**BOOM!** Battery Failure

[smokum]

Awww Crap !!!

Now I'm freaked out !..... Glad to hear the OP is ok, and that this hasnt' turned into a larger catastrophy of mishaps with fatalities for ANY others !!

What I, and I'm sure many many others, need to know is:

- Can you "visually" tell if the batteries one has are protected or not ??

- How would the "common person" confirm that their device is properly vented, aside from contacting and relying on the seller telling the truth ??

Well, so much for enjoying my lately received toys: GLV 5v & Protege v1, until I can confirm whats what (no way I'm taking a chance with "MY" luck !!) !!

Anyone with sound knowledge to give advice here (and not just someone who "heard it through the grapevine") ?? <--- not implying "anything" here, just stating.....

Guess its back to the ole Dura for me I suppose until this all gets worked out !!

Scary stuff indeed.......

Be Safe & VapeOn,
Greg

 

[steven.rn]

I too love the 5v option that some of the mods offer. But when I think about the fact that this could have seriously hurt an infant in my care I just cringe! In my case a good part of my good fortune in not being more seriously hurt was the actual mod I was using. It was a very light weight aluminum flashlight mod. Just imagine if all that power had been inside a much more solid mod like a Chuck or Silver bullet or even a Prodigy! It would have been a lot more like a small hand grenade. I am just lucky that the back threads pulled loose instead of all of that force coming out of the front which was in my mouth at the time. I was very lucky and will NOT be taking that fact for granted.

You can build ANY battery using device to be a "potential hand grenade"-- a flashlight, an MP3 player, a talking doll, a greeting card that sings, etc. etc. I would hope anyone making a mod would be cognizant of that, as I would any maker of a flashlight would be cognizant of that - and not build units totally welded shut air-tight JUST IN CASE someone sticks an unprotected battery in.

Characterizing e-cigs as potential hand grenades is dicey- I could characterize portable hand held screwdrivers to be potential hand grenades or shotguns for drill bits. Scary as the scenario was, and yes, conciousness needs to be raised- the focus is and should be proper battery use and application, not the ecig itself.

I imagine a scenario where someone puts an unprotected battery in a doll; the batt blows, catches the doll on fire, and burns down a house where lots of people get sent back to their Original Manufacturer (God) and that post gets battery powered dolls banned in the US.

I applaud the OP for posting this; but the consciousness needs to be raised on responsible battery usage, and surely not to get sidetracked into an inflammatory rant on e-cigs in particular. Look around your house, you'll find a bunch of things using batteries, and they better all be right.

In particular, though, if someone used an unprotected battery in a SB or a Chuck, the gasses would vent out the switch. I think this particular characterization of them is wrong. They aren't welded shut.

I'd feel a LOT safer with a Chuck, for instance, than with a magnum if I was unfortunate enough to have a fiend slip unprotected batteries in it. The solid construction would only allow a thermal event to vent out the switch.

You got no clue where the aluminum on a flashlight mod is going to give out first under those kind of pressures. All in all, I feel safer with a Chuck.

Still, just plain decline the penalty and use protected batts. On everything. I'm sorry to see this happen to the OP, and very much appreciate this sharing. A good wake up to all vapers.

Oh, and did I say.... use protected batteries?

 

[Parmacrafter]

For those of you who want a USA seller go here: Protected UltraFire 14500 AA sized 3.6V Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery 900 mAh CR14500 Lithium Ion And yes these will work with the standard chargers. Also most protected batteries say right on them that they are protected.

 

[AngusATAT]

I'm very glad to hear that you're ok, Parmacrafter. Judging by your description of the force of the explosion, it could have been so much worse. I can't imagine something like that going off in my face.

I've never used unprotected batteries, with the exception of my Janty Stick which had an onboard PCB, and I only charged those inside the Stick. I read about the dangers when I came to this forum, and decided that I wouldn't want to take the risk. I've taken enough risks in my life and have the scars and other permanent injuries to prove it. Getting married and having kids made me a bit more cautious.

I only use protected batteries in my Chuck. While it doesn't take the risk of explosion or venting completely away, I know that the threading on the battery cap and the hole drilled for the switch would help to protect me. I don't know about the other big mods, but it would definitely be a question I would have before purchasing one, especially after reading your post. For now though, I think I'll stick with my Chuck and some Nicostick type mods.

Once again, I'm glad to hear you're ok. I hope we never have to have another thread like this on the ECF.

 

[KonaNeil]

The Vaprlife and SuperT designs are vented.

There may be others. They all should be.

Plez xcuse brevity. PC in repair, thumbs sore.

