Guy hospitalized - batteries explode, loose in pocket with coins - blames industry

[chellie]

I just caught Rossen (Rossen Reports) on the today show interviewing a guy who is in the hospital with a pretty severe leg burn.

The guy had loose - 18650 or similar batteries in his pocket

Rossen did a fairly good job showing how dangerous the combo of loose batteries plus change is and even spoke with UL Labs.

I just wish he would have talked more about how to be safe with batteries - battery precautions but he did mention it.

What really got me though was the guy. Look, I am glad that he will be OK and sorry that he was in pain but he is blaming the e-cig industry.

I will look for the link and update this.

Injured father warns of e-cigarette battery explosions

And Rossen did quote from the stats listed in the same report I read and had listed here about loose batteries in pocket being the single most cause of battery explosions -- according to the report. (First vape related death)

 

[untar]

but he is blaming the e-cig industry

Yeah, somehow they all do. They prefer not to consider that they may be bumbling idiots and just see a chance to get a fat payout. Here's another one of those clowns that sued Amazon, LG Electronics and the company that imported the mod (though the batteries were loose in his pocket at the time of the incident)
https://regmedia.co.uk/2018/04/20/melone_complaint.pdf

I hope he recovers quickly from his injuries and that the court dumps his .... asap.

 

[chellie]

Yeah, somehow they all do. They prefer not to consider that they may be bumbling idiots and just see a chance to get a fat payout. Here's another one of those clowns that sued Amazon, LG Electronics and the company that imported the mod (though the batteries were lose in his pocket at the time of the incident)
https://regmedia.co.uk/2018/04/20/melone_complaint.pdf

I hope he recovers quickly from his injuries and that the court dumps his .... asap.

Thanks for that link - Did not read it all yet but found the part I was looking for
"On May 14, 2017, Plaintiff had two HG2 batteries in his right pocket while a passenger in his father’s car."

Loose batteries in pocket = danger
Loose batteries in pocket + change in pocket = extreme danger

I do not want to see anyone injured. I think battery 101 is making sure batteries are not kept loose in pocket or purse since the bulk of explosions have occurred that way.

 

[stols001]

Two words.

McDonald's coffee (and yes I know the whole story but WHO tries to Add ANYTHING to MD coffee with it in their lap. I have drank MD coffee 1 time, and even I would NEVER have opened I for ANYTHING other than in a cupholder, they're ah, flimsy. I do think drinking McD coffee sort of unqualifies you for drinking ANY coffee or hot beverage. Only the fact that it was scalding made any impression at all, and I think they should have paid her medical bills and little else.)

My hope is, with the battery situation, all factors are considered, including stupidity. Unfortunately lack of personal accountability has only SWOLLEN in our society, while the lemmings lead the charge.

Disappointing that he's going to WHINE about it, but holy (censored) I have sued NO ONE EVER even when a crazy chick T-boned me and I had to go to the hospital and everything. She had no license and an infant in the back seat. Thank god their parents DID, but MAN.

The thing that annoyed me the most was she tried to "flee" to the (unextraditable) reservation . I was really glad onlookers STOPPED her, because my car was totaled. Etc.

Anna

 

[bombastinator]

Of course he is blaming the ecig industry. He needs someone to sue. Hospitals are expensive. I would compare it to a drunk driver attempting to die the car company of the vehicle he was driving

 

[untar]

More like suing the radio station because the accident only happened because of the music they were playing...
I guess Bohemian Rhapsody...

 

[denali_41]

Yeah, somehow they all do. They prefer not to consider that they may be bumbling idiots and just see a chance to get a fat payout. Here's another one of those clowns that sued Amazon, LG Electronics and the company that imported the mod (though the batteries were lose in his pocket at the time of the incident)
https://regmedia.co.uk/2018/04/20/melone_complaint.pdf

I hope he recovers quickly from his injuries and that the court dumps his .... asap.

there was another one of these ignorant JA's who got his batteries from radio shack
radio shack settled out of court quickly so not much media attention

 

[Belhade]

Considering how much steaming hot coffee I've dumped in my crotch over the years it's a wonder I ever reproduced - but I never did sue anybody for my own stupidity.

And it's a real shame that the vaping industry invented batteries and never bothered to warn people about safety.

