Blow Up - Any Truth To The Rumor That E-Cig's can "Blow Up" ?

[Treekiller]

Lipo charging bags are a good idea; they are a bit of an inconvenience, but worth the extra hassle. A bit off topic; but still relevant...I own a micro helicopter and purchased extra high end batteries for said copter. One day while charging all the batteries I noticed that a few has swollen, I decided best to set aside and replace them. On the trip to get replacements I noticed that my pocket I had put the batteries in was terribly warm. When I arrived at the store I showed the batteries to the owner and said me thinks these are in a bad way, you may want to put these in the metal container. He grabbed them noting how hot they were and gently tossed them into the safety container they use to dispose of batteries (just emptied that morning thank goodness) and when he tossed them into the container they caught on fire.

Now I ALWAYS charge lipo batteries in a safety bag, be it the helicopter or the e-cig batteries, I do however use the laptop in the standard way. I have heard that these bags are not the best of the best for safety, but they beat nothing. Should a blow out happen at least it is mostly contained in the bag and less likely to burn through the counter or floor. I have thought of making a safety container of my own using a fire proof safe and some fire proofing compound where the cord would enter just haven't found time.

 

[nosaj03]

I have to look into getting one of those bags. Out of curiosity how many of you leave your batteries in the chargers all day? Is this a big no no even with the smart chargers?

 

[Myk]

Here's the difference:

A few years ago some Colgate electric toothbrushes blew up .......... result ......... Colgate toothbrushes manufactured between xxxx and xxxx were recalled.

This year a couple of ego clones blew up ........... result ........... nothing, except e-cigs get a black eye. The CPSC chooses to ignore any safety related issues with e-cigs because of FDA involvement.

The irony of it all is that the regulations needed to insure that we have safe products have existed for a long-long time, all they need is to be enforced! ........... by the proper agency!!!!!

Exactly.
Don't want people selling liquid they mixed in their bathroom? FDA already has that power. They won't use it because they want to take it further (the only time they've used it was in an attempt to push it further).
Want accurate nicotine content claims? Again the FDA already has that power and always has tobacco product or not.
Purity? Again the FDA.
Don't want bad batteries/chargers, CPSC. But we can't have that because we want them regulated tighter than simple consumer devices and if we make them safer there won't be anything to hold up as justification.

I'd give CPSC a little break on this because there are so many knockoffs and copycat products they couldn't simply say "eGo batteries", except they don't even try. They could at least issue the exact same warnings we issue.

 

[Hippieguy24]

I had 2 people tell me to watch out because it might explode when they saw me using it, so I had to do some research. After I did, I felt a lot better. As far as I can tell, what everyone has already said is the case. The one I think they were talking about (and they got some facts wrong) was when someone modified a non-rechargeable battery to fit into a charger and left it there. Just use common sense and it should be fine.

 

[mistmonster]

I have to admit, after seeing all the ominous warnings on e-cig batteries, I have to wonder if I'm handling all my devices batteries incorrectly. I leave game systems/controllers/phones/cell phones/laptops/electronic tooth brushes/extra batteries for all these devices charging all the time. So the "never charge unattended" and "do not over charge" (whatever that is) scares me.

 

[nosaj03]

I have to admit, after seeing all the ominous warnings on e-cig batteries, I have to wonder if I'm handling all my devices batteries incorrectly. I leave game systems/controllers/phones/cell phones/laptops/electronic tooth brushes/extra batteries for all these devices charging all the time. So the "never charge unattended" and "do not over charge" (whatever that is) scares me.

I hear ya! I wonder this myself all the time when I put my batteries on the charger before I go to bed. Sometimes I wonder if I have to sit there watching them LOL

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

I had 2 people tell me to watch out because it might explode when they saw me using it, so I had to do some research. After I did, I felt a lot better. As far as I can tell, what everyone has already said is the case. The one I think they were talking about (and they got some facts wrong) was when someone modified a non-rechargeable battery to fit into a charger and left it there. Just use common sense and it should be fine.