 

[tribalmasters]

I have put away the GG Grant and will dispose of the unprotected batteries. I don't think there are any 6 volt protected options for it as it uses CR2s Time for a new mod!! The SilverBullet looks to me like it uses the lifepos, perhaps that will be a good one to get to replace the GG!

 

[doots]

If anyone knows of any CR2's that are protected. Please post it with a link. I have never seen any..

 

[props76]

If anyone knows of any CR2's that are protected. Please post it with a link. I have never seen any..

Well if you want to be a true moder, you have to look into everything.

My suggestion is that if you don't have a protected batt you consider using the protection circut from a PV with a dead batt. 801's have a separate board that controls/protects the batt.

That may be one way to do it. BUT THIS IS JUST A SUGGESTION, I DO NOT KNOW IT THAT WILL WORK. UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE DOING BEFORE YOU TRY IT OR WE ALL HAVE SEEN WHAT WILL HAPPEN.

 

[Saiyge]

So glad that you werent more seriously injured, but I can imagine how rattled you must be!!!! I hope that you are okay and that you feel better soon!!! Scary stuff!

 

[Parmacrafter]

I am pretty sure in this case it was a bad cell. But it is REALLY IMPORTANT for everyone to realize that a bad cell and explosion can happen with ANY battery of ANY brand. My only reason for posting this was just to let everyone know that it is NOT just one person who has suffered battery failure. My only point here was for everyone to realize there is a danger although small and we should all exercise at least minimal caution.

 

[YoMike]

Vent holes should be mandatory on all multi battery PV'S for sure!
Single battery PV's has less of a chance to blow but it wouldn't hurt to vent them too.
Goes off to drill holes in bottom caps of things!

 

[props76]

We are quick to jump on China all the time for making things unsafe. We worry about their e-juice ect..

Its scary to read this thread and see how many people have been sold devices like this, and not been given proper instruction. Basically we have a company selling home grown pipe bombs, sold to people without any instruction. That is irresponsible!!

All we need is someone to blow their face off, have it make the news, and there are going to be so many laws against our evil e-cigs we'll never see a bottle of e-juice, or a PV again.

Companies, smarten up. Its not the wild west. Just because you can source out a crude mechanical device, giving it a 200 percent or better margin, dosen't mean you should ignore safety, engineering and testing to make a quick buck.

 

[KonaNeil]

....All we need is someone to blow their face off, have it make the news, and there are going to be so many laws against our evil e-cigs we'll never see a bottle of e-juice, or a PV again.

Companies, smarten up. Its not the wild west. Just because you can source out a crude mechanical device, giving it a 200 percent or better margin, dosen't mean you should ignore safety, engineering and testing to make a quick buck.

If there are any serious mod designers / marketers here: if you take risks and don't have liability insurance and a corporation or LLC to hide behind, you are gambling with your future and that of your family. You can even be effectively attacked by litigation from another country. And yes, this knowledge is integral to my career experience of the last 30 years.

 

[crashtestjeep]

I don't believe those batteries are the right voltage for the Protege

These are....




DealExtreme: $5.64 TrustFire Protected 3.7V 900mAh 14500 Lithium Battery (2-Pack)

TrustFire Protected 3.7V 900mAh 14500 Lithium Battery (2-Pack)

TrustFire Protected 3.7V 900mAh 14500 Lithium Battery (2-Pack) [E0121] : BestOfferBuy.com, Buy DVD, Shop for PC accessories, Discount MP3 Players, Bargain Deal for Surveillance Equipment, Cheap R4 for NDS, X-sim Unlock

TrustFire Protected 14500 3.7V 900mAh Lithium Battery [TrustFire] - $2.68 : High Tech DealZ, Simplifying the LASER Hobby!

I have used the last ones listed, I have not tried the others

your totally right, i was pointing out some for the 6v/5v vaping and forgot all abt posting the protege ones! HA! Thanks for helping, I was obviously up wayy past my bedtime, lol

 

[crashtestjeep]

Awww Crap !!!

Now I'm freaked out !..... Glad to hear the OP is ok, and that this hasnt' turned into a larger catastrophy of mishaps with fatalities for ANY others !!

What I, and I'm sure many many others, need to know is:

- Can you "visually" tell if the batteries one has are protected or not ??

- How would the "common person" confirm that their device is properly vented, aside from contacting and relying on the seller telling the truth ??

Well, so much for enjoying my lately received toys: GLV 5v & Protege v1, until I can confirm whats what (no way I'm taking a chance with "MY" luck !!) !!

Anyone with sound knowledge to give advice here (and not just someone who "heard it through the grapevine") ?? <--- not implying "anything" here, just stating.....

Guess its back to the ole Dura for me I suppose until this all gets worked out !!

Scary stuff indeed.......

