New York Post and a deadly vape pen
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What would you do if your atomizer fired and you are unable to shut it off...? This high current draw could cause damage, which ever goes first battery or coil would depend on your setup and quality of the gear. Both battery and mods of quality have safety cutoff features. I strongly recommend that if you are not a tech guru and not familiar with Mr Ohm then you need to rely on you Vape supplier, chose carefully.
My Topside sqounker got soaked in juice due to bottle spill...wiped but on next vape the atty did not shut down due to electronic fault, I immediately pulled the battery, no problem.
This may not have happened if the electronics...notably if the circuit board had been coated for moisture resistance. I have notice that most mods do not offer much if any protection to juice penetration of the internal parts.
My Topside sqounker got soaked in juice due to bottle spill...wiped but on next vape the atty did not shut down due to electronic fault, I immediately pulled the battery, no problem.
This may not have happened if the electronics...notably if the circuit board had been coated for moisture resistance. I have notice that most mods do not offer much if any protection to juice penetration of the internal parts.
What mystery?
Look, the guy screwed up and he paid the ultimate price for it. He's not the first person who's mech device exploded. How many times has someone asked any of us "don't those things explode?"....seriously.
So yeah the guy went out and found himself a vape device he likely did not know was a literal hand grenade. That's dam'd unfortunate. Fact still remains he shoulda known better.
Folks wanna get all twisted out the frame about it. Well lesson learned here is to make sure you do your part to ensure vapers around you understand the potential dangers of high powered batteries. That way at least you did your part to thwart someone like me from saying "can't fix stupid" or my coworker calling the guy "idiot"....
Look, the guy screwed up and he paid the ultimate price for it. He's not the first person who's mech device exploded. How many times has someone asked any of us "don't those things explode?"....seriously.
So yeah the guy went out and found himself a vape device he likely did not know was a literal hand grenade. That's dam'd unfortunate. Fact still remains he shoulda known better.
Folks wanna get all twisted out the frame about it. Well lesson learned here is to make sure you do your part to ensure vapers around you understand the potential dangers of high powered batteries. That way at least you did your part to thwart someone like me from saying "can't fix stupid" or my coworker calling the guy "idiot"....
It’s pretty simple IMO...short circuits. Batteries don’t explode on their own (okay, one in a million 18650’s can fail from an internal defect) or if they’re just being used hard. They might, maybe, vent if used VERY hard but they won’t go into thermal runaway.
Just my opinion though.
Yes thank you @Mooch I just think it would be helpful to understand how these catastrophic explosions are happening in the sense of orientation of the battery, pressure max of venting gases and can the swelling prevent gases venting past the obstruction etc.
Most mech mods have some kind of venting these days and even when they didn't there was usually gas release possible through the button. Maybe my thinking is flawed through lack of experience but I still find it kind of hard to believe that the pressure (venting gases) in a mech can lead to a breach in the shell of the device rather than finding the path of least resistance even if its through the button.
Maybe that is what is happening...the fire switch is being blown out of the end of the mod and that is what provides the shrapnel?
I disagree with your statement that most mech mods have some kind of venting. Have you shopped for a mech online lately? Most of the inexpensive ones appear to have zero venting. From what I can gather, most of those are manufactured in China and the Phillipines. The first death-related explosion was a mod made in the Phillipines and had poor venting located in the bottom of the tube. The path of least resistance was blowing its top off sending projectiles into the victim's head. The same scenario seems to be the same in this latest death.Most mech mods have some kind of venting these days and even when they didn't there was usually gas release possible through the button. Maybe my thinking is flawed through lack of experience but I still find it kind of hard to believe that the pressure (venting gases) in a mech can lead to a breach in the shell of the device rather than finding the path of least resistance even if its through the button.
Maybe that is what is happening...the fire switch is being blown out of the end of the mod and that is what provides the shrapnel?
I agree with Mooch. There has to be an almost a perfect storm situation for a short circuited battery to go into thermal runaway and explode, so those events are relatively rare.
