Exploding eGo-T battery

[PVPuff&Stuff]

Just adding another pointer or two.

E-cig batteries are lithium. This is lithium and water. Please don't use water to try and extinguish lithium batteries. Throw it in a fire safe container, outside, or better yet....just get away from it. Replacing a cabinet top is a lot easier than a finger.

Lithium and Water - YouTube

Flaming lithium cells are very contagious to other lithium cells. If you're using fire safe bags (which is an excellent idea), don't put a bunch of batteries in one bag.

 

[frazz]

The ego seems to have alot of electronics built into it... i.e. push the button 5 times for on / off, the electronic switch, etc. Does anyone know if they built short circuit protection or over current protection? I would think that as long as it has been on the market, if they can fit it in the tiny circuit board of the provape, they can fit it in there... I would think that safety with the lithium batteries possibly exploading would be of primary concern. I would rather have the battery completly shutdown and not let me use it again than have my face blown off.

 

[Bdbodger]

Well I don't think they have short cucuit protection as I have had two batteries stick in the on position . One I was doing a dry burn with an maybe got a bit hot but the other one was new and I was just useing it for the first time . As far as overcharging that protecton should be in the charging curcuit either in the charger or in the case of the passthru battery in the curcuit in the battery . For under charge the battery will flash for a time then shut off .

 

[Rocketman]

The eGo circuit board (up by the switch) has over charge cut off, under voltage cutoff and short circuit protection built into it.

The integrated circuit chip that does all of this is highly integrated with several logic gates, voltage comparitors, oscillator, resistors and small signal transistors in it. This Magic chip also controls the PWM when you vape by sending a pulse train to a power Mosfet to control current to the atty center pin. Another mosfet turns on to allow charging current to reach the Li-ion cell. The primary failure mode for this type of circuitry, shorting of the power Mosfet, is caused by heat. When a Mosfet power switch is turned on it still has a small resistance, drops a little voltage, and heats up some. If the load is excessive, this self heating is increased. The semiconducting material inside the Mosfet 'melts' and loses it ability to control current. This may be a one time permanent failure, or a partial break down that appears to heal itself. But the capability of the Mosfet has been compromised and total failure is eminent. The failed Mosfet (shorted) may also cause secondary component failures with varying LED flashing results. Once current control is lost then solder joints can melt and the circuit redefined by melted solder bridging new connections. If there is enough current available the Mosfet may even melt to an OPEN condition. Is this a possible cause for a Li-ion cell going thermal? Maybe.

Things to be aware of:
A bad connection with a atty/carto can create a situation much like a dirty volume control on an old stereo. A damaged center pin insulator either on the battery side or atty/carto can cause a light short that works sometimes, and shorts out at other times. The PWM circuit can not properly control current in this situation. Exercising the short circuit protection over and over is asking for a permanent failure.

Excessively heavy vaping, Very Low Resistance Cartos (even the 1.5 ohm ones have a range from 1.4 to 1.6 ohms), or long Dry Burns with a LR atty, are potentially damaging.

Pay close attention to the performance of both the battery unit and the charger. Any anomalous operation may indicate an impending failure.

 

[frazz]

The eGo circuit board (up by the switch) has over charge cut off, under voltage cutoff and short circuit protection built into it.

The integrated circuit chip that does all of this is highly integrated with several logic gates, voltage comparitors, oscillator, resistors and small signal transistors in it. This Magic chip also controls the PWM when you vape by sending a pulse train to a power Mosfet to control current to the atty center pin. Another mosfet turns on to allow charging current to reach the Li-ion cell. The primary failure mode for this type of circuitry, shorting of the power Mosfet, is caused by heat. When a Mosfet power switch is turned on it still has a small resistance, drops a little voltage, and heats up some. If the load is excessive, this self heating is increased. The semiconducting material inside the Mosfet 'melts' and loses it ability to control current. This may be a one time permanent failure, or a partial break down that appears to heal itself. But the capability of the Mosfet has been compromised and total failure is eminent. The failed Mosfet (shorted) may also cause secondary component failures with varying LED flashing results. Once current control is lost then solder joints can melt and the circuit redefined by melted solder bridging new connections. If there is enough current available the Mosfet may even melt to an OPEN condition. Is this a possible cause for a Li-ion cell going thermal? Maybe.

Things to be aware of:
A bad connection with a atty/carto can create a situation much like a dirty volume control on an old stereo. A damaged center pin insulator either on the battery side or atty/carto can cause a light short that works sometimes, and shorts out at other times. The PWM circuit can not properly control current in this situation. Exercising the short circuit protection over and over is asking for a permanent failure.

Excessively heavy vaping, Very Low Resistance Cartos (even the 1.5 ohm ones have a range from 1.4 to 1.6 ohms), or long Dry Burns with a LR atty, are potentially damaging.