Be Safe & VapeOn,
Greg

If you have the Tenergy Batts fromPS, they are protected, and yes theres a way to tell if batts are protected, visually.

On the bottom, It wont have that "nipple" appearance, it will have a coin like flat piece on the bottom, its sometimes gold-ish, sometimes has the brand name written in it, and is a thiv=cker bottom piece, and never w/a "nipple" appearance. Go to dealextreme.com and search "protected battery" . there it will show pics of the bottoms and you can compare prot/unprotected there and see the whole picture....

Dont be scared off, just get informed, order the right stuff and vape happily again! Afterall, we trust our cell phones, yet there have been plenty instances of death from them blowing up-mostly when used while still plugged into the wall outlets. This is not widely publicized bc alot of people make their living off selling the phones and service.....but its definatley happening.

knowledge is power and i knew the risks and just had the wrong attitude until seeing this post. ECF members have become a family aside from family for me quite quickly and it saddens me to hear Parmas story...so for here on out Ill chose my ignorance more wisely, and hopefully non at all for now on

 

[Robert]

Who made your Mod? (I hope it wasn't me!)

Your Mod had a short. If the red wire touches the black wire that is a short. Who made it? Tear it apart and look at it.

Were all the connection heat shrinked? Then all components in-cased in steel hard epoxy? Were the + connections on the circut board epoxyed over to prevent a short?

It is easy to slap together somethijng but a little more differcult to make it sturdy. Internally your mod shorted out- blame the person who put the wires together not the batteries. Who made your Mod?

Vent hole might be a good option, easy to add to any CR2 mod.

 

[Porphy]

Protected batteries, Protected batteries, Protected batteries

I know a lot of modders put substantial consideration when building these mods--some don't--you can usually tell those that do by the design and those that don't by the 5 pounds of epoxy swathed over the connections.

The biggest thing to remember is that you deal with li-ion batteries everyday in your cell phone, rechargeable flashlight, cameras, etc. it isn't the device that fails it's the battery. Get good batteries and you'll never have to realize how smart you were.

 

[crashtestjeep]

Well, regardless of a short, I think the situation is simply that a battery exploded in her face, therefore causing us to rethink the types of batteries we use.

Looking at the pics, the mod does appear to be yours, but Im not going to assume anything. the only reason I think that is bc its ur style to use the red end caps on the black body.

I have notticed that you have been securing ur modds more and more as time passes, and hats off to you for that! (but you havent ALWAYS done the heat shrink n epoxy insulation from what i see in older oics)however, the reason ive never purchased ur mods, is bc I DO wonder what kind of safety they have with all that epoxy...looks to me the weak point is the atty, but after this iincident, I see its the other eend, if its evenn ur mod...couldnt see the top...

I guess my point is that you shoulndt go tryin to make her call out the modder, bc in all honesty, it looks like urs and in ur post whether or not u meant to, it seemed as if u were saying ur mods were superior and wont have a battery explosion bc u heatshrink/epoxy the connections....batts are funny things, and it can happen to anyones anything really..

Also, I was actuallly thinking if you switched a silver and a black end cap on the ones ur selling now, it adds a contrast and would look quite appealing!

If ur wondering if it was ur mod, Id look thru ur payment method acct, and search for her screenname, as Im sure it would be alot easier than searching ur PMs as Im sure u have hundreds.

Im just saying that its obvious shes not trying to call anyone out or push blame on anyone but simply trying to make everyone aware of the battery explosion bc regardless of who made it or what caused the explosion, the explosion occured...

 

[Robert]

Crashtest for you to assume I sold this to her? Why? I can only see the red end cap? the whole thing might be red? look again.

oh god- I was kidding- it wasn't me- I didn't sell it to her- lol

I was pointing out that I make mine so they don't short out and explode..... oh my

I did not make this.... I repeat I DID NOT make this.

So who made this? She might have made it herself?

 

[crashtestjeep]

Read again, I said I wasnt going to assume anything and after looking again, i do see the red ring -at first glance it looked all black. BUT i certainly wasnt saying it WAS urs, just that it could and think if she was wanting to call out bthe modder and blame that person, she would have done so. I just dont thinnk its right to critisize someones work bc even if it was a short, Im sure it wasnt intended and could have happened to anyone! or anyones work! Simpply out- the batt exploded! Afterall, ur the one who said "who made that mod i hope it wasnt me"

I clearly stated the discussion was about batteries exploding....nothing else, no blame from me! Just sayin, if it WAS ur mod, it wouldnt be fun to have people prying for her to call you out...

sorry to quote myself, but wanted robert to see i stated that I WAS NOT ASSUMING ANYTHING

Looking at the pics, the mod does appear to be yours, but Im not going to assume anything. the only reason I think that is bc its ur style to use the red end caps on the black body.