Local NW Floridian with severe injuries from exploding ecig battery

[ScotTex]

I sure hope we all can get the real info about this incident... Learn from it if possible. I just recently bought a SilverBullet and was actually thinking of trying the (RAR123A) 6volt-double stack in the future, but not now though. Just ain't worth it.
Prayers for him and family for a speedy recovery.

vape On.

 

[Stubby]

Something to keep in mind is that all batteries can fail and go into runaway mode. Once that happens it's going to blow and nothing can stop it. We can do things to try and prevent it from happening, but mods need to be built for worse case scenarios. A pin size vent hole with do little to nothing to stop it, but it may give a few seconds advance warning. It simple can't vent fast enough to prevent an explosion.

Tube style mods need to have blow-out plugs designed into them. This is simple a rubber or plastic plug that is designed to blow out when the internal pressure gets to high. Make it the weakest part of the mod, the bigger the better, and possible more then one. Hopefully this would prevent a complete explosion in a worst case situation. These could be designed into the end cap. That's a good place for it as it would blow away from the person using it.

 

[ITPython]

Yeah, let's hope this doesn't give them the fire-power they need to ban the ecigs to "protect " the public!

I can't see ecigs getting completely banned, the device itself is breaking no laws and never will, unless the government wants to make electrical resistors and batteries illegal (lol, I can actually see that happening, sadly). Really the most likely thing to happen is that nicotine (and/or the consumable juice) will just get heavily regulated by the FDA, which in turn impacts the ecigs because that is one of the most important things about it. They would be hard pressed to regulate the equipment, as that would be incredibly easy to bypass due to the various components and DIY nature of the scene.

But as others have pointed out, li-ion batteries are in a multitude of different things we use on a daily basis. I'm sure the cases of exploding cell phone batteries is underplayed and probably happens 2,000 times more often than a ecig battery going wonky. But due to the controversial nature of ecigs, a few incidents get thrown at the public as a means to attempt to regulate.

The FDA (or other government agency) will get their way eventually and we can count on that, I just hope the outcome isn't too harsh. Cause if you throw out the cost-saving concept of ecigs out the window, it won't be as appealing as it is now.


Honestly though I wouldn't mind a very small level of regulation, cause with liquids we have no idea what we are sucking in, especially liquid from China. If manufacturers at least had to worry about putting toxic chemicals in stuff because they could get in trouble for it, that would make me feel a little better about using the stuff and I could worry less if I am sucking in toxic/poisonous components.

 

[Striker911]

Tube style mods need to have blow-out plugs designed into them. This is simple a rubber or plastic plug that is designed to blow out when the internal pressure gets to high. Make it the weakest part of the mod, the bigger the better, and possible more then one. Hopefully this would prevent a complete explosion in a worst case situation. These could be designed into the end cap. That's a good place for it as it would blow away from the person using it.

Shoot Provape is not about to buy back all they sold and im not about to buy another one. Ill risk it. How often should I change out the battery's on the semi safe side?

 

[Striker911]

But as others have pointed out, li-ion batteries are in a multitude of different things we use on a daily basis. I'm sure the cases of exploding cell phone batteries is underplayed and probably happens 2,000 times more often than a ecig battery going wonky. But due to the controversial nature of ecigs, a few incidents get thrown at the public as a means to attempt to regulate.

The FDA (or other government agency) will get their way eventually and we can count on that, I just hope the outcome isn't too harsh. Cause if you throw out the cost-saving concept of ecigs out the window, it won't be as appealing as it is now.


Honestly though I wouldn't mind a very small level of regulation, cause with liquids we have no idea what we are sucking in, especially liquid from China. If manufacturers at least had to worry about putting toxic chemicals in stuff because they could get in trouble for it, that would make me feel a little better about using the stuff and I could worry less if I am sucking in toxic/poisonous components.

That brings in a lot of speculation. Can u imagine how bad a person must be if they did this just to get regulation passed. Think about it. It wasn't some punk kid. It was that old man with cancer that could be on his way out. Probably a great man. But deff will bring some sympathy to the people on the fence. What a thought. Im such a conspiracy theorist.

 

[ITPython]

That brings in a lot of speculation. Can u imagine how bad a person must be if they did this just to get regulation passed. Think about it. It wasn't some punk kid. It was that old man with cancer that could be on his way out. Probably a great man. But deff will bring some sympathy to the people on the fence. What a thought. Im such a conspiracy theorist.

Oh boy, he had cancer too? Yeah, I could see the headlines now "Man with cancer tries to quit smoking for an allegedly safer alternative, ends up in ER after massive battery explosion in his face".


