First vape related death

[ScottP]

Still much less misleading than calling it a vape pen.

While I agree that properly calling it a mechanical mod would be more accurate and less misleading, the media is clueless as to all the various varieties of vape devices. Look at it this way, guns have been around forever, the nomenclature is actually simpler than with vaping, yet the media still can't tell the difference between semi and fully automatic weapon. They are constantly falsely claiming that people are using "automatic assault weapons" in these mass shootings. They are crying that citizens should not be able to buy automatics, despite the fact they already can't buy them* and to the best of my knowledge NO fully automatic weapon has ever been used in a mass shooting in the US.

* There actually is a way for a citizen to buy a fully automatic, but it requires a year long application process, around $1000 in fees, personal interviews with law enforcement, and more. It is quite time consuming, difficult and expensive to do so. It is definitely not something the average person is going to be able to obtain.

 

[Asbestos4004]

Still much less misleading than calling it a vape pen.


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Not really. The pics I saw appeared to be a stock Vanilla mech mod. I didn't see any modifications.
On the other hand, people who don't vape are likely to consider any e cigarette a vape pen. I use mechanical squonkers. My business partner refers to it as a vape or a vape pen.

Non gun people think an AR 15 is a machine gun. It happens all the time . I guess I don't really understand why anyone would worry about sullying the name ' vape pen'. Those things blow up far more often than mechanical mods.

 

[Baditude]

Would be useless with todays style of vaping.

There are several members on ECF who use mech mods with high resistance (> 1 ohm) coils who would probably appreciate the option to use a fuse. Heck, back in the day I used a 2.0 ohm cartotank on my mechs and it was a pretty great vape.

 

[Myk]

I somewhat disagree - the phone batteries (was it Samsung? I can't remember) exploding were reported as phones exploding because the batteries were being used in a phone. Vaping is stressful on batteries compared to other uses and considering the proximity to one's face/body more likely to cause a fatality than most other uses. They pointed out that regulated devices wouldn't have this problem which is a step in the right direction. In fact, I'd say this was rather tactful. Whilst I don't expect the news to give a run down on how to use a mech mod safely a courtesy "if you are not using a regulated device, this really highlights the importance of ensuring correct, safe battery usage" would be nice.

This report is about the best I've ever seen. It's mainly the headines I've been seeing about this one that I have the problem with. When they were saying he died from the fire they were saying the ecig killed him. Instead of trying to create fear of ecigs it would serve everyone better to create fear a healthy fear of batteries.

and to the best of my knowledge NO fully automatic weapon has ever been used in a mass shooting in the US.

I think for all murder (not mass) and legal full autos it's like 4 or 5 times since the 1930's NFA and one of those times was a cop murdering an informant with a service gun so it wasn't even an NFA gun.
That is a pretty good equation. The media has their agendas they want to push and will gladly blur the lines of truth to create fear.
Those of us with knowledge of the topic can see it for what it is, those without are easy prey.

They like all their cordless gadgets so they won't focus on the batteries or someone might call for the government to regulate them all to impossible standards. You can't harness 8 hours of energy into a tiny tube and have it be perfectly safe. You can only treat it with respect knowing what is possible. (Which reminds me, for some reason I've been leaving my laptop plugged in when away from home. I need to stop that.)

 

[chellie]

I've always found it unfortunate when interest groups use the dead bodies of people to make their special interest points and advance an agenda. So on this note I'll just say:

It's very sad Tallmadge D'Elia lost his life in this horrific accident... my condolences to his loved ones, family and freinds in their hour of grief.. So sorry for your loss..

I agree. I am sure that I can be aloof in some ways but I always try to be respectful. In this case, someone lost their life. It looks like it happened on 5-5 and he was a TV producer. Whether he was using it correctly or not ---someone's dead. DEAD. And in a really horrible way.

I worked in the casino industry and a man was at the blackjack table and fell off his seat - just fell right off --and died. I was one of the first to respond and was getting help and trying to clear the area. I was absolutely horrified that people were just literally stepping over him and the folks at the table were just sitting there wanting the game to continue.

I know that issues like these - the vape related death and the causes will and should be discussed --just seems a little callous right now.

TMZ had decent reporting of it..TV Producer Killed After E-Cigarette Explodes, Burned 80% of His Body

"A former CNBC producer was killed when his e-cigarette exploded and lodged in his skull ... according to an autopsy.