A number of us have had close calls with cheap batteries and chargers. We're/ I are/ am just fortunate the batts were not charging unattended. Someone just posted a few days ago their Milwaukee screwgun batt went BOOM. So the bottom line to many of us...regardless of whatever PV, batts and charger is being used it's wise to follow advice given. If I hadn't I'm almost certain my home would've been a pile of ash.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

I have to admit, after seeing all the ominous warnings on e-cig batteries, I have to wonder if I'm handling all my devices batteries incorrectly. I leave game systems/controllers/phones/cell phones/laptops/electronic tooth brushes/extra batteries for all these devices charging all the time. So the "never charge unattended" and "do not over charge" (whatever that is) scares me.

There are chips in chargers that are supposed to cut off when the batt reaches 4.2 volts. If the chip fails (rare but it happens) thermal runaway happens and battery becomes overheated. Sadly until it happens to someone the reality really doesn't hit home. That's why some of us are so adamant about batt safety...every time I think about my mishap chills run down my back.

 

[Baditude]

Any battery should be considered potentially dangerous if not handled or used properly. AW IMR batteries are considered to be among the safest batteries available to us. The above picture is of an AW IMR battery that was being carried as a spare battery in a book bag. Apparently the battery came into contact with some type of metal or static electricity, over-discharged, and went into thermal runaway.

What you see is the naked battery casing with the red shrink wrap melted away. The inner components of the battery has mushroomed out of the casing as a result of the venting of hot gases. Had this been an ICR battery (protected li-ion), the results may have been even more dramatic with flames involved.

Had the owner used a plastic battery case Battery Cases at RTD Vapor to store his battery, this would never have happened. Never carry spare batteries in a pocket or purse where they can come into contact with keys, loose change, or static electricity.



Above is one of my own batteries. A protected ICR14500 Trustfire. This was in a mechanical mod whose prominent fire button was compressed for too long in a pants pocket (which I was luckily not wearing at the time), allowing the battery to over-heat and go into thermal runaway. This badly scorched the pants pocket that the mod was in, made the mod too hot to handle to touch with bare hands, and ruined the fire switch where the hot gases vented as designed. I was lucky to find the mod when I did to prevent a fire from occuring.

This mod had no auto-turnoff feature for the fire button or any protective circuitry like electronic regulated mods have. The protective circuit of the protected Trustfire battery failed. In hindsight, either the juice attachment or the battery should have been removed when the mod was being kept in a tightly enclosed space like a pants pocket - safe battery practice. Now I use safer-chemistry IMR batteries and a Vape Safe Mod Fuse with this mod.



I don't know the details of the above two pics, but they are of mod batteries which went into thermal runaway. Learn which batteries are safe to use in your mods, use recommended chargers, learn safe battery practices, and use common sense.

Mechanical Mod Proper Usage Guide

Vape Safe Mod Fuse

Battery Basics for Mods: IMR or Protected?

Deeper Understanding of Mod Batteries

 

[madqatter]

I have to look into getting one of those bags. Out of curiosity how many of you leave your batteries in the chargers all day? Is this a big no no even with the smart chargers?

I never leave my mod batteries charging unattended. Ever. They charge in a LiPo bag on a nonflammable surface while I'm home and awake. I'd rather be accused of being overly cautious than deal with the possible alternative.

In hindsight, either the juice attachment or the battery should have been removed when the mod was being kept in a tightly enclosed space like a pants pocket - safe battery practice. Now I use safer-chemistry IMR batteries and a Vape Safe Mod Fuse with this mod.

Thanks to Baditude and other vets here, one of my consistent practices is to remove my juice attachment and batteries from my mechanical mods whenever I'm not using them, and to place the batteries in a non-conductive plastic container, especially if I will be transporting them. Again, I'd rather be accused of being overly cautious than deal with the possible alternative.