While it is possible he could be a deliberate plant, even I who thinks up conspiracies as well, would find that one hard to swallow. There would be no hope left for the human condition if that was the case.

 

[ChaosTheory]

while they are at it, let's add laptops, cell phones, flashlights, ipods, i vote we ban batteries, the thought makes me feel safer as i type.

I was being sardonic

 

[MattZuke]

I'm totally freaking out about this. That poor man.

Does anyone know what kind of batteries come with the Epower 14560 (from Hoosier ecig supply) and kGo? I'm scared to vape now

Something like an ego has a blowout cap.

I'm not sure the the stock e-power batteries, I specifically bought AW 14670s, which my best data says it's a Panasonic with protection circuit.

Keep in mind that something like the CR123s are tricky since you can buy them as LiFePO4, or Li-ion, and the chargers are very different. There are likely dozens of them intended for low load applications, like a light saber or scope.

Due to coil compression I have blown the electronic switch in a E-power, and a crappy t-rex, and it was stuck closed. My E-power (noego e-power switch) was stuck closed for 15min. No ill effects on tenergy 14500 batteries, except the switch was gone.

 

[Lacedolphin]

This was on my Lexington,Ky. News station last night :

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - A faulty battery caused an electronic cigarette to explode in a Florida's man's mouth, taking out some of his front teeth, a chunk of his tongue and severely burning his face, fire officials said.

Tom Holloway, 57, of Niceville, was trying to quit smoking so he was puffing on the device Monday night when it blew up, fire officials said. Officials have not identified the victim, but a Facebook page under his name was filled with well-wishers commenting on the injury and database searches matched his address with his name.

"The best analogy is like it was trying to hold a bottle rocket in your mouth when it went off," said Joseph Parker, division chief for the North Bay Fire Department. "The battery flew out of the tube and set the closet on fire."

Parker said fire investigators do not know the brand of cigarette, type of battery or age of the device. It appears the battery was rechargeable lithium because a recharging station and other batteries were in the room, he said.

Parker said he has forwarded information about the blaze to the Fire Marshal's Office to include in any databases on the devices. But Parker said he has yet to hear of any similar instances.

Fire Chief Joseph Miller said the victim contacted the department on Wednesday to thank firefighters and told them he was recovering at a hospital in Mobile, Ala.

Thomas Kiklas, co-founder of the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association, said the industry knows of no problems with the cigarettes or batteries exploding.

Kicklas said the cigarettes include a small battery and cartridge. The battery is designed to generate an electric charge when the device is inhaled. The charge sets off the vapor in the cigarette tube.

Kiklas cited a federal report that found 2.5 million Americans used electronic cigarettes last year.

"There have been billions and billions of puffs on the cigarettes and we have not heard of this happening before," he said.

Holloway and his family members didn't immediately answer The Associated Press' requests for interviews.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)


It gives a little more detail, but at least our news didn't turn it into a "these should be banned" song and dance.

 

[Striker911]

Oh boy, he had cancer too? Yeah, I could see the headlines now "Man with cancer tries to quit smoking for an allegedly safer alternative, ends up in ER after massive battery explosion in his face".


While it is possible he could be a deliberate plant, even I who thinks up conspiracies as well, would find that one hard to swallow. There would be no hope left for the human condition if that was the case.

Worse things have happened. Look at nine eleven, and the war we are in. They cover that up as terrorist attacks yet it all seems to be over money, power, and oil. I see it coming. Darn conspiracy theorist's

 

[markfm]

"we have not heard of this happening before" is questionable, as the January accident, at the top level, sounded a lot like this.

 

[jlazarus]

Tube style mods need to have blow-out plugs designed into them. This is simple a rubber or plastic plug that is designed to blow out when the internal pressure gets to high. Make it the weakest part of the mod, the bigger the better, and possible more then one. Hopefully this would prevent a complete explosion in a worst case situation. These could be designed into the end cap. That's a good place for it as it would blow away from the person using it.

Question - So, am I to understand that the risk of thermal runaway is greater in an ecig where the battery is housed in a tube - presumably due to pressure from off gassing? Which isn't just tube *mods* but could also mean standard Ego types (Riva, Kgo, Ego, etc.)...I was trying to educate myself last night a bit by reading about Rechargeable Batteries. I was interested in this sentence: "The explosion is due to thermal runaway when the cell is overcharged then put in an overcurrent situation (which atomizer use frequently is, since most small cells cannot safely provide enough power for an atomizer, which might draw 1 amp to 2.5 amps)." - But this could happen on any e-cig, not just a tube mod. For example, if someone were using a bottom feeder box mod - plenty of venting, but the battery could, still, explode, could it not? (I'm just trying to understand the actual cause of exploding batteries, from that article, appears mainly to be overcharging, resulting in explosion during the charging process, or, worse, on first drag when the atty is pulling too much power). Or am I totally off?

