exploding batteries

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Ov3rDoSe

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Jan 20, 2010
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The only problem I can see is that it would hurt the battery life somewhat. It completely depends on the kind of charger the ecig uses, but some of them will affect the battery if left on the charger for long periods (2-3 hours fully charged) and the life of the battery will decrease. But hey, all batteries go eventually, and they're dirt cheap, so heed the warning or don't worry about it =)
 

ChipCurtis

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Correct, lithium-ion batteries are not capable of 'overcharging', they have a mechanism in place to cut off the flow of electricity once a full charge has been obtained.

Also, lithium-ion batteries have better performance if you don't let them keep running all the way down to zero charge. Don't let them get below roughly 25%, and they charge quicker and perform better.

And ignore the myth going around that you need to charge them for 8 to 12 hours when you first receive a new battery. That is only true of the old Ni-Cad rechargeables.
 

ApOsTle51

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Correct, lithium-ion batteries are not capable of 'overcharging', they have a mechanism in place to cut off the flow of electricity once a full charge has been obtained.

hmm , not strictly true.

Lithium-ion batteries are able to be over-charged. Li-Ion just won't accept the overcharge and they will vent if not protected.

Not ALL Li-Ion batts have an overcharge mechanism in place. All that is, is a bit of cheap chinese circuitry that stops the battery from accepting a charge above 4.2 volts. mods that use 10440 ( laser pointer), 14500 (protege) use generic Li-ion batts that aren't necessarily protected from overcharge or under voltage issues.

Granted , most proprietary ecig batts have a built in protection circuit as do the supplied chargers , but I'll be damned going by the quality control we see with these devices if I'll leave any ecig battery to charge un-attended.
 

North Shore

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There are Lithium iron phosphate batteries (LiFePO 4 or LFP) that are, at least on paper, supposed to be much safer than regular Lithium Ions. So far, I know of two U.S. based companies that make CR123 sizes Tenergy and more recently K2 Energy. However the K2 battery is rated at 600 mah compared to the Tenergy's 900 mah claim. The Prodigy V2 that I tried came with Tenergy's, for example so they are known.
However, certain CR2 sized LiFePO 4 labeled batteries seem to be at the root of one of the more famous and recent battery blowups. They were, I think, the only CR2 LiFePO 4's out there, and one might hesitate to run them and stick to the green ultrafires and treat them really nice: Battery explosion in my mod breaks jaw and knocks out my two front teeth
 
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Quick1

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Have to ask after reading previous linked thread: is this a danger that you would really only have to worry about @ 6v? It sounds like the incident involved "chained" batts, so would one have to worry about this at 3.7v (single batt setups)?

Don't know much about batteries and almost nothing about LiPo's, but, no. I would not think it has anything directly to do with 6v vs 3.7v. I do believe it's the case that LiIon's are all "protected" since without a builtin ic control they are very suseptible to thermal runaway.

It could indirectly have to do with a number of factors involved with using multiple 3.7v batteries to get to 6v. You are dealing with more than one battery and therefore increased chance of inserting them wrong and you are powering a device at 6v that may have been specifically designed for 3.7 volts -- may lead to a greater chance of the electronics failing or creating a short or the likes. The BB in particular is listed as being a 3.7v device (maybe due to the incident? I don't know).

His batteries had JUST come off a charger. They may have malfunctioned already and were going to blow as soon as any load was applied. Also no indication of how the batteries had been cared for or what they had been subjected to prior to the event.

Another thing to keep in mind is that batteries can and do fail, albeit rarely. Many of the mods are sealed cylinders. With a venting or exploding battery inside you are effectively dealing with a pipe bomb. I always make it a point to buy and use "name brand" batteries.

Having said all that, I was planning on ordering a BB tomorrow and still plan to do so.
 

fragger56

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Feb 4, 2010
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Have to ask after reading previous linked thread: is this a danger that you would really only have to worry about @ 6v? It sounds like the incident involved "chained" batts, so would one have to worry about this at 3.7v (single batt setups)?


