Mechanical Mod Venting

[sonicbomb]

It's well known that a mechanical mod needs adequate venting so that if a battery vents, the gasses generated have a means to escape. Some mechs have these holes at the top, some the bottom and some have both. I read a post here ECF recently proposing a possible situation where a venting battery could swell, blocking the tube and therefore the vent holes.

In light of this I decided to retest my Stingray X clone (which I knew had fairly poor venting, and only from the bottom), with a view to possibly adding some addition vent holes myself. I was mortified to find that there was no air escaping from the mod at all. A few months ago I had replaced the fire switch and on closer examination I realized that the channels that provide a path for the air to the external holes had been omitted in this unit. This sent a cold chill down my spine, because had I had a battery vent on me, the device would have become a pipe bomb.

Old button on the right with the channels, new button the left with none.

I have now drilled a number of 2mm holes in both the bottom and top of the tube. Once I have an appropriate size drill bit I am going to drill out the button and possibly the top cap too space allowing. This hasn't done much for the aesthetics of the device, but to me this is meaningless at this point.

This goes to show that as a mech mod user, you can NEVER allow yourself to become complacent.
I am going to also drill additional holes in top of my SMPLs as they only have vent holes in the fire button. I am going to recheck all my devices for potential venting issues.

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[Eric Auer]

My Chi You 26650 Clone came with a vented switch and 3 vent holes on top.

Since I'm not subohming and mostly use 1.2-1.8 ohm coils I feel comfortable with it and the MNKE batteries I got for it.

Thanks for a nice post to keep things real, Can't be to careful.

Eric

 

[edyle]

 

[mamabear15]

And here I thot I was the only one who did this...on my Vanillas, I drilled similarly to what you're talking about, and on the Paps clone it has good vent holes except they are at the bottom of the tube, so I flipped the tube upside down. It makes the engraving look stupid, but it's safer! Between that, 25Rs, and vtc4s, I sleep easier at night. Lol

 

[Baditude]

Mech mod manufacturing designs need to be upgraded for maximum safety, primarily meaning adequate ventilation (at least 2 mm holes) holes in the upper third of the metal tube. Batteries are designed to vent from their top, and some may swell in diameter when they vent thereby blocking access to any holes that are present in the lower third of the tube.

top battery venting and swelling of an IMR battery

​

Collapsable "hot springs" seem like a good idea to me, too. These will melt or collapse when the battery reaches a critical temperature, thereby breaking the electrical connection to the atomizer and hopefully preventing a full blown thermal runaway.

Silver Bullet hot spring

I'm also not a fan of bottom fire buttons. These are a poor design based on lower cost and ease of manufacturing for the designer. A recessed side fire button can protect against accidental firing of the button in a pocket or purse. The button in the Silver Bullet is designed to pop out with the buildup of pressure from a venting battery.

 

[edyle]

And here I thot I was the only one who did this...on my Vanillas, I drilled similarly to what you're talking about, and on the Paps clone it has good vent holes except they are at the bottom of the tube, so I flipped the tube upside down. It makes the engraving look stupid, but it's safer! Between that, 25Rs, and vtc4s, I sleep easier at night. Lol

Thank you so much.
My paps clone just got better!

 

[mamabear15]

Thank you so much.
My paps clone just got better!

LOL my pleasure!!

 

[WharfRat1976]

I always thought any vent hole was a false sense of saftey. A runaway battery will vent way too fast. I think vent holes can lessen the chance of your tube explosing though[emoji12]

 

[Baditude]

I always thought any vent hole was a false sense of saftey. A runaway battery will vent way too fast. I think vent holes can lessen the chance of your tube explosing though[emoji12]

Vent holes won't prevent a battery from venting; a hot spring might.

Vent holes (proper size and location) may prevent a metal tubed mechanical mod from exploding like a pipe bomb. They key here is to allow the accumulating gas from the battery to escape fast.