 

[ShaneBrooks]

I don't think the government or the special interests paying them will have much to work with, unless they feel like we should ban GPS systems or cell phone batteries. I bet the tobacco and pharma lobbyists are showering the FDA and our elected "representatives" with "donations", and other favors/future positions as we type.

 

[Rocketman]

The CIA probably slipped some explosive batteries into the supply chain just to give us bad press.

 

[markfm]

There's nothing magic about a tube mod vs. a box. A runaway tends to occur because of too much current draw, particularly if you have a short circuit condition. Battery overheats, off-gasses, the gas needs a path out, will find the weakest point. If you have decent vents, not just tiny pin-..... holes, that's where the gas comes out. If you have, say, a mod with a delrin end cap, that will tend to be the give point. Other standard PVs have a soft .... plug towards the ash-cap at the bottom; similar to a delrin end cap, a natural give point. Barring these give points, if the top of the PV is the weakest point, that's what the gasses will push out.

 

[TomCatt]

With a tube mod with vent holes on the bottom, isn't this just an escape for the vented gases which would force the mod in the opposite direction - in the direction the other end is pointing?

 

[Calypso53]

Does anyone here know if the battery chargers that come with the "kits".........I have GreenSmoke, V2 and Lux from Modern Vapor..........are the "safe" kind?? I'm pretty new to this, and don't really know much about the internal workings of batteries, really don't think I will be going out to get multimeters, whatever they are, but sure would like to know if what I have now is considered "protected" batteries and safe. My family has been sending me dire warnings because of this news, and I am explaining that this man was likely doing something dumb with batteries, but it's starting to piss me off after hearing all the warnings about cigarettes, now finding this which for me is nothing short of a miracle, having smoked for over 40 years, and now this! Sorry for the run-on sentences..........just a bit freaked about this.

 

[Rocketman]

I hope the over reporting of this incident will cause some to rethink how they vape, charge, maintain their equipment.
A few injuries, near misses, averted incidences, overheating batteries, and risky practices need to be brought up every so often. Those complaining about the media jumping on this would rather it had been suppressed?

Look at the "I had a Brand X battery almost explode" examples coming out of the wood work now (along with all the experts on Li-ion batteries).

Although it is impossible to make a monkey proof mod maybe we should be hitting on the e-cig mod manufacturers to get on board with REAL safety features. We see nothing but reviews of how this new-fangled mod makes ton of vaper, uses such advanced technology, takes all kinds of batteries, some with optional tubes to allow you to stack just about anything. Man I HATE Youtube reviews

Then the 'Reputable' vendors selling counterfeit cells, by accident I guess. Or, selling batteries, cartos and mods in the same order that are not compatible. Not their job to question the customer's money. I hate being bothered by the Walmart clerk in a department I'm knowledgeable about, or the typical Radio Shack clerk. Now it seems the typical e-cig vendor is a FaceBook expert. Knows marketing, Web Design, and a little about vaping. And of course they only got into this to help others ditch smoking. Picked their product line after extensive evaluation of available products? Hogwash. Picked based on margins.





and I really love the 'autosave' feature while posting. Thanks.

 

[markfm]

My mods have 3 vent holes, symmetric around the bottom of the tube. In a minor off-gas, via the vent holes, the forces will tend to balance, they're lateral rather than up. If it's a major event, the side vent holes insufficient, the bottom cap would come off before anything could push out the top cap, which is all metal screwed into the tube. Mass of the PV, plus my holding it, would tend to minimize the upward push, and that bottom cap opening provides a huge vent.

Net, the idea is to make sure that it isn't the top cap, or just the connector/atty, that is the vent path. The reason is that in that case you've had to build up enough pressure to force that part out, and the relatively small mass at the top would tend to translate to high velocity when there's enough pressure (energy) to have it eject.

These are just my thoughts, but I'm not a mechanical engineer.

 

[Rocketman]

Mark,
I agree with you.
Vents keep static pressure equalized with the environment. That's about all. Even the eGos that pop the bottom cap don't drag the laptop with them across the room. Videos of RC batteries or laptop batteries going ballistic can still be kept in the viewfinder. In addition to the mass, you impart additional resistance just be holding the mod. The part you aren't holding will probably be the part that goes zoom. Instead of bottle rocket think Roman Candle.