Batteries are designed to vent from the positive end. That is a built in "safety feature" in an attempt to prevent battery explosion. Where mech mods fail from a battery venting is a lack of or inadequate venting to release that gas accumulation and they become a pipe bomb. That is poor design by the manufacturer in my opinion. If the mech has adequate venting, there is probably no exploding metal tube.
If you do a search on Google images for "mech mod explosion" you'll find most of them have blown their tops off. The so-called path of least resistance is where the gas pressure innitially accumulates -- at the top of the battery. It should be obvious when something is blocking the gas to escape through vent holes located in the fire button. Whether that is from a lack of space in the battery compartment, the swelling of the battery, or the glob of plastic from the heated plastic from the insulation wrap, is anyone's guess.
When someone makes a post asking fellow members what we think of this or that mech mod, the first thing I do is try to find out is if it has vent holes and where are they located. That is priority number one in my opinion. I don't care if its the most pretty piece of metal tube you've ever seen, if it doesn't have adequate venting it is a potential death stick.
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I disagree with your statement that most mech mods have some kind of venting. Have you shopped for a mech online lately?
I'm no mech expert but I do use one or two. My statement is debatable but in my view most mech's do have either vent holes where they should be (positive end) or in the button. Whether the venting is adequate or not is a different question.
Very important to state here that mech tubes must be treated with the utmost respect and if there is anyone reading this who is thinking about getting one please make sure that the venting holes are one of the most important criteria for choice and that I agree with @Baditude that vent holes in the positive end just above the batteries positive terminal is probably best!!
I agree with @Mooch also...completely. I'm rather more interested in the process leading up to these rare events in terms of the battery once it's in thermal runaway or venting. It may be, for example, that there is a vent hole dimension, or number of which would give a practically zero chance of a dangerous and catastrophic outcome.
We definitely need a standard to work from which would apply to each manufacturer. Those who didn't comply wouldn't sell anymore mech's...simple as that.
I completely agree and have understood this to be the case and it is these elements of a catastrophic event that I would like to see studied further. Of course we should all choose to follow the rule of ultimate safety as stated by yourself and others, @Baditude, in the absence of further more specific information. ''OVERKILL on the SAFETY front is the CORRECT thing to do''
I would certainly like to see further experimentation as I think you would @Baditude. It would be nice to know whether the action of putting the battery in and reversing the polarity for mech's with bottom fire button vent holes or bottom venting would prevent venting gases from being contained in the tube. At the moment I am leaning towards thinking that positive down is safer in this type of mod.
It is not the ideal thing as we all should know as there would be less warnings of a hazardous fault.
Regarding batteries swelling in a tube I think that I probably need to accept that the venting gases are merely resulting in an increased air tightening around the swelling as the pressure increases if that makes sense.....until the top blows off. And that presumably that happens in mech mods with a threaded top cap (not to be confused with the 510 threads) and not in solid tubes as in most hybrid mech's.
Until we know more maybe it would be better for anyone who buys or already possesses a mod with bottom fire button/bottom venting take it to a machine/engineering workshop and have some vent hole expertly drilled into the positive end.
I hope this helps someone make the right choices
I'm no mech expert but I do use one or two. My statement is debatable but in my view most mech's do have either vent holes where they should be (positive end) or in the button. Whether the venting is adequate or not is a different question.
Very important to state here that mech tubes must be treated with the utmost respect and if there is anyone reading this who is thinking about getting one please make sure that the venting holes are one of the most important criteria for choice and that I agree with @Baditude that vent holes in the positive end just above the batteries positive terminal is probably best!!
I agree with @Mooch also...completely. I'm rather more interested in the process leading up to these rare events in terms of the battery once it's in thermal runaway or venting. It may be, for example, that there is a vent hole dimension, or number of which would give a practically zero chance of a dangerous and catastrophic outcome.
We definitely need a standard to work from which would apply to each manufacturer. Those who didn't comply wouldn't sell anymore mech's...simple as that.
