Local NW Floridian with severe injuries from exploding ecig battery

[jlazarus]

Wow...I thought when my battery exploded it was an isolated case! About a month or so ago I had plugged it in to charge, and it had only been on charger for about ten minutes. I heard a noise like "a pressure cooker" steam release valve. Ladies, you know what I am talking about...its when you are pressure cooking meats and the little knob on top helps release the steam.
I contacted the place where I bought it esmokeclub.com and they replaced it and they acted as though this was an isolated case. Now I am scared ----less to even to use the batteries I have! Here are the pics I sent to the company. BTW...I have a burnt spot on my counter from the battery exploding. My house was full of the nasty smelling smoke fumes and I had to rush the bottom of the battery outside and throw in a water puddle and the thing kept burning!!! WOW!! Does anyone have any idea where I can buy a good rechargeable battery???
Here's the pics:
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Ugh....that's scary. I bought a KGO for my college kid living in a dorm. I do believe we are going to have to invest in some of those battery charging bags. But that only protects when *charging*.

What if there is runaway when putting the dang thing up to your mouth on first drag after charging?

Look, I realize, statistically, the odds are small - and yes, smaller than the odds of harm caused by *smoking*. I've also heard the argument that our cell phones are potential bombs as well - but we aren't putting an atty on a cell phone and hitting a button while it's in our mouth. Cell phones are *near* our mouth, but I'm wondering, statistically, what risk is increased simply due to how we e-cig users are leveraging out batteries? Does the fact that we're constantly throwing an atty that may be pulling too much current make an e-cig batt more prone to thermal runaway? I'm just trying to wrap my brain around odds here. I know we don't hear *that* much about cell phones exploding in people's faces - and there are a LOT more cell phones out there than e-cigs - so hearing about more than one (ecig issue) in one month is making me wonder.....

 

[escaladedude]

So do we know anything more about this mans device yet? Do we def know what kinda batteries he was using? I wish him a fast recovery this is truely an awful accurance

 

[Rocketman]

I guess we can keep posting until some real info about the two bad recent incidents (like real info) is posted.

I don't agree with grouping e-cigs with cell phones (some cell phones have a weak plastic cover on the back), and Laptops, unless you actually sit with your laptop on your lap (good way to block the vents and overheat it).

I think they (especially High Voltage, Stacked Battery Mods) should be grouped with High Power Li-ion Flashlights.
Flashlight modders have stimulated the Chinese to duplicate anything seen in a forum. Then to cut costs, include the cheapest components. Triple stack flashlights. Yup, that's hurt more people than e-cigs.

But we are catching up.

 

[karenwest1961]

Hate only posting when things blow up...but lurking to find out which model it was. I get newz faster here than google searching, fer sher.

 

[lostsync]

So, if using something like an eGo, which is all my wife and I use, would an adequate safety measure be to test fire the device a couple of times after charging it before putting it in your mouth? It seems like that should be sufficient to test for a thermal runaway type failure before use, based on what I've read in this thread.

Also, with regard to the T-Rex that had pics of it posted earlier, I'm really not surprised it separated at the point where it did. Those things fall apart at that point all the time. I owned 4 of them (bought a kit, the two in it died, got them replaced, they died, then switched to eGo batteries and have been happy ever since) and all 4 worked loose at the LED ring within a month. I would definitely suggest that nobody ever buy one of those for any reason, especially in light of this. Their QA is a joke.

I also happen to know that eGo batteries *should* vent through the bottom, but that it is possible to just pull the whole thing apart with pliers, including the connector from the tube. Perhaps Joye should change the way they are built so that the connector is actually screwed into the tube and held in place with an epoxy, while the bottom cap is just sort of banged in like in the current design. Just a thought.

 

[zarina]

Yeah, just took the 5th call from a family member, (and yup they all smoke), to tell me how it seems my habit is dangerous too... They are mostly elderly so I am venting by stomping my feet after getting off the phone. I could talk till the cows come home and all that will matter is that "the pretty lady on the news says that one of those electric powered sticks ripped off that poor man's face..." I know they mean well... think I am going to turn off my cell now.

 

[Scotay87]

Hey all... Just came across some interesting info....

"Holloway agreed to let firefighters take the burned case and other, undamaged ones with them as examples for reporting to a national database, according to the report. But Holloway has asked for the burned case back. Parker said it could be used as evidence in any litigation, although Holloway did not indicate why he wanted it returned, Parker said."

Source.... Electric Cigarette Explodes in Fla Man's Mouth - ABC News

 

[b00stzx3]

IPods and phones have exploded. Lets see if ecigs get the same treatment. /sarcasm protected batteries only!!!!!! And no cheap POS from a mall kiosk!

