 10 minutes.
I can't see any possible way that the circuit that was described could cause a battery to explode. You can wrap a commercial battery in tinfoil and toss it out onto the pavement and it would leak a little bit. Commercial batteries have so many safety features built into them to prevent them from exploding. It boggles my mind. I wish Clovis was nearby so that I could go over and do some experiments to figure out what is going on.