Tallmadge Wakeman D'Elia died on Cinco de Mayo in St. Petersburg, FL after his vape pen ignited a fire in his bedroom. The autopsy results just came out and reportedly showed the e-cig not only exploded and sparked the blaze, but it also made a "projectile wound" in D'Elia's skull.

The 38 year old's vape pen was reportedly a device made in the Philippines that is unregulated and not recommended for beginners. It is still unclear what caused the pen to explode.

FEMA, which keeps stats on electronic cigarettes, says D'Elia's death is the first in the U.S. caused by a vape pen. "

RIP

Here's the FEMA info in case anyone is interested
https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/electronic_cigarettes.pdf

 

[ppeeble]

Very sad news......
The interview with the vape shop owner annoyed me. What was with the blowing a cloud into the camera about ?
Seemed to trivialise the whole article and came across as sleazy.

Maybe it's just me.

 

[chellie]

Very sad news......
The interview with the vape shop owner annoyed me. What was with the blowing a cloud into the camera about ?
Seemed to trivialise the whole article and came across as sleazy.

Maybe it's just me.

I did not see it - I saw this one but did not see anyone vaping. I agree that could be construed as inappropriate. As someone else more or less said that it is not the right time to advance agendas, It's just sad!
Medical Examiner: Exploding vape pen caused St. Petersburg man's death

 

[Opinionated]

I did not see it - I saw this one but did not see anyone vaping. I agree that could be construed as inappropriate. As someone else more or less sais that it is not the right time to advance agendas, It's just sad!
Medical Examiner: Exploding vape pen caused St. Petersburg man's death

Oh goodness I wasn't being judgy or trying to stifle conversion on the topic..

More that I thought I (and we) needed a reminder this was a person, for all we know he could have been a member of this forum even (albeit one who didn't listen to safety advice)

But the conversation is important too, perhaps save someone's life..

I just think his death is sad, regardless...and wished to take a moment to remember that.

 

[ScottP]

(Which reminds me, for some reason I've been leaving my laptop plugged in when away from home. I need to stop that.)

98% of the time my laptop is stationary, so I keep it plugged in WITH THE BATTERY REMOVED. So it works more like a desktop, preventing the battery from going into constant charge/discharge cycles. This both greatly extends the life of the battery and there is no fear of exploding laptop battery. I only plug the battery in on the rare occasions I want to actually go mobile with it.

 

[chellie]

Oh goodness I wasn't being judgy or trying to stifle conversion on the topic..

More that I thought I (and we) needed a reminder this was a person, for all we know he could have been a member of this forum even (albeit one who didn't listen to safety advice)

But the conversation is important too, perhaps save someone's life..

I just think his death is sad, regardless...and wished to take a moment to remember that.

Oh no - I certainly did not mean you. You were the one who made it a point to remember his name which I think is very humane and compassionate - that's a sincere compliment.

 

[Myk]

98% of the time my laptop is stationary, so I keep it plugged in WITH THE BATTERY REMOVED. So it works more like a desktop, preventing the battery from going into constant charge/discharge cycles. This both greatly extends the life of the battery and there is no fear of exploding laptop battery. I only plug the battery in on the rare occasions I want to actually go mobile with it.

I did not know that was possible, or if it is possible with mine, I know a friend's wouldn't start and it ended up being her battery.
I actually do go mobile with mine to mix liquids, but that's about it other than when I'm carrying it plug to plug.

 

[Baditude]

Rest in peace, Tallmadge Wakeman D'Elia.

 

[bobwho77]

With certain kinds of vape gear, just like with cars and motorcycles, it's very easy to buy more than you can safely handle.

 

[Shawn Hoefer]

I responded to a piece in the Washington Post thusly:


It's quite sad that a man lost his life In this tragic accident. However, In the article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/amph...-embedded-pieces-into-this-head-autopsy-says/

...there were a few inaccuracies.

1. Many flashlights including headlamps use the same LiIon cells used in personal vaporizer. Also, cellular phones (which have also caused deaths).

2. While it's true that the US Government is still researching vaping, Public Health England and the Royal College of Physicians have both published studies showing that vaping is around 95% less harmful than smoking.

3. Not an error, but an omission. The device in question was a mechanical device. Most vapers use regulated devices with onboard protection systems in place to prevent issues such as this. Additionally, most vape shops list mechanical devices as advanced user items only. There's no way of knowing how proficient the deceased was or if he was using the device incorrectly.

