Local NW Floridian with severe injuries from exploding ecig battery

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ChaosTheory

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Jan 9, 2012
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www.epicdelusion.com
120 years from now, when ecigs are perfected... the kids will say, "damn, back in the early 2000's they used to explode on people". Wonder if maytag gets the same scrutiny when some woman's dryer catches fire from lint.

be safe guys, just not too safe. Nothing worse than living life in perpetual fear of everything.
 

mavaks

Full Member
Nov 16, 2011
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NC
Well I'm sitting here reading this news after my wife told me about it, watching the news, and they're talking about lead in lipstick. Guess nothing is ever 100% safe, but given the resistance to e-cigs that already exists, any bad news is going to spread like wildfire. The real cause or brand involved may never be reported, or will certainly be under-reported, leaving the public with just the image of an e-cig exploding.

One of my Riva batteries recently started acting up and did not want to engage. I didn't bother trying to find out why I just stopped using it and ordered more. I'll definitely be more careful about my charging habits after reading through the info here though. I don't want to wake up and have to put out a battery fire in the middle of the night.
 

LadyVaper

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May 10, 2011
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I just watched the news and they talked about a man in Mobile Alabama got Severe
injuries from ecig blowing up in his face. Is he a member of this forum? Man it was bad.
Took half his tongue, his face is badly hurt. They say it was like as much force as a bottle rocket.
Has anyone heard about this? What kind of impact is this going to have on us as vapers?
I don't know .... about this kind of stuff, I just know it WILL have an inpact somewhere down the road.
Any input?
 

Hounds

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Feb 12, 2012
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Good post with some good advice. To bad there are to many people who want to go with the cheapest gear they can find, besides doing dangerous things like stacking batteries.

Question for you. At the moment I am using a Tenergy TN 270 charger but am not at all sure it is all that great of a charger. In fact I'm pretty sure its junk. I have been eyeing the 4 stage Pila charger as I hear it's the best and safest charger out there for 3.7 volt batteries. I'm no expert so looking for advice on what are the good chargers on the market.

I was wondering the same thing. I'm running the ProVari with 18650 AW batteries. I actually sent ITPython a PM. The more I think about it though, I might as well spend a bit extra for the safest charger if these things have the potential to be so dangerous. Why even wait, I guess. Gonna buy one now....

EDIT: ITPython answered a page ago in this thread...
 
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dcannon1

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As someone who works in IT I can tell you exploding batteries sometimes happen (in laptops in my experience). You think a 900mAh battery blowing up in your face is bad, what about an 8800 mAh battery blowing up while sitting on your lap . What I can also tell you is that it's usually due to a manufacturer defect bad enough to resort in a recall, or purchasing cheap replacement batteries from Asia (not dogging on Asia, you can get some great electronics for great prices, but quality control is sometimes lacking).

I don't know enough about mods to really comment on that, but for those of you using a factory vaping setup from a reputable manufacturer with a good track record, you replace your batteries when they start showing signs of wear, and you don't overcharge, you are operating on a really good % of being just fine.
 

ITPython

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A little tip for those stuck using propitiatory batteries and chargers (like the eGo or other various 510 equipment for example) you will likely be 100% safe from this occurring to you if you just take a few precautionary steps.

First and foremost, never leave a charging battery 100% unattended, you don't have to sit there and watch it like a hawk, but leaving the house or leaving it charging while you sleep is a bad idea. ALWAYS take it off the charger as soon as it is done charging, I absolutely cannot stress this enough! Leaving it on the charger to trickle charge after it is fully charged is what can cause the battery to be unstable, and not only that but its lifespan will be drastically reduced if trickle charged. I would go even further to suggest you try and remove it from the charger when it is around 90% charge (that is if the charger lets you know how full the battery is). One nifty thing to know about li-ions is that undercharging them is not bad for them at all, in fact it will greatly increase their lifespan and it is much safer.

Secondly never let the batteries drop or get physically damaged. If they are dented or suffer a long fall to a hard surface, the interior of the battery could get damaged and can cause instability. The inside layers and things used in li-ion batteries are quite fragile and have limited tolerances for abuse.

Thirdly, just make sure to buy batteries from reputable sources and try to stick to real name brand stuff, cheap knock-off's will likely be built cheaper and with less QA. You may not have to do anything wrong at all to have one of those blow up in your face. Spend the few extra dollars to get the real thing.


