battery charger cord failure

[stephpd]

I think some of the problem here is people are using things they don't know safely how to use. (the batteries) I feel sorry for the OP and I'd hate to be in that situation. Veterans on this forum continue to recommend "huge" PVs to newbies and people take that to heart. Some don't ever read the battery threads, some are clueless to the proper handling technique of the batteries. I fully endorse whatever works for someone but I guess some people use these things are just lucky that they've not had things go wrong and get injured.

Please keep us posted as to what if anything you are able to find out. I'm glad your boss is ok.

Little batteries go boom too. Size only seem to effect how long they burn once they go thermal.

[DaveP]

An eGo gives a false sense of security because the battery is enclosed in a tube with some foam for shock padding. You don't get to feel the warmth coming from a stressed battery. At least, you can't pop it open to see how warm it's getting.

Heat happens in a hurry with thermal runaway. I've never had a battery explode, but everyone says that a hissing noise is followed about 1 or 2 seconds later by a boom. There's no time to think, throw it away, or drop it and run.

The eGo has a 10 second cutoff, and that's a good feature. The down side is that protection circuits can fail. Hopefully, it will fail in a way that doesn't allow you vape when it does. On the up side, an eGo has short circuit/over current protection that blinks when a shorted atty is present. I've even activated the short protection while measuring voltage with a meter when I accidentally touched one lead across both terminals.

[deach]

Little batteries go boom too. Size only seem to effect how long they burn once they go thermal.

Indeed they can...

[Goldenkobold]

little batteries go pop. I had an ego type go thermal on me got very very hot, messed up the lamination on the table under it....

I hear rumors of protected IMR's that would be a great extra layer of safety in a mod.

[tinstar15]

Okeedokie. Finally got a look at the remains. I'll be dismantling the charger to see if the innards were affected later.

On the surface, the charger body and the batteries appear undamaged. Much like a few other reports are indicating, the charger power cord is the only part with any easily observed damage. It has seven spots on the cord that are exposed. The wires are frayed outwards and the plastic around the exposed areas appear melted.

The batteries appear unaffected. I will still dispose of them but it tested fine on a meter.

Once I crack open the casing of the charger, I'll report back with findings.

[buGG]

So does "My boss' AW battery exploded" still apply here?

[AttyPops]

Just in case you missed this in another part of the forum.......

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/for...le-charge.html

Charging safety tips from roly. Good advice in general for those reading this thread.

Also, I just looked at the Super-T site; they sell two AW 18500 sized batteries.... the Li-Ion (protected), and the IMR (doesn't say it's protected... I don't think they generally are).

The protected one probably should not have over-drained (unless protection failed... interesting point about leaving them in the charger tho). However, the IMR one could be over-drained I suppose. The mod is all mechanical and has no protection circuit so if it's the IMR one.....I'm definitely not an IMR battery expert... but I assume it could drain too far.

So... if they were the protected ones, the discussions above about IMRs are irrelevant (to the OP... but still good info) but if they are IMR... they are not protected.

Post 1 says that the batteries exploded with charred spot on the floor (boss' claim). Now post 25 says the batteries are fine, and the cord is damaged. So...??????? Glad you're tossing them tho... or sending them to the recycle bin.

Just 2 cents, since I'm not a battery expert.

[deach]

So does "My boss' AW battery exploded" still apply here?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

What he asked.....

[tinstar15]

Technically, no.

I've gone over the batteries top to bottom. I even cut away the jacket to see if it screwed up the circuit board. Not a thing wrong far as I can see. I can't fathom how the battery launched out of the charger. He swears it did though, and he's not the sort to exaggerate. I believe the charred spot he was describing was more likely caused by the cord and not the charger or battery. He told me the battery was destroyed but it appears that he was mistaken. He said that he thought the top part of the battery had blown off, but it was still intact actually.

As to the charger, I tore it apart and just finished looking it over. Can't see anything wrong with it either. I was hoping that there would be something wrong on the board, like a charred component, but everything appears in order.

Any ideas what would cause the cord to melt and blow out in so many different spots? Only thing I can think of is the cord was damaged internally by repeated bending caused when he rolled up the cord to take it with him. The wires might have frayed and shorted maybe. Otherwise, I'm at a loss.

[thall12]

Ive used tons of batteries for years in thousands of devices and have never had a battery explode. I have though burnt myself over a thousand times with regular cigarettes, made me sick, cough, tired...and gave a couple I know cancer.