nitecore intellicharger blows up!

[Racehorse]

The most reported battery incidents happen during charging batteries. The issue can be because of either the battery or the charger having a issue. This is why people warn not to leave batteries charging unattended if you leave your home or overnight. It sounds like the outlet you used had a short circuit and should be evaluated by a certified electrician.

If the outlet had a short circuit it would have blown the breaker or triggere an overload on the fuse (if anybody still actually lives in a house with fuses instead of breakers) and within a few seconds and the circuit stops flowing.

When you reset the breaker and it trips again, without anything plugged in, the short circuit is in the outlet box or wall wiring of the structure. If the breaker does not trip again, the short circuit lies in something that draws power from the wall wiring, i.e. what you plugged in.

As Rick pointed out, this is not the first report on ECF and elsewhere about nitecores, which is quite frankly why I don't recommend them, JMHO, I think there may be clones of them out there or something.

You would be hard pressed to find posts anywhere on ecig forums or otherwise, of PILA chargers having problems. I recommend PILA or xtar.

 

[lvm111]

Who told you that?

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/battery-issues/375240-2-panasonic-cgr18650ch-18650-2250mah-batteries-began-smoking-nitecore-intellicharger-i2-not-sure-why.html

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/variable-voltage-apv-discussion/412605-nitecore-intellicharger-i2-dead.html

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/battery-issues/434416-nitecore-i4-problem-question.html

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/battery-issues/439945-nitecore-intellicharger-i2-getting-hot.html

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/general-e-smoking-discussion/447324-smoke-coming-out-my-nitecore-i2-intellicharger.html

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/general-e-smoking-discussion/447739-new-intellicharger-wrong-cord.html

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/apv-discussion/449571-nitecore-i2-charger-problem.html

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/vamo/459252-nitecore-charger-issue.html

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/new-members-forum/462542-my-charger-just-exploded.html

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/new-members-forum/464435-keep-intellicharger-i4-plugged.html

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/battery-issues/499214-batteries-going-bad-why.html

Why these crap chargers have become the darlings of the vaping community I'll never know. Oh yeah - I do know. You can buy them cheap on FastTech, and they hold two more batteries than a cheap Trustfire. They actually seem to be outstripping TrustFire for charger complaints on ECF.

Get an Xtar. If they come with a 2 year warrranty oh... I don't know... the manufacturer is expecting them to actually last at least two years.

Even though it took me a while, I figured it was worth the effort to verify your claim. Not that I particularly love my nitecore intellicharger i2. But, it never did me wrong either.

Only two of your references/links were bought from fasttech. And some, perhaps most, could be blamed on the batteries, not the charger. So my question is: do you own, or have you personally ever used the charger you're going to a lot of trouble to bash?

best regards, larry mac

 

[Ryedan]

I like mine. The only thing I've had happen is occasionally the lights go off. I re-insert the batteries and it works just fine. I hope my spelling was ok here.

I don't know about anyone else, but that would bother me. This isn't as bad as losing the smoke, but it's right up there

As for spelling, don't worry about it. I'm intelligent enough to figure out what someone really meant if they make a mistake. I figure anyone who complains about it isn't worth worrying about.

 

[lvm111]

I like mine. The only thing I've had happen is occasionally the lights go off. I re-insert the batteries and it works just fine. I hope my spelling was ok here.

That's witty about the spelling. lol. If only it was about the spelling I don't think we'd be quibbling over whether or not people were being the spelling police. Because I don't think anyone minds a few misspelled words here and there. I sure hope so anyway, 'cause I know I'm not perfect. No, it goes way beyond that.

Sorry. Guess I should go to bed now.

best regards, larry mac

 

[Nermal]

So Don, why not tell us how you really feel.

 

[Ryedan]

If the outlet had a short circuit it would have blown the breaker or triggere an overload on the fuse (if anybody still actually lives in a house with fuses instead of breakers) and within a few seconds and the circuit stops flowing.

When you reset the breaker and it trips again, without anything plugged in, the short circuit is in the outlet box or wall wiring of the structure. If the breaker does not trip again, the short circuit lies in something that draws power from the wall wiring, i.e. what you plugged in.

As Rick pointed out, this is not the first report on ECF and elsewhere about nitecores, which is quite frankly why I don't recommend them, JMHO, I think there may be clones of them out there or something.

You would be hard pressed to find posts anywhere on ecig forums or otherwise, of PILA chargers having problems. I recommend PILA or Xtar.

