Local NW Floridian with severe injuries from exploding ecig battery

[Karla Lyle]

Wow scary. I didn't realize they were that dangerous. How do you know which ones are bad and how do you improperly charge them to make them dangerous? I just stick it in my charger and when it turns green take it off. I even vape holding my 3 month old baby. Now you got me scared. LOL Really though. Maybe I should do some research too.

 

[Traver]

THIS is why they make VENT HOLES FOR YOUR ECIGS!!!!
This is why you use PROTECTED batteries AND/OR DON'T STACK UNPROTECTED ONES!!!!

Does anyone actually know if these vent holes are big enough to prevent an explosion?

 

[oldsoldier]

This just in:

I am not a registered member of your forum but would like to clarify information regarding the thread about the NW Florida man who was injured by an exploding e-cigarette.

First of all, Tom lives across the street from us in Bluewater Bay, a community outside the city limits of Niceville, FL. His accident happened on Monday evening around 6:30. He is not the individual who evidently had an accident around a month ago. These are two different incidents.

Tom has lung cancer and was using the e-cigarette as a substitute for tobacco cigarettes. The explosion did blow out his teeth and part of his tongue, and he has other injuries to his mouth and face as well.

The fire department was at his home for hours after the ambulance left, and we assume it was to make sure none of the exploding parts were smoldering somewhere, only to erupt into a fire later.

I know nothing about how he used the cigarettes or the brand/s. The only thing I would like clarified for your members is the fact that Tom’s accident did happen on Monday, February 13, and that the facts in the original story reported by WEAR-TV (Pensacola) are correct as far as we know at this time. WEAR obtained his photos from a family member and to my knowledge, has not interviewed Tom or Becky.

Given the speculation on the thread about whether or not the facts are accurate and actually only one story, as well as the speculation the story has been embellished, I think it is important for your members to know the facts.

Of course I have no way to verify this letter, but I do not see any reason to disbelieve the information presented. I wish Tom a speedy recovery and hope that the facts surface so that the industry can take measures to help prevent a recurrence of this unfortunate accident.

 

[markfm]

Thanks, OS -- they sounded like two different incidents (Jan and this one), but it wasn't certain until now.

 

[SonnyCrack]

https://plus.google.com/107448197224116543679/posts

Thats his Google + page.. I hope he gets better.. It's terrible..

 

[Uncle Willie]

No matter the tech, there will always be isolated instances of issues like this .. it is unfortunate the person has to suffer thru this, but until the perfect, failsafe tech comes along, there will always be a degree of risk factor .. based on what the current e-cig user base is / vs. incidents of this type, I would guess tha chance of it happening is very, very low ..

That said, it's another indication that the industry needs to develop standards, testing, consumer education and self-regulate .. although this might not completely prevent an incident of this type, at least it would further minimize the possibility .. especially if this individual was not using the hardware in the proper fashion ..

 

[SonnyCrack]

No matter the tech, there will always be isolated instances of issues like this .. it is unfortunate the person has to suffer thru this, but until the perfect, failsafe tech comes along, there will always be a degree of risk factor ...

I'm looking at a Lavatube now just for safety. It appears it has the most protection.. Or am I wrong?

Short Circuit/Atomizer Protection. The LAVATUBE can recognize an atomizer with too low of a resistance for the current voltage setting and will drop the voltage to 3.7v to protect both the battery and atomizer. If the atomizer is too low or shorted out it will shut off power to the device to protect the LAVATUBE from being damaged.Reverse Battery Protection – Protects the device in case you put the battery in the device backwardsBattery Monitoring/Over-Discharge Protection – The device will monitor the battery voltage and automatically turn off when the battery is discharged, preventing damage to the battery by overly depleting it.

 

[Rocketman]

Short Circuit/Atomizer Protection. The Brand X can recognize an atomizer with too low of a resistance

If the atomizer is too low or shorted out it will shut off power to the device to protect the Brand X from being damaged.

Brand X has a Self contained battery– Protects the device because the user can not put the battery in the device backwards

Brand X has Battery Monitoring/Over-Discharge Protection – The device will monitor the battery voltage and automatically turn off when the battery is discharged, preventing damage to the battery by overly depleting it.

Seems these parameters apply to several brands.

 

[SonnyCrack]

Seems these parameters apply to several brands.

