A few questions about Ego Twist setups and explosions...

[sk8man121]

So I've been reading about Ego Twist explosions and am a bit concerned. I'm currently using what I believe is a knock-off (won this auction) with a Kangar T3 2.2 ohm tank (ordered from vapor beast). The charger that came with my starter kit ended up failing, so I ordered a replacement from Vapor Beast. It has a DC input of 5V and output of 4.2V=420mA. vaping Halo juices at 3.7V.

Now, I have no reason in particular to believe that this setup is "dangerous" in any way, but I have been reading threads about Ego knockoffs and different chargers exploding.

Should I be concerned here? Will these batteries explode when in use, or while charging? Are there signs of a bad battery? Any help is much appreciated.

 

[KjAthena]

use proper charging techniques (IE do not leave unattended and charge from wall wart not usb) and you should be fine...if you want extra safety you can do as I have and make a charging box from a metal bread box or cookie tin Knock offs often lack the circut that automatically stop charging allowing for overcharging.

I do not suggest charging on a car charger.

every story of a ventting ego battery I have heard of was during charging not during use

 

[sk8man121]

So overcharging is really the only issue? I tend to keep my batteries under-charged for better or for worse anyways...

Also, are you saying they should be charged from the wall instead of from the laptop? I have a wall adapter for my Kodak camera that fits a USB. Is that safe to use?

 

[KjAthena]

I have used wall wart adapters from my camera, MP3 ect with no problems

 

[catalinaflyer]

Lithium based batteries can have a "thermal event" both from over charging as well as over discharging. Shorting one can also start a thermal event.

Personally I have ZERO experience with failed ego form batteries but I have had my fair share of thermal events with LiPo batteries. Lithium based batteries very rarely "explode", they vent hot gas which stinks to high heaven and occasionally go off like a roman candle but rarely pop like a fire cracker.

Charge it properly, use it properly, handle it properly and it should be okay. If you ever feel it getting hot to the touch while using then dispose of it properly. It's okay for them to get just a touch warm when charging but how to describe what is warm enough and what's too warm is tough.

 

[sk8man121]

I notice that when charging, the charger itself gets a little warm. The battery seems to remain cool, however.

 

[Ryedan]

Most of the eGo batteries I've heard of burning, or exploding have been due to people using the wrong charger and have happened while charging. Occasionally a charger will fail and cause a fire. That also happens on the charger. I've never heard of a eGo battery exploding while being used.

There are a few of things you can do to help avoid problems.

Always use the correct charger for the battery.

The first few times you charge, check battery temperature occasionally. If it ever gets warm, you have a problem and should stop immediately. It could be the charger or the battery, but you should not use either again until you figure out what's wrong.

Don't leave the battery on charge after the charge is complete.

Don't charge when you are not there and awake.

Do not charge in heat above room temperature (like in a car in the sun in Florida on a 100 deg day. Yes, this has happened!).

If your charger's light stops behaving properly, stop using it. Toss it and get a new one.

IMO if people did these simple things, a lot of the issues we have with these batteries would not happen

 

[Ryedan]

I notice that when charging, the charger itself gets a little warm. The battery seems to remain cool, however.

My eGo chargers do not get warm, but as long as the battery stays cool and the charger does not too warm, I would not worry about it.

 

[sk8man121]

You know, I'm not sure if my charger light is behaving properly or not. It is green when not on the battery, and then when connected it goes red and flashes a quick green every 2 seconds or so (like lightning fast), going back to red. This happened with the first charger I had, and is now happening with the replacement. The light on the battery's button remains on while charging.

Does this all sound normal?

 

[Ryedan]

You know, I'm not sure if my charger light is behaving properly or not. It is green when not on the battery, and then when connected it goes red and flashes a quick green every 2 seconds or so (like lightning fast), going back to red. This happened with the first charger I had, and is now happening with the replacement. The light on the battery's button remains on while charging.

Does this all sound normal?

My Joye charger behaves the same as yours does. The light on my Joye eGo Twist does not stay on when charging. It flashes a few times going on charge and then goes out. If your battery is not Joye, I wouldn't worry about this one unless other things go wrong, like the battery getting warm. If it is a Joye batt, I would worry about it.

 

[catalinaflyer]

I'm sure there are as many different chargers with as many different circuits as there are opinions. One thing is your charger may be briefly stopping it's charging to check the status of the battery which could be why your seeing the green light flicker every few seconds. It's a "dumb" circuit and as such would not have the capacity of knowing where the battery is at in it's charge state while putting charge to it.

Just a theory. Personally I would let it charge till the light stays green and see if the light on the battery button goes out. That's what mine do.

 

[Ryedan]

Also, are you saying they should be charged from the wall instead of from the laptop? I have a wall adapter for my Kodak camera that fits a USB. Is that safe to use?

Yes, it's better to charge from a wall plug. Any wall usb plug is good for this. The charger is what has all the intelligence. The wall wart only has to provide 5 volts and 500 milliamps which all usb plugs do. If it supplies more than 500 ma, that's OK too. The charger will only take what it needs, 420 ma typically.

 

[sk8man121]

Is exploding an issue with other batteries/PVs, or is it just the Ego Twist?

 

[KjAthena]

I had an Sony 18650 vent in a mechanical mod when the fire button got stuck partially engaged sitting on a table next to me...it got very hot and smelled horrid. Another person I know was a dumb *** and stacked 18350's without a fuse in a mechanical mod and it vented causing a serous burn,,,,so battery safety is VERY important. There is a good reason to progress and learn with safer protected devices before moving to advanced unprotected mods

 

[sk8man121]

So it sounds like there are explainable reasons for most of these explosions, is that right? Not something that typically can happen when normally charged and used?

 

[catalinaflyer]

Is exploding an issue with other batteries/PVs, or is it just the Ego Twist?

So it sounds like there are explainable reasons for most of these explosions, is that right? Not something that typically can happen when normally charged and used?

I have been playing (working) with Lithium based batteries for 14 years. I have subjected them to some horrific things inducing failure but to this day I have never seen a Lithium based battery "Explode". They vent, rarely they go off like a roman candle or magnesium flare but even more rare is an "Explosion". Now if you were to take say an 18650, seal it very tightly into a mod and set it off on a thermal event, the mod may "explode" once the pressure from the thermal event gets high enough. That's why all battery tubes regardless of what they're called have vent holes in them.

As for your question about other batteries, ANY battery not handled properly can fail. Are Ego Twist's more susceptible, nothing I have seen says they are. Ego's are hitting the new market by the millions every month and as such there's going to be a percentage of failures, often caused by miss-use but a small percentage may fail even with proper handling. One in a million maybe but when 10 million are sold that will make 10 "events" not caused by improper usage.

 

[KjAthena]

correct....there are very explainable reasons for venting and every event (including mine) could have been prevented with proper care and understanding of battery safety. Do not be freaked out,,,,, be educated and respect your gear