Exploding eGo-T battery

[robinsegg]

Dang, that's messed up! It's good to see that you weren't harmed. But yeah, I never, ever charge my batteries if I'm not going to be around/awake to react, should something happen. I used to charge my eGo batteries at night, when I left home, etc all willy-nilly. However, when I got my first mod and started charging those batteries, I kept getting this nagging feeling like I should be more watchful. The exact same feeling makes me keep a fire extinguisher next to my computer, just in case.

Thing is, I WAS around. Sitting right next to the computer, my head about 18 inches away from the batt. It had only been charging for about 2 hours. It had never occurred to me that there was a danger in recharging through the USB. I mean it is only 5v. From the wall I could see that there could be a problem maybe. But I never thought 5v could cause a problem.

 

[kelleymcm]

wow ! What a drag ...hope the memory fades soon for ya ...& Glad you are OK otherwise !

I always have 1 or 2 batts plugged in charging,in the backroom on the power strip. Guess it's time for me to rethink that ...

My stainless Riva's have been making me nervous lately ...they "vibrate" (for lack of a better word) when fully charged . When I grab them to unscrew it's kinda scary ... they have a buzzy feeling. So I have been watching them pretty close ....

but like your saying "watching" them wouldn't be very helpful if some thing goes wrong & you are in the line of FIRE ....SO SCARY !!

 

[casualuser]

This story is terrifying. I'm no expert but it seems like this battery was possibly getting overcharged constantly. I too thought that once the green light goes on it's done charging but I've learned through my other AW batteries that that's not the case. The light turns green when the predetermined voltage is reached in this case probably 3.7 volts. The longer it's on the charger the more it charges up. I'm sure everyones been guilty of leaving these batteries on the charger longer than necessary especially when we were new to the game. I mean I always reasoned how different is this from my cell phone? I always leave that on the charger - but apparently it is. I'm gonna invest in the lipo safe bags you can buy on eBay i suggest everyone do the same. You can find some demo videos on YouTube as well.

Another idea is to check you ego battery with a multimeter to make sure it's not heavily overcharged.

Stay vigilant y'all.

 

[meems]

I found a lipo safe bag for $2.35 shipped on ebay, from Hong Kong so it'll take longer to get here..but how can you go wrong at that price?

 

[Tom10]

These bags for charging are required equipment as far as I am concerned. These bags are large enough to even charge batteries in the large Ultrafire chargers. I use only Pila chargers and all of my mods run on 18650 batteries. I have no problem putting the batteries in the charger and putting the whole charger in the bag and sealing it.

Here is another seller that is in the US:
Lipo Battery Safe Guard Charging Bag | eBay

Thanks for the link. I just bought two of these. By the way, they have 8 left.

 

[meems]

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

$1 + $1.35 shipping.

 

[DallasEd]

I found these LP-Guard and they've got some good reviews. And CHEAP too!

Sure glad I couldn't sleep and decided to read the forums! I've been charging my 1000's over night and all day with a USB charger on top of the computer for MONTHS! I didn't know this could happen. It seems like the people who race remote control cars and planes know all about the dangers of these batteries.

Thanks!

Ed.

 

[ddirtyvapes]

Glad you're okay and I'm really glad you posted this... my 650 mAh got REALLY hot while charging the other day (looks like the same day yours exploded, coincidentally), and Volcano is replacing it. It's a good thing I took it out of the charger when I did, and even better I didn't use it!

 

[Bdbodger]

I predict a sudden increase in the number of lippo charging bags sold this week . I know I just got two of them . Cheap price for some piece of mind . I would like to see someong invent an ego charger that can charge oh about 1/2 dozen ego batteries at the same time in a fireproof box . I am getting tired of those cheap looking ego chargers there must be something better around .

 

[DallasEd]

Hey robinsegg,

Was your battery a Joye brand or something else? Where did you get it? I'm wondering if this is a "manufacturer specific" problem with these 1000 mAh batteries. There's no telling where the battery you bought was actually manufactured. It would be nice to try to trace that down through the vender. However, I doubt if any vender will tell you they are selling "knock-offs" or "seconds".