Can you list some that have that type of protection for under $100?

 

[Rocketman]

Most will stut down with a shorted atty (like the eGo)
Most will shut down when the battery gets low (like the eGo)
It is really difficult to put an eGo battery in backwards

and still they fail.

Brands aside. IF an e-cig fails (I know of no fail safe model yet), which end do you want to blow first?

 

[markfm]

That's a good starter set of protection. Add to that good venting, and/or a good soft fail point if an off-gassing does occur, to provide a path away from the face. End of the day, if something goes wrong, you don't want the top cap/connector the weakest point in the PV, something that will fly off. Then, fundamentally, use good batteries.

 

[SonnyCrack]

Most will stut down with a shorted atty (like the eGo)

I had an ego heat up to extreme temperatures and the smell of lithium came.. I threw it in the lake behind the house quickly.. It did not explode.. But certainly scared me.. I've heard of numerous ego failures.. So I'm not so sure about that.

Right now I have a Kgo...Ego.. E power 14650 and an Epower 18650 and some 808 batteries.... Still a bit worried. I'm just wondering if the Lavatube would be better (protection wise)

 

[Rocketman]

I used the eGo as an example.

I know of no FAILSAFE e-cig.

 

[SonnyCrack]

I used the eGo as an example.

I know of no FAILSAFE e-cig.

A gooseneck is sounding more appealing.. lol

 

[Flying W]

" I'm just wondering if the Lavatube would be better (protection wise) "

LAVAtube? LavaTUBE? LAVATUBE? Cheap *ss Lavatube sprays hot molten lithium and melted plastic goo into unsuspecting users face?
Lavatube!LAVAtube?

This post is not aimed at the Lavatube or the manufacturer in any way .Just my personal imagination .

 

[Rocketman]

As terrible as an e-cig failure, with injuries is, it does us a favor by raising the awareness of the hazards of these devices.

No manufacturer wants to get a bad rap from a negative incident.
No vendor wants to sell e-cigs with a history of blowing up.
and no one wants to vape an unsafe e-cig.
Don't trust the HYPE of safety features without learning, first hand,
what the potential failure modes are.
Bic lighters used to blow up on airplanes.
Know more than just how to suck on an e-cig.

Things will improve (maybe).





None of my comments are intended to dis any brand of e-cig, or recommend one.

 

[VapourMonkey]

This is horrible news and I am as shocked and saddened as the rest of the forum are. I hope that the author of the email to oldsoldier will pass on our concern to Tom and wish him well from all of us.

I am also very grateful that somewhere like the ECF forum exists. There are so many ill informed 'facts' on the internet about e-cigs, written both for and against vaping. I know here I can get the most honest and informed information, even if that information is sad and unwelcome. Before I started reading the ECF forums, I have to admit I had no clue at all of the possible dangers of Lithium batteries and I'm sure a lot of others were like me too. Thanks to the members and the forum admin here, we have up to date information on the current safest options as well as clear warnings on what you should most definitely not be doing with your batteries and devices.

I am not for one moment suggesting the poor guy was doing anything that could be regarded as unsafe when he had the accident, no one knows right now what device he was using but I do know for sure that once that information becomes available it will be posted here in an honest and straightforward manner for everyone to see.

I have to admit cases like this scare me. But so does lung cancer. I hope the manufacturers and the vaping community can learn from incidents in the early adoption of vaping and that in the future better and safer designs come to sale but we can only do that if we know the risks. What I fear most is draconian legislation forcing .................. and out of reach of the commercial financing that would be needed for proper research of vaping and devices.

 

[daveymist]

Wow just wow..... I've lost most of my teeth from smoking probably a lot of years off my life too. I try to make some light off the matter.
I wasnt trying to add insult to injury. But if it was taken that way then shame on you.

 

[Nic-holio]

I hope he recovers OK from this. I hate to hear about things like this happening.

 

[spaceballsrules]

That's normally on the charger though, right? I haven't heard of one exploding in someone's hand? Maybe it has? I dunno, I still feel safer with batteries manufactured and intended for vaping.

Yes, on the charger. I am sure that there are incidents occurring when an eGo type PV failed horribly off the charger as well.

The eGo batts have an end cap that will pop off if the battery vents gas, as well as overheat and overcurrent protection built in, but there is still risk involved.