If you stick to these principles (especially Point #1), you shouldn't have any issues, even if you are charging the batteries on a charger that isn't utilizing proper charging algorithms (unless the charger is faulty or charges at a highly unsafe current rate).
 

jlazarus

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May 30, 2009
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Wouldn't the batt would have been hot - so why take a drag off it? That's not *normal*. I mean, I'd NOTICE if my batt was hot - and I wouldn't vape on it!!! I'm thinking this thing didn't just explode while vaping - or am I totally off base? Maybe he was charging on a USB port via his laptop in his lap or something - and the battery was hanging down the side and then exploded and hit his face. As a vaper, I just can't see HOW one would not notice a hot battery (or the smell!). (Sidenote: Thinking of getting those fire protective battery charging bags - not just for e-cig, but for cell phone, too. Think of that stuff sitting by bed charging isn't so smart!)
 

Hounds

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Feb 12, 2012
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A little tip for those stuck using propitiatory batteries and chargers (like the eGo or other various 510 equipment for example) you will likely be 100% safe from this occurring to you if you just take a few precautionary steps.

First and foremost, never leave a charging battery 100% unattended, you don't have to sit there and watch it like a hawk, but leaving the house or leaving it charging while you sleep is a bad idea. ALWAYS take it off the charger as soon as it is done charging, I absolutely cannot stress this enough! Leaving it on the charger to trickle charge after it is fully charged is what can cause the battery to be unstable, and not only that but its lifespan will be drastically reduced if trickle charged. I would go even further to suggest you try and remove it from the charger when it is around 90% charge (that is if the charger lets you know how full the battery is). One nifty thing to know about li-ions is that undercharging them is not bad for them at all, in fact it will greatly increase their lifespan and it is much safer.

Secondly never let the batteries drop or get physically damaged. If they are dented or suffer a long fall to a hard surface, the interior of the battery could get damaged and can cause instability. The inside layers and things used in li-ion batteries are quite fragile and have limited tolerances for abuse.

Thirdly, just make sure to buy batteries from reputable sources and try to stick to real name brand stuff, cheap knock-off's will likely be built cheaper and with less QA. You may not have to do anything wrong at all to have one of those blow up in your face. Spend the few extra dollars to get the real thing.


If you stick to these principles (especially Point #1), you shouldn't have any issues, even if you are charging the batteries on a charger that isn't utilizing proper charging algorithms (unless the charger is faulty or charges at a highly unsafe current rate).

Thanks for this info, ITPython. I also sent you a PM. Just ignore it please. You've answered all my questions in this thread. I've got a Pila charger on the way.... :toast:
 

tearose50

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Feb 2, 2011
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I just want to repeat what I read either here or on the another thread---all the very recent news is the same person.

The Guy in Mobile, Alabama is the North West Florida man. The hospital is in Alabama.

And, NW Florida is really close to Alabama. Mobile just might be the closest city. People in that NW Florida area sometimes call it "southern Alabama" for fun.
 

jlazarus

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ECF Veteran
May 30, 2009
138
67
Wouldn't the batt would have been hot - so why take a drag off it? That's not *normal*. I mean, I'd NOTICE if my batt was hot - and I wouldn't vape on it!!! I'm thinking this thing didn't just explode while vaping - or am I totally off base? Maybe he was charging on a USB port via his laptop in his lap or something - and the battery was hanging down the side and then exploded and hit his face. As a vaper, I just can't see HOW one would not notice a hot battery (or the smell!). (Sidenote: Thinking of getting those fire protective battery charging bags - not just for e-cig, but for cell phone, too. Think of that stuff sitting by bed charging isn't so smart!)

From: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ecf-library/129569-rechargeable-batteries.html

"This means they are being overstressed. An over-charge incident followed by a high-current demand may result in thermal runaway - in other words the battery may explode on first use after recharging. "

Guess I was wrong!
 

Goldenkobold

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Oct 23, 2010
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Florida
This incident happened very close to me and was picked up by the local news. Very sorry to see this happen.
The drudge link is down, our local station probably wasn't prepared for the massive amount of traffic drudge can send whenever it links a story. Drudge Report often inspires other news organizations so you may see more of this through the week. I do hope we find out the specific equipment being used but, as always, I think the true fact is that all lithium ion and IMR batteries have to be looked at as a potential hazards.

This is the third fourth failure so far in 2012 I have seen talked about here. One stacked situation, one single battery IMR, one janty neo (ego style) overheating and melting the cartomizer and now whatever this individual was using.
 
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Yet again the media uses its great power to crap out an article like this and scare the hell out of people. We need to be more critical of the news! I'm so annoyed by the comments I read (not here) in response to this article. What spreads quicker than that motivated by fear? Why don't they cover the dangers of improper handling of batteries in general? That would be much more useful, comprehensive information. I guess the real threat is that vaping keeps me smober, huh? When the bourgeoisie tobacco companies use their power which they've earned from making people sick to deliberately stop them from developing healthy alternatives... I get...

:mad:
 
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