Regardless, I have ordered two bags, and will never leave the house with a battery in the charger ever again - bag or no bag.

This sucks!

Thanks for letting us know about this.

Ed.

 

[V8P]

WOW. Thanks for the heads up. I'll be unplugging mine from my PC as soon as I get home tonight for sure.

 

[ricksinvest]

damn I have a ton hooked up to a 7 port USB hub right now into the wall. You got me worried... I won't do that again

 

[VeggieGirl]

I predict a sudden increase in the number of lippo charging bags sold this week . I know I just got two of them . Cheap price for some piece of mind . I would like to see someong invent an ego charger that can charge oh about 1/2 dozen ego batteries at the same time in a fireproof box . I am getting tired of those cheap looking ego chargers there must be something better around .

i would love to see this myself. i have some slb batts that definitely need to be left on the charger quite a bit past the green light. i always knew they kept on charging, but everyone kept telling me that can't happen because of automatic shutoff. i will still leave them the longer time, but i never leave them very long past the prescribed time i've found works for the batts. truth is, if i don't leave them longer, they don't hold a charge for more than about an hour. it took me awhile to work up to the time needed, but these batts have been working great since i found that out. also, the directions they came with say, for best results, to leave them on the charger overnight. go figure. i'm getting some charging bags, too.

 

[robinsegg]

Hey robinsegg,

Was your battery a Joye brand or something else? Where did you get it? I'm wondering if this is a "manufacturer specific" problem with these 1000 mAh batteries. There's no telling where the battery you bought was actually manufactured. It would be nice to try to trace that down through the vender. However, I doubt if any vender will tell you they are selling "knock-offs" or "seconds".

Regardless, I have ordered two bags, and will never leave the house with a battery in the charger ever again - bag or no bag.

This sucks!

Thanks for letting us know about this.

Ed.

As far as I know the batt was a real Joye. That is what it was sold as anyway. I have/had 2 of these, bought at different times from different vendors. I really don't know which one it was that blew. But, if the vendors were truthful, they both came from the same manufacturer.

Do the knock-off have "eGo-T" printed on them? You can still see it on the case. Barely...

 

[six]

Do the knock-off have "eGo-T" printed on them? You can still see it on the case. Barely...

Nope. That's a genuine joye battery.

What happened to you is rare, but every vaper should be aware that it can happen. These kinds of batteries can have catastrophic failures in an overcharge state, and overdischarge state, and when shorted. Most people could charge batteries every day for 10 lifetimes and never see this happen... but it does happen.

My point is: Though this should not be cause for major concern or worry --> Better safe than sorry.

 

[BILLB OKC]

Folks,
anytime you over charge ANY litham-ion battery, you run the risk of fire or worse.
this includes cell phones and lap tops.
I saw a lap top severl years ago that gernaded because of over charging.

when the lite turns green remove the battery from the charger. It's just not worth the risk.
some of the Chinese hand books that come with the kits will warn you about over charging.

Just because you got away with it once doesn't mean you will next time.

 

[Jeremy-WI]

If you want to see something worse than a Li-ion exploding, I think there are some videos of Li-Po's exploding on youtube, they are used in a lot of small scale models(planes, helicopters)

 

[counterpoint]

My colleague told me that his 650mah Ego-T battery exploded almost identically to what you described here which is what brought me to this thread. He said the experience was terrifying. He said that if he was not there at the time that it could have easily burned down the building and that it is just a matter of time before this kills someone.

He was charging it from the usb port on his computer.

Have there been any instances of this happening from the supplied ego wall charger?

Does anyone know of any other ecig battery besides the ego-t that has EVER exploded?

 

[zoiDman]

...

Does anyone know of any other ecig battery besides the ego-t that has EVER exploded?

I think if you do some ECF searching, you'll find that someone has had a problem with just about Every battery. It's very rare but it Does happen.

 

[casualuser]

I'm more curious about how long his Ego battery was left charging in the USB port. Was it in the charger even after it turned green?