Pay close attention to the performance of both the battery unit and the charger. Any anomalous operation may indicate an impending failure.

So all of the above information is how David Banner became the Hulk.. I had no idea! But seriously, Nothing in the manual about this, but does the ego give any indication of any of these situations with a certain sequence of flashing lights or anything?

Edit: At what ohm's does a cart or atty become low resistance? I know the new Ego-T is 2.6 or so, but if they go as low as 1.5, is 2.6 really considered LR?

 

[Rocketman]

You are shielded from the harmful radiation from a shorted Mosfet by the brass eGo switch body.

My wife has been using 1.6 ohm Dual Coil Cartos on 900mah eGos for several months (rotating about 5 of them) without a problem. But, she is not a 'Heavy Vapor' and I frequently check her equipment out
I killed one of hers experimenting (but I have spares for her hidden away).

I think 1.6 or less is LR. Over 2 ohms is probably Regular Resistance. The original Joye 510 atty was 2.2 to 2.4 ohms.

A 3.4 ohm with a crushed/damaged insulator could be low resistance

 

[r77r7r]

You are shielded from the harmful radiation from a shorted Mosfet by the brass eGo switch body.

My wife has been using 1.6 ohm Dual Coil Cartos on 900mah eGos for several months (rotating about 5 of them) without a problem. But, she is not a 'Heavy Vapor' and I frequently check her equipment out
I killed one of hers experimenting (but I have spares for her hidden away).

I think 1.6 or less is LR. Over 2 ohms is probably Regular Resistance. The original Joye 510 atty was 2.2 to 2.4 ohms.

A 3.4 ohm with a crushed/damaged insulator could be low resistance

I thought 900 and up batts/eGo's were 3.7, which are safer w/ LR's?

 

[Rocketman]

The 900 eGo is still PWM.

 

[counterpoint]

I mentioned that my colleague's battery exploded and we had both purchased some of the same parts from the same online shops so I am more worried about this problem than others might be.

Here is a video of my Ego-T 1100 mAh battery when fully charged. The light flickers... My 650 mAh battery does not do this.



Is this common? Rocketman blinded me with science in an earlier post in this thread mentioning noticing anomalies so I would love to hear his thoughts on this.

 

[carpedebass]

I mentioned that my colleague's battery exploded and we had both purchased some of the same parts from the same online shops so I am more worried about this problem than others might be.

Here is a video of my Ego-T 1100 mAh battery when fully charged. The light flickers... My 650 mAh battery does not do this.



Is this common? Rocketman blinded me with science in an earlier post in this thread mentioning noticing anomalies so I would love to hear his thoughts on this.

That's not common. It should blink every few seconds, but not like that.

 

[Rocketman]

The red LED indicates current flow into the eGo. When the charger gets close to full charge the battery voltage will be elevated a little due to the charge current, and the charger will waver right at the cut off, termination voltage. Sort of a "fuzzy" cut off. The rate of the flicker is not pre-programmed so some flicker every few seconds until the battery reaches termination voltage with very very little current. The 1100mah battery is more of a load to the charger than a smaller 650 or 900mah eGo. So this may go on for maybe an hour or so.

Is the fast flickering normal? I don't have that model eGo but I use the 420mah charger to charger Much larger mods and see varying flicker patterns but don't recall seeing that. If the flickering doesn't stop, then the charger may be continuing to charge above a safe battery voltage (the dreaded trickle charge). If it stops and the charger stays 100% green then the charge has stopped. Measuring charger voltage without a load would be inconclusive. Measuring the output voltage of the eGo is also difficult (the PWM). If that is the adjustable one (three step) you could put it on the high setting and measure full charge voltage. MAX should be 4.225.

My suggestion would be NOT TO LEAVE THIS ON CHARGE OVERNIGHT. Try another charger (you don't want to only have one charger anyway), put the eGo in a fireproof small pan while charging.

I am astounded that someone actually payed attention to a 'safety' comment. Should you be worried? I would remain 'aware' and be cautious. I almost hate to say this, but keep it in a safe situation while charging and you should be OK, even if it blows. The design of the eGo blows the end cap (and melts the switch). Blowing while on charge is usually the fault of the charger. I would guess that blowing while vaping could happen with a shorted atty or damaged insulator in the eGo connector.

Rocket.

 

[counterpoint]

So... first thing Monday morning and my colleague tells me that a second ego battery failed on him (his 650mah battery previously exploded and shot across the room). He said he caught this one before it could have possibly exploded as well. He said he felt the battery and it was hot after about 1 hour on the charger and when he pushed the button it was "mushy" and the button melted, pushed in and has fallen off.