 

[classwife]

...I added "loose in pocket with coins" to your thread title

 

[Baditude]

That news story was one of the first, if not THE first news story, that explained WHY the explosion happened. Kudos to the reporters.

Why? USER ERROR.

Some where, some how, the general public didn't get the warning message that you shouldn't carry spare batteries in a pocket. Some how they didn't learn the concept that coins or keys coming into contact with loose batteries can cause a battery to short circuit and explode or turn into a fire ball.

Unfortunately, it seems that it will take repeated public exposure of these stories for the public to learn that batteries can be potentially dangerous, and that proper safety measures must be practiced to avoid these catastrophies.

It's just not the batteries used in e-cigs that are dangerous. All batteries have the potential to explode or burst into flames if they are mishandled or abused. Even those AA and AAA batteries for our remote controls or C batteries in flashlights.

All the online vendors that sell lithium batteries have strong warnings about battery safety when using Li-ion batteries. I'm not sure if B & M shops are providing the same warnings to their customers, probably not.

 

[untar]

Some where, some how, the general public didn't get the knowledge that you shouldn't carry spare batteries in a pocket. Some how they didn't get the knowledge that coins or keys coming into contact with loose batteries can cause a battery to short circuit and explode or turn into a fire ball.

Given how rare those incidents are it takes a while for the word to get around. Fireballs in the pants aren't something people experience in their daily life so they simply don't connect the dots.
For a while I was in a department that was to make software more usable and intuitive (industrial), there I stumbled across what is called the "assimilation paradox", goes about like this

If users don’t know something then they compare it to things that they already know. Even if those comparisons are not appropriate

People know batteries and have probably carried them around in heaps of change and keys and nothing ever happened, maybe one time a battery barfed up some juice but it wasn't a big deal and they just thought "yeah whatever, stupid battery". Next they apply that careless behavior to LiIons...
Not saying they shouldn't inform themselves, just pointing out the mental mechanism involved.

 

[Doctorvapes]

That news story was one of the first, if not THE first news story, that explained WHY the explosion happened. Kudos to the reporters.

USER ERROR.

Some where, some how, the general public didn't get the warning message that you shouldn't carry spare batteries in a pocket. Some how they didn't learn the concept that coins or keys coming into contact with loose batteries can cause a battery to short circuit and explode or turn into a fire ball.

Unfortunately, it seems that it will take repeated public exposure of these stories for the public to learn that batteries can be potentially dangerous, and that proper safety measures must be practiced to avoid these catastrophies.

It's just not the batteries used in e-cigs that are dangerous. All batteries have the potential to explode or burst into flames.

All the online vendors that sell lithium batteries have strong warnings about battery safety when using Li-ion batteries. I'm not sure if B & M shops are providing the same warnings to their customers, probably not.

When I bought my first battery from a vape shop they just sold it to me and that was it.

 

[Baditude]

When I bought my first battery from a vape shop they just sold it to me and that was it.

Yeah, I'm afraid that is more likely the rule rather than the exception.

When I worked in a vape shop, every time I sold a battery or a mod, I took it upon myself to make certain that the customer knew battery safety precautions before they left the store. I'd already had a battery explode in my mod when I first began to vape, so I had past experience to go on. If they were buying a loose battery, I strongly urged that they also purchase a plastic battery case with it. (I would have included a case for free, but it was not my shop.)

I know for certain that most of my co-workers did not do the same.

 

[Skunk!]

Two words.

McDonald's coffee (and yes I know the whole story but WHO tries to Add ANYTHING to MD coffee with it in their lap. I have drank MD coffee 1 time, and even I would NEVER have opened I for ANYTHING other than in a cupholder, they're ah, flimsy. I do think drinking McD coffee sort of unqualifies you for drinking ANY coffee or hot beverage. Only the fact that it was scalding made any impression at all, and I think they should have paid her medical bills and little else.)

My hope is, with the battery situation, all factors are considered, including stupidity. Unfortunately lack of personal accountability has only SWOLLEN in our society, while the lemmings lead the charge.

Disappointing that he's going to WHINE about it, but holy (censored) I have sued NO ONE EVER even when a crazy chick T-boned me and I had to go to the hospital and everything. She had no license and an infant in the back seat. Thank god their parents DID, but MAN.