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk

 

[house mouse]

This has really spurred me on to change some of the ways I do things. First and foremost, no more overnight charging for me. I generally don't get home from work sometimes until after 9PM and have to get up at 4:30 AM the next day to be back in at 6:30AM. I do this 3 days in a row each week. It leaves no time to charge unless I am sleeping. I will also plug in batteries at work in my office and then go off around the building doing my job. My life is over if I burn that building down.

So I just ordered 12 more AW IMR batteries which will give me a total of 16 and threw in a Pila charger and a couple of battery cases to boot. This way I can charge batteries in a monitored situation while at home and take plenty of charged ones(in protected cases) with me to work so that I don't have to charge there. And I won't have to charge overnight anymore to keep me supplied when I'm working. I meant to stock up on batteries like this anyway in case of power outages(I once went through 2 weeks without electricity due to a wicked winter storm) so this will kill 2 birds.

I've also been blessed(and I use that term loosely) on occasion with hot juice spitting into my mouth when I initially fire my mod so I've gotten into the habit of holding it away from me when I first press the button and then vaping it after it's fired a couple of seconds. Hopefully if I'm ever unfortunate enough to have one blow, that maneuver will have it removed from my face when it does.

I always check the voltage on them when they come off the charger and periodically check them while using so I can recharge them when they get down to 3.5v. I can't think of anything else I can do to mitigate my chances barring quitting them entirely, and that is not an option. If anyone else has any other ideas I can implement, I'm all ears.

 

[Traver]

Does the fact that we're constantly throwing an atty that may be pulling too much current make an e-cig batt more prone to thermal runaway?

Yes it does.

 

[Penner]

Yeah I am wondering too. My Provari will shut off when the IMR battery gets to 3.3 V, but I am wondering if I should periodically check them anyway, & when they get to 3.5 volts, replace with another fresh, & recharge the 3.5v?

 

[ChaosTheory]

Hope this is not the beginning of the end of ecigs.

 

[upStomp]

Hey all... Just came across some interesting info....

"Holloway agreed to let firefighters take the burned case and other, undamaged ones with them as examples for reporting to a national database, according to the report. But Holloway has asked for the burned case back. Parker said it could be used as evidence in any litigation, although Holloway did not indicate why he wanted it returned, Parker said."

Source.... Electric Cigarette Explodes in Fla Man's Mouth - ABC News

If he is planning on litigating, it could be a long time before we get adequate details on how exactly this happened.

 

[Semiretired]

Okay, Batt question that fits in here and with all the batt experts maybe a good answer.

I have been looking at a 14500 Tube Mod with interchangeable batts. I have also been looking at a 18650 Tube Mod again with interchangeable batts. Now as long as I go AW IMR batts with a Pila charger, which is safer?

The atty on a 14500 seems it would cause more stress, but the 18650 would be a bigger bang???

I was leaning towards the 14500 because I have also looked at a box mod and the batts could be compatible in both setups. Comments...

 

[ckgjt]

I wonder if Tom was a poster here? I wish him a speedy recovery.

 

[ChaosTheory]

It's a glorious day for Big Tobacco.

 

[kren]

I have the 1300mah Echo batteries, which come standard with a 150mah charger & adapter (sorry if I got the terminology wrong) and take around eight or nine hours to charge. I HAVE to do this overnight if I want to be able to use them the next day. The manufacturer specifically recommends against using any other charger to speed up charge time. My question -- if I wanted to upgrade my charger to the Pila one, which people on this thread recommend as the best quality, would I even be able to, in light of this particular PV's restrictions and setup?

 

[ckgjt]

It's a glorious day for Big Tobacco.

I don't think so. IF the batteries were being used improperly it should be brought to attention. I know women who still use Preparation H under their eyes for wrinkles. If those women incur damage to the eye area, I don't think the hemorrhoid medication should be discontinued.

It may scare some off but I want the whole story. It may be a case of the user doing all the right things and an unfortunate accident occurred. But if laws or bans are sought due to this story I think details are crucial.

 

[markfm]

kren, I believe not, at least not without really cobbling things together. It looks like the Echo is an integrated "proprietary" PV, one where you screw the PV connector into the USB charger. A Pila is designed for charging standalone cylindrical batteries. That the Echo vendor specifically includes a fairly low mAH charger, and urges you not to switch chargers, means you should stay with what they say.

 

[Calypso53]

It made the LA Times: Are smokeless cigarettes safer? E-cig explodes in smoker's mouth - latimes.com I really want more details!