I completely agree and have understood this to be the case and it is these elements of a catastrophic event that I would like to see studied further. Of course we should all choose to follow the rule of ultimate safety as stated by yourself and others, @Baditude, in the absence of further more specific information. ''OVERKILL on the SAFETY front is the CORRECT thing to do''
I completely agree also. The discussion of this is issue is even fraught with some difficulty wherein a statement can be made which may not be taken in the right way by the uninitiated.
I would certainly like to see further experimentation as I think you would @Baditude. It would be nice to know whether the action of putting the battery in and reversing the polarity for mech's with bottom fire button vent holes or bottom venting would prevent venting gases from being contained in the tube. At the moment I am leaning towards thinking that positive down is safer in this type of mod.
It is not the ideal thing as we all should know as there would be less warnings of a hazardous fault.
Regarding batteries swelling in a tube I think that I probably need to accept that the venting gases are merely resulting in an increased air tightening around the swelling as the pressure increases if that makes sense.....until the top blows off. And that presumably that happens in mech mods with a threaded top cap (not to be confused with the 510 threads) and not in solid tubes as in most hybrid mech's.
Until we know more maybe it would be better for anyone who buys or already possesses a mod with bottom fire button/bottom venting take it to a machine/engineering workshop and have some vent hole expertly drilled into the positive end.
I hope this helps someone make the right choices
It appears we are in more agreement than I thought earlier.
I agree with the idea to take a suspicious mod to a machine shop that has a drill press available to make the necessary vent holes, rather than attempt to drill them with a portable hand drill yourself. It is extremely difficult to drill on a contoured metal surface with a power hand drill.
To be used as a visual guide, the below pic shows the proper location for vent hole placement in relation to the top of the battery, if that is the orientation you prefer for your battery.
Similar thing hauto me but with an internal reg tube mod. Juice must’ve shorted it and it just started firing away out of the blue.
I grabbed the thing which was hot as hell and took it outside trying to unscrew the atty. I ended up tossing it into the yard.
It scared the crap out of me especially it being a regulated internal battery mod. I was kinda new and thought that only happened with mech mods.
I’m just so grateful I just happened to be there when it happened.
It appears we are in more agreement than I thought earlier.
Yes i'm totally in agreement and would never advocate unsafe practice in a mech mod. It's rather whether it is possible to advise a safe alternative for those that have bottom fire button venting rather than at the moment having to suggest they're a no can do!
By the way I will withdraw my statement ''most mechs have venting these days'' as the answer is I simply don't know for sure without buying them all. My statement was based largely on the assumption that those mech's with no apparent vent holes on the tube would use fire button venting
Practically impossible without ruining your expensive (or not) piece of kit IMO
When I read down to his second picture, a couple things immediately hit me.
1. He built way too low for what's safe.
2. They say HE'S A LICENSED ELECTRICIAN.
A) when I was 18, I was an electrical apprentice going to school and learning in a hands on approach.
B) one of the very first things they focus on as an apprentice is Ohms law.
3. Two routes possible for this guy to get licensed. One being 4 years as an electrical apprentice for a teamsters union and earning the title of Journeyman. Option 2 is passing regulated testing of knowing the same info as any 2+ year apprentice. Pass fail system of getting licensed.
In my opinion, either this was a fake story or he earned himself a Darwin Award in spectacular fashion
1. He built way too low for what's safe.
2. They say HE'S A LICENSED ELECTRICIAN.
A) when I was 18, I was an electrical apprentice going to school and learning in a hands on approach.
B) one of the very first things they focus on as an apprentice is Ohms law.
3. Two routes possible for this guy to get licensed. One being 4 years as an electrical apprentice for a teamsters union and earning the title of Journeyman. Option 2 is passing regulated testing of knowing the same info as any 2+ year apprentice. Pass fail system of getting licensed.