 

[meatshanks]

so here is the deal; if you have some basic understanding of how ecigs work you should be fine..... first off if you live in places that are super hot do not leave your ecig charging in your car for hours, like Arizona etc... that has been linked to battery's failing... if and when you start messing with sub ohm vaping knowing what battery's are safe and what battery's are not meant to be used for that type vaping is important.. high drain VS low drain... just talking with fellow vapors in your shops in your city can educate you on the do's and dont's.....but honestly it is super safe, ecigs blowing up is rare like super rare!! if you have just a sliver of common sense you should be safe...acts of god do happen though and i think that is with anything we do, your more likely to be hit by lightning then have a ecig blow up in your face...if it gets super hot, just put it down and walk away.... hahahahahahahah hope this helps....

 

[mistmonster]

So pop quiz. You notice your battery is really hot, possible going thermal. What do you do?

(I'm actually asking. First thing I thought was kitchen sink which is probably wrong)

 

[meatshanks]

take it outside where nothing will be damaged and walk away...

 

[mistmonster]

I live in a high rise condo. What's the next best thing? I think I could get in trouble for tossing it out the window.

 

[pianman6954]

Li-Ion batteries get a bad wrap because with no IC control they can be quite dangerous. Li-Ions of the cobalt variety cannot he discharged past 2.5-2.2v most regulated mods and batts cut out far earlier than that, about 3.3v on my vamo, I swap them out before that anyway because the load voltage starts getting crumby at 3.6v with my cobalt cells. Now all batteries have whats also called an external series resistance under extreme load they can get hot and vent but most cylindrical cells have a safety disk that ruptures to prevent excessive pressure. Charging is also an area you have to be careful most chemistries charge CC/CV until they reach voltage and VC/CV during saturation an unapproved charger poses a risk because beyond 4.2 volts it is overcharged and at 4.5< you get thermal runaway and a possible fire. I reccomend only using Li-Mn cells in mods i.e. Efest, Panasonic 18650PD, etc most of these are designed to handle up to 10A< for short duration. I think its also best to note that stacking batteries is also a bad idea unless your very familiar with balancing cells mixing different charge state batteries forces them to attemp balance themselves which is impossible due to said internal resistance and constant charge state shift.

 

[Ranic85]

yes, I am wondering too. I run .3 ohm dual coils! Will my face melt?

 

[madqatter]

just talking with fellow vapors in your shops in your city can educate you on the do's and dont's...

Whether this is true will depend a lot on the vaping culture of the specific location. I would not recommend that someone rely on this information alone.

 

[Myk]

yes, I am wondering too. I run .3 ohm dual coils! Will my face melt?

Yes it will.

 

[Baditude]

... if and when you start messing with sub ohm vaping knowing what battery's are safe and what battery's are not meant to be used for that type vaping is important.. high drain VS low drain... just talking with fellow vapors in your shops in your city can educate you on the do's and dont's.....

Sub-ohm vaping is another subject altogether when speaking of battery safety. Most of the IMR and hybrid batteries commonly available to mod users are not capable of sustaining the amps necessary for the RBA/RDA users who make coils less than 0.6 ohms. This requires using special IMR or hybrid batteries that have a 20 amp continuous discharge rating.

I have become particularly critical of some of the vapor shops in southern California who are selling novice vapors a mechanical mod topped with a sub-ohm coil as their very first e-cigarette, with no precautions or warnings, only go home and make some clouds. These novices have no clue on battery safety nor do they own or know how to use a multimeter to test their coils. This is criminal negligence as far as I am concerned. If this practice is any clue to judge a vape shop salesman, then they fail the test big time.

 

[RedNBlack]

Catch on fire, anything like that? At any time, for any reason??

I'm a total newbie. And this is a total newbie question. So please bear with me.

Hey there Madness,
Welcome to the ECF.
Blow Up - Any Truth To The Rumor That E-Cig's can "Blow Up" ?
The Rumor kind of gives it away.......
If you do something (to any kind of electrical equipment, or any kind of equipment) that is not the way the OEM intended for that equipment, stuff may happen........
You can not cut corners. If you set up calls for a specific battery, use that battery. If that battery calls for a specific charger, use that charger.