Local NW Floridian with severe injuries from exploding ecig battery

[Heracleum]

I keep hearing people mention that it was a mod, but I can't find definitive proof of this anywhere. Read this whole thread too.

So far the most reliable source mentioning a mod is TVECA's website having this on its homepage:

(yes I know "it is our understanding that.." is not a definitive proof, at all)
and related article on prlog: TVECA's Response to the Florida Electronic Cigarette Malfunction | PRLog

While about the health status of Tom Holloway this article states he's already at home recovering from his wounds:
Man recovers from e-cigarette explosion | Fox10tv.com

 

[Batsu]

So far the most reliable source mentioning a MOD is TVECA's website having this on its homepage:

(yes I know "it is our understanding that.." is not a definitive proof, at all)
and related article on prlog: TVECA's Response to the Florida Electronic Cigarette Malfunction | PRLog

While about the health status of Tom Holloway this article states he's already at home recovering from his wounds:
Man recovers from e-cigarette explosion | Fox10tv.com

"I thought it just contained water vapor. I didn't even know it had a heat source and I'm very surprised that an explosion would happen," Cahill said. really now? how did you think the vapor was made? pixie dust?

 

[Pav]

Thanks Heracleum. I'm eager (as I'm sure most are) to see more info on this.

The bad news though is the "ecig explodes in face" is all most casual readers of the much circulated AP story will see and remember. Can't wait to be grilled by family and friends on this one. Say the word "mod" and it's a safe bet 99% of the people will not even know what that means.

I wonder what the reaction would be if a news story was printed saying "car explodes and injures people" but didn't mention the make or model of the vehicle. Even the stories of laptop batteries exploding always mention the exact model number of the battery as well as the type of laptop.

 

[Semiretired]

What about that email on this thread a page or so back, from "Vaporhawk" stating that the "man in Florida" used a Prodigy, whatever that is. Can't someone here verify this information with Vaporhawk since they are obviously a supplier???

That was with a different incident that happened in Colorado last month. It talks about it a little in this thread also... They are separate...

 

[Shizzle]

I just want to point out for those who may not be aware that there are battery-free PV's available from several different vendors. They are called "usb passthroughs" and plug into the usb port on your laptop or into a usb wall adapter.....if you're really nervous about batteries, you do have an option

yeah, that way, you only risk electrocution.

 

[Katy]

Thanks Heracleum. I'm eager (as I'm sure most are) to see more info on this.

The bad news though is the "ecig explodes in face" is all most casual readers of the much circulated AP story will see and remember. Can't wait to be grilled by family and friends on this one. Say the word "mod" and it's a safe bet 99% of the people will not even know what that means.

I wonder what the reaction would be if a news story was printed saying "car explodes and injures people" but didn't mention the make or model of the vehicle. Even the stories of laptop batteries exploding always mention the exact model number of the battery as well as the type of laptop.

If it was a mod, I wonder what type. What safety precautions should be used with a wood mod (18350 protected battery)? Would a wood mod with a door that comes off be more or less safe?

 

[Batsu]

If it was a mod, I wonder what type. What safety precautions should be used with a wood mod (18350 protected battery)? Would a wood mod with a door that comes off be more or less safe?

depending on what kinda heat a shorted out batt puts out, i would think the mod would just catch on fire, and the door would fly off, and you would have a pile of ash, and burnt up electronics.

 

[Rocketman]

Hand around the door? Splinters. Plenty of Splinters

 

[Flying W]

Hand around the door? Splinters. Plenty of Splinters

Kevlar Vaping Gloves?

 

[Pav]

If it was a mod, I wonder what type.

I do too, although I don't have any interest in mods. It would be worse (but not much) if it were an Ego type. Much more potential there for this happening to more people. Of course to the general media there's no difference at all as far as they know. With all the articles accompanied by pictures of 510 type slim batteries like people see at convenience stores and gas stations the perception of exploding ecigs is out there now.

 

[Baldr]

I haven't used my I PRO or Ego since reading this thread...I'm scared sh**less this could possibly happen.

I assume you're never getting into an automobile again? Auto accidents are the #1 cause of accidental death by a very large margin.

It's not realistic to make yourself 100% safe. Heck you could live in a safety bubble with filtered air and water, but you have to eat. Even lettuce and tomato's have been recalled due to salmonella risk. Or the building your bubble is in could catch fire.