In my opinion, either this was a fake story or he earned himself a Darwin Award in spectacular fashion
1. We don't know who built his coil or what batteries he was using yet, so its a little early to place blame on any particular individual. It wouldn't be the first time a shop employee built a coil too low for the battery being used. And since we don't know the specific battery he was using, it could have been a rewrap brand whose amp rating was greatly exagerated. Are You Using a Rewrap (Rebranded or Aftermarket) Battery?
2. Wouldn't be the first alleged Licensed Electrician who didn't fully understand the relationship between battery amp limits and coil resistance as it relates to vaping in my experience.
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Yes thank you @Mooch I just think it would be helpful to understand how these catastrophic explosions are happening in the sense of orientation of the battery, pressure max of venting gases and can the swelling prevent gases venting past the obstruction etc.
Most mech mods have some kind of venting these days and even when they didn't there was usually gas release possible through the button. Maybe my thinking is flawed through lack of experience but I still find it kind of hard to believe that the pressure (venting gases) in a mech can lead to a breach in the shell of the device rather than finding the path of least resistance even if its through the button.
Maybe that is what is happening...the fire switch is being blown out of the end of the mod and that is what provides the shrapnel?
Yes thank you @Mooch I just think it would be helpful to understand how these catastrophic explosions are happening in the sense of orientation of the battery, pressure max of venting gases and can the swelling prevent gases venting past the obstruction etc.
Most mech mods have some kind of venting these days and even when they didn't there was usually gas release possible through the button. Maybe my thinking is flawed through lack of experience but I still find it kind of hard to believe that the pressure (venting gases) in a mech can lead to a breach in the shell of the device rather than finding the path of least resistance even if its through the button.
Maybe that is what is happening...the fire switch is being blown out of the end of the mod and that is what provides the shrapnel?
Agreed, I don’t think the mechs split. Well, not thick case ones.
IMO the threads give way and the atty, switch, and/or mech body separate and fly away. The threads are a lot weaker than the body and if there is any swelling of the body then there is less thread engagement.
Shrapnel could come from thin-wall pen devices, the atty, or from the battery itself.
I was just reading a paper about li-ion failure mechanisms and the higher capacity cells generated about 8 liters of gas...a lot!
Determining a minimum vent hole area for a mech would be a monstrously huge job. Not only would hundreds of cells need to be brought into runaway to make sure we average out cell-to-cell variations...a less than pleasant job...we would need to test huge numbers of mechs.
It would greatly depend on the strength of the threaded joints too...differing from mech to mech.
With all the variations between mechs and batteries I don’t think we could come up with anything helpful unless we determined the highest internal pressure level that any of the mech could possibly see and then set that as the standard for any mech to survive.
Then determine the pressure level that must never be exceeded so even the weakest mech would not split.
Every mech manufacturer would then need to create pressure test rigs and test to that high pressure standard. The vent hole sizes would then be determined by every manufacturer based on the wall thicknesses, thread engagement, switch construction, etc., to make sure the low pressure number was reached with the vent holes they have.
Retesting of all available mechs would need to be done regularly to see if the standards needed to be adjusted. Or, the target pressure level during venting would have to be set so low that no crappy mech could ever split/separate from it.
But the small mech companies couldn’t afford this testing (money and time) and China won’t do it IMO. But perhaps I’m just cranky today.
I’m wondering if every mech would have to end up looking like the AR mech to guarantee it could not fail.
I guess that it's pretty clear that new vapers without a good understanding of Ohms law should avoid mech mods and that even regulated mods can be a hazard if not understood. I am concerned that some regulated squonk mods do not provide adequate separation between the juice area and the electronics...this should be possible without adding a high cost. Juice shorting is most likely electronics component related, I would not think that juice across the 510 fitting would not be a problem?
Wow, I'm not a huge mech fan, but that mod tempts even this diehard regulated fanboy. Best example of great design I've seen in ages.
Ahh....I forgot about box mechs.
That’s ok, my box mechs made me forget about tube mechs
Actually, due to the design, most all of my squonkers can vent through the squonk hole making them pretty darn safe
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