Efest vented/sort of blew up

[Cicero2.3]

Just a quick PSA:

I had a 3100 Efest battery vent and sort of blow up on me last night. Luckily it was in the charger and not in my cigarette at the time. I put it into the charger and left the room. I started to hear a hissing sound then a really loud pop that almost sounded like gunfire. I went back in the room and there was a small cloud of white smoke and an acidly smell in the air. I yanked the power cord out of the wall and put the whole thing into a metal lidded trash can.

After letting it cool for a few hours I inspected the charger and battery. The top of the battery was melted and the metal contact point in the charger was bent back and mangled a bit. The heat had melted some of the plastic as well.

I am a long time caper and always exceptionally careful with my batteries. I like everyone else had heard the stories but I never expected this. There was no damage that I noticed on the wrapper prior to the incident and the battery had always performed well in my ipv 4s.

By the way the battery was a 3100 from Efest and the charger was the luc 4.

I have to say I did not examine the battery right before I charged it so I cannot definitively say it was not damaged or that user error was involved, but I am really careful with this kind of stuff.

I am not wading into the Efest controversy and I would not read much into this but it was scary enough to make me replace all of my batteries and get a different brand of charger.

 

[Haadkoe]

Hopefully you replaced your cells with Samsung, LG, or Sony's.

 

[Mooch]

Wow, close call! I'm glad it wasn't any more serious.
Yea, I guess there's no way to know what really happened but I'm glad you posted it!

 

[Haadkoe]

That world renowned efest quality almost burned his house down.

Wonder how long it'll be before efest tries blaming this on the op?

 

[Mooch]

It could have been the charger or the condition of the wrap that caused this too. We can't tell if it's the battery's fault or not in my opinion.

 

[Haadkoe]

Realistically, you're right mooch. However, considering that both the battery and charger were efest branded, and knowing Efests dishonest history, in my mind I'm just going to go ahead and assume they're at fault.

 

[Mooch]

Ahhh...interesting point!

 

[coilburner]

I am a long time caper and always exceptionally careful with my batteries. .

I don't know what a "caper" is but if your always exceptionally careful with batteries you would have read up on them first and not ignored the warnings. Part of battery safety is knowing if the batteries you are using are reliable or not. Im not trying to be a jerk but research needs to be thorough. Glad your okay and your house didn't burn down.

 

[Cicero2.3]

I don't know what a "caper" is but if your always exceptionally careful with batteries you would have read up on them first and not ignored the warnings. Part of battery safety is knowing if the batteries you are using are reliable or not. Im not trying to be a jerk but research needs to be thorough. Glad your okay and your house didn't burn down.

Stupid auto correct. By careful I mean not using them if the wrap is damaged, making sure to not over charge them, and not charging them at night or when not home. I always assumed that if they were on the market they were safe. That is my own fault obviously.

Like I said above it could have been user error but having googled Efest batteries I am switching to a new brand.

 

[Cicero2.3]

Hopefully you replaced your cells with Samsung, LG, or Sony's.

Yeah I ordered Samsung batteries. I will also be more watchful of the wraps etc. just to be on the safe side. I use a vented mod but if the battery had popped while vaping I might have lost a couple of teeth.

 

[VapieDan]

Realistically, you're right mooch. However, considering that both the battery and charger were efest branded, and knowing Efests dishonest history, in my mind I'm just going to go ahead and assume they're at fault.

This has been in the back of mind for quite a while I use either the Nitecore or Xtar chargers. The Efest chargers seem to hold an equal place in the market with other good quality chargers. I have been reluctant to purchase them do to the companies improper labeling of batteries.

 

[coilburner]

This has been in the back of mind for quite a while I use either the Nitecore or Xtar chargers. The Efest chargers seem to hold an equal place in the market with other good quality chargers. I have been reluctant to purchase them do to the companies improper labeling of batteries.

Even if Efest made an excellent product I would never support them by buying anything of theirs. I have heard from people I respect that they are liars.

 

[VapieDan]

Even if Efest made an excellent product I would never support them by buying anything of theirs. I have heard from people I respect that they are liars.

Good point well taken

 

[Plumes.91]

In my opinion, it is a toss-up as to what could-have caused this, and WHO's FAULT it could or MAY be... It COULD be OP's issue, for all we know. Maybe He/She has been vaping above the AMP limits for the battery? Maybe the mod has been shorting-out, causing HARD shorts, which will inevitably cause the battery's internal temp resistance to fail and at some (seemingly random) point in time, it'll vent...

ALL I can say is OP- PLEASE make SURE you are using safe battery use practices so this WONT happen again.
Also make-sure ALL of your mods are put-together correctly & securely, with no loose fitting parts.
ALSO make sure that the atty/tank you've been using, isn't screwed-up in some type of way. Make-sure there's nothing odd in there.

 

[TrueNorthist]

I'm gonna go off all fat-headed here and say, like virtually all manufacturers today, Efest most likely is little more than an assembly plant, possibly more, but that can change in an instant. Most manufacturers have their components made off-site by people or companies who actually make the various bit and pieces and "brand-x" then simply assembles them into a device and puts a case and/or label on it.

As we all know too well, some do absolutely nothing more than put a different label on or over just about anything and call it whatever they wish. It is very wise to take the time to educate yourself on how to identify quality in any product you plan to purchase and never assume the name implies very much any more. Even the best companies can make mistakes now and then, but it is safe to assume a manufacturer is only as good as their suppliers. And some suppliers leave a lot to be desired.

Back in the day Bell and Howell was a colossus in their field, but today are simply pedlars of superfluous junk.