The thing that annoyed me the most was she tried to "flee" to the (unextraditable) reservation . I was really glad onlookers STOPPED her, because my car was totaled. Etc.

Anna

In the Mc Donalds coffee suit she originally tried to get $2000 for uncovered medical bills and money to cover her daughter's lost wages but McDonalds offered $800 and refused to go above that. Their refusal to cover those things is what led to the larger suit to teach them a lesson.
The McDonald's Coffee Cup Case: Separating McFacts From McFiction

 

[Beamslider]

Well he is blaming the industry because we now live in a world where most don't even know what personal responsibility is anymore.

Easier to blame someone else.

 

[Skunk!]

Yeah, I'm afraid that is more likely the rule rather than the exception.

When I worked in a vape shop, every time I sold a battery or a mod, I took it upon myself to make certain that the customer knew battery safety precautions before they left the store. I'd already had a battery explode in my mod when I first began to vape, so I had past experience to go on. If they were buying a loose battery, I strongly urged that they also purchase a plastic battery case with it. (I would have included a case for free, but it was not my shop.)

I know for certain that most of my co-workers did not do the same.

I was impressed when I bought batteries from Vegas Vapor Emporium. I recycled the ones from my mod and put the new ones in (they sell them charged) they still insisted on giving me a case (a very nice chubby gorilla one too) and explained what could happen if I carried them without a case. Usually though, stores don't give people any instruction or warning. They just give you the batteries and send you on your way. VVE has always been good about safety though. I have bought a couple mechanical mods from them, they would talk to me and make sure I knew what I was doing before selling the mod.

 

[Rossum]

Yeah, somehow they all do. They prefer not to consider that they may be bumbling idiots and just see a chance to get a fat payout. Here's another one of those clowns that sued Amazon, LG Electronics and the company that imported the mod (though the batteries were loose in his pocket at the time of the incident)
https://regmedia.co.uk/2018/04/20/melone_complaint.pdf

I hope he recovers quickly from his injuries and that the court dumps his .... asap.

Defendants with deep pockets (you can't 'em get much deeper than Amazon!) make for lawyers willing to take a case on contingency.. I could see where some of counts against Amazon may very well stick. The ones against LG, not so much, since LG does not sell (or even condone the sale of) bare cells to consumers, and I'm not sure what the mod or the store that sold the mod has anything to do with loose batteries going prompt critical.

 

[zoiDman]

When I bought my first battery from a vape shop they just sold it to me and that was it.

Yeah... I have seen that.

And this is what is argued in many Personal Injury Lawsuit. That the Buyer/User was Not Adequately Informed by the Seller/OEM as to the Potential Hazards of the Product when they purchased it.

If I sold Batteries, and had a Form that Explained the Potential Hazards of Mis-Use such as carrying a Bare Battery and the Buyer had to "Check the Box" that He/She read it, then included a 7 Cent Plastic Case to hold the Cell when not in use, how pervasive would the argument be that the Seller was to blame for Mis-Use when a Lawsuit is brought into court?

Don't like that this is the Type of World that we live in. Where Everything needs a CYA Warning Label. But it is kinda what it Is.

Because that Is the World we live in.

 

[Baditude]

since LG does not sell (or even condone the sale of) bare cells to consumers, and I'm not sure who the mod or the store that sold the mod has anything to do with loose batteries going prompt critical.

Sony is even more adament:

 

[Rossum]

That news story was one of the first, if not THE first news story, that explained WHY the explosion happened. Kudos to the reporters.

Why? USER ERROR.

Some where, some how, the general public didn't get the warning message that you shouldn't carry spare batteries in a pocket. Some how they didn't learn the concept that coins or keys coming into contact with loose batteries can cause a battery to short circuit and explode or turn into a fire ball.

As you mentioned, this problem isn't limited to vaping. A couple of years ago, I had an exterminator go though my cabin up in the Blue Ridge. He was using what was obviously an 18650 flashlight and I commented that I wasn't impressed by its output. So he said, "Yeah, the battery is getting low" and replaced it with a naked spare he had in his pocket.

He got a lecture from me, and a two-cell plastic case, and a spare, somewhat used baby-blue 25R.

Several months later when he came for a follow-up visit, he showed me he was still using the case and thanked me, mentioning he'd watched some videos and admitted he had no clue before...