4. Not an error, but an an interesting comparison: STUDY SHOWS SMOKING IS A LEADING CAUSE OF FIRE DISASTER AND DEATH WORLDWIDE, COSTING OVER $27 BILLION YEARLY
When compared to the 128 known incidents, including this fatality, with vaping since its inception, vaping appears to be far more than 95% safer where fires are concerned.

Finally, I applaud you for reaching out to the manufacturer, and providing their response, as well as including a few safety notes about handling LiIon batteries.

---

I'll let y'all know if they respond.


Sent from my LG-H931 using Tapatalk

 

[chellie]

98% of the time my laptop is stationary, so I keep it plugged in WITH THE BATTERY REMOVED. So it works more like a desktop, preventing the battery from going into constant charge/discharge cycles. This both greatly extends the life of the battery and there is no fear of exploding laptop battery. I only plug the battery in on the rare occasions I want to actually go mobile with it.

I do the same things. I have 2 laptops that are used pretty much as desktops. I discharged the laptop battery to 50% and have it stored.

 

[ScottP]

I did not know that was possible, or if it is possible with mine, I know a friend's wouldn't start and it ended up being her battery.
I actually do go mobile with mine to mix liquids, but that's about it other than when I'm carrying it plug to plug.

It is not possible with ALL laptops but it is with most. Many of the smaller laptop type devices may have built in batteries (can be replaced but only by removing screws and the bottom plate). The larger 14"+ types tend to have easily removable batteries just sliding some clips on the underside.

 

[Doctorvapes]

I live in Florida. It's really sad and he was young..

I can't imagine what his family is going through right now.

 

[IgnorantCig]

You know what all of these incidents have in common that we read about from time to time in the news?

The exploding phones? The hoverboards that catch on fire? A vape device gone wrong?

It's the batteries. I wonder if they can tell if the batteries used in the exploding vape were counterfeit perhaps?

I don't know anything about mechs at all, and they don't interest me, I'm happy with what I use, but that's exactly why you won't see me using one, because I know that I don't know much about it.

 

[Belhade]

Mechs kinda scare me, to be honest. I have a few and have used them, but they always get suspiciously hot. I've even melted a Delrin drip tip with a Nemesis (that I forgot to buttonlock). But not anymore - I accepted that I (currently) can't get them to work properly or safely and put them away. They're all clones, too, FWIW.

 

[chellie]

You know what all of these incidents have in common that we read about from time to time in the news?

The exploding phones? The hoverboards that catch on fire? A vape device gone wrong?

It's the batteries. I wonder if they can tell if the batteries used in the exploding vape were counterfeit perhaps?

I don't know anything about mechs at all, and they don't interest me, I'm happy with what I use, but that's exactly why you won't see me using one, because I know that I don't know much about it.

The batteries we use - whether internal or external do carry risks.

I knew from this forum to make sure that my batteries did not float around in my purse (or pocket) and have tons of the plastic battery cases that I faithfully use. To me that was important because I tend to throw stuff in my purse.

In the beginning, I purchased a mod --like an istick or something --that had the battery built in and I was scared of it and threw it away. Now, I got over that fear slightly and have an extra aio and I have it in a protective case and then put that in my purse.

I do not use a mech either and have no desire to. I do adhere to safety protections I have learned here,
-- charge batteries only in a charger --
-- don't vape and charge even if it has pass-through--
-- wait at least an hour after the battery is charged before using it.
-- make sure batteries are wrapped - no tears --either throw out or rewrap as needed. --
-- buy only from reputable suppliers --
-- learn the basics about ohms law even if using a regulated device.
-- replace batteries regularly

I read through the FEMA report https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/electronic_cigarettes.pdf on vaping incidents and they point out that there are likely incidents not reported.

Out of 195 separate e-cigarette fire and explosion incidents in the U.S. that were reported and that they studied,
from January 2009 to Dec 31, 2016 here were the causes,

61 occurred when either the device or spare batteries for the device were in a pocket.
60 occurred while the device was being used.
48 incidents occurred while the battery in the device was being charged.
18 incidents occurred while the device or battery was stored.
7 incidents, it is not reported whether the e-cigarette was in use, stored, or
being charged.
1 incident occurred during transportation on a cargo aircraft.

I work in a technical field with electronics and will not use a mech either.