There should be minimal added danger vaping at 6v, most likely the cr2 Batts were fraudulently labeled as LiFePO4 batts as the LFP battery chemistry just isn't capable of of going into thermal runaway and detonating that quickly.

In actuality, the explosion was caused by a design HINDSIGHT by the batt mod makers, as ALL battery enclosures should be vented so that EVEN if the batts are overloaded and leak, they don't pressurize the battery container.

I have noticed that MANY battery mod stick things on the market for ecigs OMIT a safety vent on them, which can lead to an explosion of the devices if the batteries themselves vent due to short circuit or overheating or any of the myriad things that cause battery failures.

Oh and for anyone who cares, personally I prefer batt mods/cases based on standard AA or AAA low self discharge cells. Nearly no chance of causing an explosion with NIMH batts and the attys seem to work well and for a long time at 4.8v (i run 4 batts in series, 1.2vx4=4.8)
Only downside if the batt box needs to be bigger to hold everything, but everything for a AAA box fits in a 3"x2"x1" project box from radioshack and it fits my hand well.

I run Sanyo Eneloop 800mah AAAs and they last atleast a day of heavy vaping, sometimes two. If i had used AAs instead i'd expect close to a week per charge as they have 3x the capacity of the AAAs and are being run at a lower current rate.

I think the small NiMH batts handle the high current draw better than most small lithium based batteries as I personally have never come across any lithium battery smaller than a 18650 that likes having more than 1.5c discharge pulled from them.
For reference c is a measure of current draw for batteries in relation to their capacity, for example a 800mAh battery being used at a rate of 1c would have a load of 800mA, a 2c load on the same battery would be a current draw of 1.6A and so on.
The more "c"s you draw, the lower the running time of the battery is. Most batteries are rated for capacity at 0.5c.
 

Quick1

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There should be minimal added danger vaping at 6v, most likely the cr2 Batts were fraudulently labeled as LiFePO4 batts as the LFP battery chemistry just isn't capable of of going into thermal runaway and detonating that quickly.

In actuality, the explosion was caused by a design HINDSIGHT by the batt mod makers, as ALL battery enclosures should be vented so that EVEN if the batts are overloaded and leak, they don't pressurize the battery container.

It's a shame no-one bothered to ask about the charger. A lot of people charge lifepo batteries in a standard li-ion charger - which they shouldn't. I wonder if that could have been the case here...

Lot of possibilities and it may have been a combination of conditions/events that wouldn't have been catastrophic by themselves. We may get an answer from the forensic analysis that is likely to be done since he is pursuing a liability claim.
 

Quick1

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(how come I don't have a button to "edit" my posts?)

Here's something that has made me chuckle for years. The PR person should have received a reward for this one. Years ago I had a LG smartphone. Their battery supplier had supply problems and had gone to a 3rd party that had delivered some defective batteries. In the recall notice was this gem:

"...reported cases of users experiencing rapid disassembly..."
 

Blaze

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I always make it a point to buy and use "name brand" batteries.

Can you (or anyone for that matter) suggest some "brand name" batteries? I'm still new to vaping (and a high volt batt virgin LOL). I was all for getting a BB and prolly a SB up until I read that post. Now I think I'll do quite a bit more research before I commit to ANY mod.
 

Quick1

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(I wonder if an "edit post" button will show up after 15 posts? - i'm always in the habit of remembering some add-on or correction right after hitting the submit button :))

Keep in mind that this is all general battery stuff. There is nothing unique about e-cig batteries. There are standard sizes, voltages, technologies, etc. and people decide what ones they want to use when designing their battery powered device. form factor, voltage, capacity, usage/current draw, whatever. Could be an RC car, toothbrush, or an e-cig.
 

North Shore

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Blaze,

Since I believe it was the unit that went pop, I might take a pass on the BB until it is clear that it has been vented. Also, it was not designed to be used with two CR2's at 6V, but of course, if you allow the space people will do it. Whatever you buy it should vent, even if it does not use stacked batteries. If you buy a system that takes CR123 batteries you can get Tenergy lifep04's which is what is being sold with Puresmoker's latest model, Prodigy V2. They should be, in theory much safer, if made well.
 
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