1.) Different battery 1100mah labelled Ego-t and it looks genuine. Purchased as part of an Ego-T kit from a different online store. I believe he is using boge cartomizers with it.
2.) Different USB charger than the one that exploded the previous 650mah battery.
3.) Same Dell computer...

I have the battery and will take pictures of it tonight.

My 1100mah battery in the youtube video I posted is fine and has never been even slightly warm while charging. I put it back on the charger and it charged for a while longer and then it was a steady green.

 

[counterpoint]

Images of the melted Ego-T battery...

 

[mgordon1100]

I have a theory about how this battery works. It's just a best guess, really. My friend had dropped one of his batteries. The end cap came off, and the button receded into the housing. He threw it out, but I asked him to retrieve it for me. After a few minutes of looking at it, I fixed it and I'm using it now.

Ok, now for my theory. With the end cap off, I noticed that there's a lose wire on the end of the battery. At first I thought it was a wire from the negative end to complete the circuit. I figured it touched the end cap, to send the juice through the casing back up to the top. However, I was able to push the button with my fingernail, and the battery worked just fine, without the end cap on. I think that the wire is actually part of the auto shut off circuitry. I'll place a small bet that the wire is designed to sense an increase in heat while it's on the charger, then shut down the charging when that happens.

If I'm right, then perhaps the sensor wire wasn't positioned correctly, causing the battery to keep on charging. I know this isn't much help to fixing issues, as we would hope that batteries are constructed correctly before they get to us. Also, I don't expect that people would be popping off that end cap to see if the wire is in a good position, especially since I'm only guessing at this. Just thought I'd chime in on why this might have happened. The battery shouldn't be shutting the charger off, so I don't think it's the charger's fault. The battery should just be shutting down charging ability internally.

 

[BuzzKilla]

i would just like to chime in on the safety aspect of this thread.

im a RC hobbiest, so ive been grilled with Lithium info and safety.
i deal with 6000mAh LiPo packs, so i've been a witness to some big booms!

get a charging bag intended for lithium batteries. they are cheap and can save alot more than your desk. Metal charging cases will only act as shrapnel if the cell burts. if you have the tendancy of walking away from a battery on a charger than this is a must , not an option.

e-cig batteries get tossed around and dropped, all this can cause the internals to get jumbled around and short-out something inside. dont take safety for granted.

If you have encountered a damaged/punctured/swollen cell (refering to the mods that take loose cells) dispose of the cells properly. trying to recharge wil only cause fireworks.

the simplest way to neutralize a lithium cell is to dunk it in a 9:1 water/salt bath overnight. once neutralized (0 volts), it is safe to handle and dispose properly. be sure that the cell is cool and not still on fire...

adding water to a burning cell will give you the opposite of your desired effect. Also most house hold fire extinguishers will not be able to put out a lithium fire("class D" i think) out, due to its chemical nature. So i will remind you all again that a lithium charging bag is your best friend.


* i dont encourage to take my words as absolute fact. Please consider what i've writen when doing your own research, and always be safe.

Thanks for reading

 

[counterpoint]

I just ordered a lipo-safe bag on Ebay shipped from the UK for 6 or 7 euros plus cheap shipping to Ireland. Peace of mind.

My colleague ordered a lipo-safe bag from Hong Kong for 1 or 2 euros over 3 weeks ago and it never arrived. He has officially quit ecigs.

 

[BuzzKilla]

1100mah labelled Ego-t and it looks genuine. Purchased as part of an Ego-T kit from a different online store.
[/I]

sorry to break it to ya, but JOYE never made a 1100mAh, their line only caries 650/900/1000

there are some good clones out there!

 

[counterpoint]

sorry to break it to ya, but JOYE never made a 1100mAh, their line only caries 650/900/1000

there are some good clones out there!

Thanks for the info!!!

I was afraid of that (but somehow knew it all along).

Just looked at the online shop we bought ours from and it is 1000mah (not 1100mah) and says "guaranteed genuine"...

 

[carpedebass]

Thanks for the info!!!

I was afraid of that (but somehow knew it all along).

Just looked at the online shop we bought ours from and it is 1000mah (not 1100mah) and says "guaranteed genuine"...

If it has the 5 click on/off it's genuine.

 

[RandaPandaBear]

I was using a regular shorty 510 usb charger on the computer. I have a Dell Studio with usb ports in a slight depression on the top of the case. When the charger is plugged in there is a bit of an upward angle to the batt. I have a hub that sits there to support the heavy eGos.

If I had been using the one that uses wall power I probably would be in the hospital. That one sits on the desk in front of the computer with the cap end pointed right at me. It has now been moved.

regular 510 chargers are NOT TO BE USED with ego t batteries. says so right on the charger.