Yes, it's sad that this happened. I feel bad for him and his family. And I'd go so far as to say that it's almost certainly going to happen again. But it's very rare.

Personally, I worry more about something going wrong with the battery while it's in the charger. I don't consider that a likely thing, but it doesn't sound hard to limit the risk. Only charge when you're at home and awake, get rid of batteries if they start acting flaky in any way, etc. I remember hearing about some kind of fire proof charging bag, and I may look into those.

You can limit the risk of a PV blowing up in your face, too.

Roly's post here is very helpful. In particular, I want to point out this section :

Explosions seem to happen immediately after charging, on first use, on the first press of the switch. Every report with full details says this.

That leads to a very logical conclusion. When you put in a fresh set of batteries, step one isn't "Vape". Step one is "hold the PV away from your body and hit the button". If it's going to go haywire, it's almost certainly going to happen on first use, as soon as you press the button, after charging. So give it that button press when it isn't right next to your face.

In addition, his post says that in every case of an explosion that ECF is aware of, it was a metal tube mod with stacked batteries. So - get a PV that doesn't use stacked batteries, and when you take it off the charger, hit the power button while it isn't next to your face. Only after you've done that do you start vaping.

At that point, the chances it will explode in your face is incredibly close to 0. It's safer than driving to grandma's house on Sunday afternoon.

 

[Baldr]

I mentioned a fire-proof charing bag in my last post and went looking around. I found several. This is just one example.

http://www............com/store/100...ery-Safe-Charging-Fireproof-Bag-Box-Sack.html

 

[Goldenkobold]

I really like appreciate the design of the epipemods, even though it was done for anesthetics it moves the battery a bit further from the face and also moves it so the positive and negative are facing the floor and ceiling when you push the button and not your face, plus the magnet top provides an easy blow away point on the mod (might hurt your thumb). I am still wondering what device was used in this incident though, the news reports said a lithium charging station was found, that is the only reason I lean towards mod,

 

[Nate854]

I read the thread http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-mods-update-february-2012-a.html#post5327522 and it says "Bigger batteries are safer because they can handle the heavy load an atomizer puts on them. No big battery (i.e. an 18500 or larger) has ever exploded."

That's reassuring for me because I just bought a Lavatube which included an 18650 battery and I'm falling into the mass paranoia trap reading these damn threads lol. So 18650 batteries are a-ok as far as non-exploding? the Lavatube has a tiny vent hole on the bottom that I see as well.

 

[four2109]

Not sure why 2 ego-T's on a charger doesn't count.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ego-type-models/217880-exploding-ego-t-battery.html
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...63-ego-battery-explosion-video-aftermath.html

Or an 18650
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ures-serious-battery-failure-imr-18650-a.html

 

[guting]

How unfortunate and rare.

I've been using the same unprotected batteries from my laptop (SAMSUNG ICR18650-30a) for over a year, shorted them out multiple times to the point where they were hot to the touch (shorted connector). I even had one melt the spring till it was completely flat (pinched wire). Discharged under 3 volts many times and still going strong. For the past month I've been running dual 2 ohm coils (nhaler ato-miser) pulling around 4 amps with no problems, what a battery.

Point is, .... happens, if you're too scared to vape you should just quit. Having a quality battery is just a part of vape safety, a solid functioning mod whether a home made nicostick or high end tube mod (connections/wiring/switches) and a little awareness/experience/knowledge goes a long way.

 

[Rocketman]

MOST eGo failures go thermal, then "pop the cap", then spill their guts. Not a calm event.
We had an example presented of a ego clone that popped the switch end while on charge. Spilled it's guts.

The IMR 18650 went thermal and spilled it's guts.
Would it have blown up a tube mod? Probably.

A Li-ion powered device that gets hot, vents, spills the inner materials, sparks, smokes, catches things on fire might be bad but are these "explosions"?

Building up a high pressure, fast, with no place to go (or too small a vent to keep up) goes BLAM. How high can the pressure get in a mod when a cell fails?
For reference, the typical 2 liter plastic Dr. Pepper bottle will hold 150 PSI.

 

[Batsu]

i figure if my provari is gonna meltdown the button will vent, along with the end cap, and the screen will probably blow out too. but im not too concerned about it.. i got good cells and a good charger

 

[Col. Gaunt]

I just read that it was a prodigy v3 from pure smoker that was the mod that blew up.

 

[Calypso53]

I just read that it was a prodigy v3 from pure smoker that was the mod that blew up.

Want to tell us where you read that??