This is why I would not use one. It's easy to get chargers that don't have this history of issues. I'm not looking to save money on a charger, I just want it to work and be safe.

 

[Schnarph]

I read the thread up to this point but only find two points worth quoting. No offense to the rest:

its not a knock off, it was charging ive had it for months im charging in an outlet ive never used at my dads house and I picked it up to switch out batteries and it happened like that, im feeling like it was something to doing with that outlet thank heavens my battiers are safe lol

It sounds like the outlet you used had a short circuit and should be evaluated by a certified electrician.

I have seen some absolutely amazing breaker boxes in my life, not to mention countless poorly or falsely grounded outlets. I've seen outlets that will cook any extension cord yet the flow keeps coming. Breakers replaced with hardware fasteners! This may be a concern for any items used in this particular outlet in the future. Have a certified, licensed, bonded professional check it out... extensively.

Since this issue is still open for discussion, it could just as easily be the fault of the charger. As mentioned by others, any and all electronics will have a certain percentage of failure. I've been told many times that a Fluke DMM is the best, but even that will have an expected failure rate, even if it is under 1%. I've seen high end PC power supplies last for years or die in less than one, same model. Lightning, water, and humidity reap terrible havoc on electronics that "we" may not be aware of. Also, QC is as fallible as anything since humans are involved. Given the number of Nitecore units sold, there will be a few failures.

To the OP, thank for posting your story. I'm glad you're not hurt, and that no property was damaged other than the charger and batteries (which I would recycle ASAP). Personality conflicts aside, I honestly don't want any of "us" getting hurt from vaping. Chances are your next Nitecore charger will be fine.

BTW, I'm not a Nitecore fanboy, there are "better" chargers on the market, although they also have the potential to fail as well. All I've ever said in the past was to avoid using anything with "fire" in the name... blame the name or the QC, I'm biased either way.

 

[Racehorse]

I have seen some absolutely amazing breaker boxes in my life, not to mention countless poorly or falsely grounded outlets. I've seen outlets that will cook any extension cord yet the flow keeps coming. Breakers replaced with hardware fasteners! This may be a concern for any items used in this particular outlet in the future. Have a certified, licensed, bonded professional check it out... extensively.

Very true.

It's just that i blew up a wall socket already with ecig stuff. Cost me $150 to get an electrician. The chances of my new electrical system thoroughly up to code being at fault, versus some chinese made ecig product being bad.......well, you see where i"m going.

And yes, the electrician tested the wall wart on the charger and it was bad.

It's often those wall adapter thingies that are bad, not the whole charger itself. mine was just an ego charger.

 

[Asbestos4004]

That's witty about the spelling. lol. If only it was about the spelling I don't think we'd be quibbling over whether or not people were being the spelling police. Because I don't think anyone minds a few misspelled words here and there. I sure hope so anyway, 'cause I know I'm not perfect. No, it goes way beyond that.

Sorry. Guess I should go to bed now.

best regards, larry mac

You know me Larry, I'm just playing. One thing neither of us has to worry about....preparing a speech for "The Most Well Behaved Member" at the ECF award dinner!

 

[suspectK]

While I know that we're not using Li-Po chemistry batteries

Li-Ion, Li-Po, same thing.

Explain how they are the same thing.

 

[Schnarph]

Very true.

It's just that i blew up a wall socket already with ecig stuff. Cost me $150 to get an electrician. The chances of my new electrical system thoroughly up to code being at fault, versus some chinese made ecig product being bad.......well, you see where i"m going.

And yes, the electrician tested the wall wart on the charger and it was bad.

It's often those wall adapter thingies that are bad, not the whole charger itself. mine was just an ego charger.

So true. Even checking them for heat means very little in the long run unless they're obviously too hot. It's not much of a fuse, but my chargers always go through a decent quality, grounded outlet strip. Generally they have 10-15 amp fuses which could still blow a mod battery, but it's better than nothing in my world of possible brown outs and somewhat questionable electrical current. Those little Ego chargers and the Ego batteries themselves freak me out... no telling if they're Li-Po, unprotected Li-Ion, or Li-Mn (doubtful). This has little or nothing to do with the Nitecore chargers, but in terms of QC and percentage of failure it's all a gamble... albeit very slim odds.

Explain how they are the same thing.

I believe that was in reference to the charging bags alone. In that case, they ARE all the same. Sorry to bicker, but this is way off track from the OP.

 

[State O' Flux]

I think this takes the award for "unintentionally funniest" thread of the night. Thanks... ;-)

 

[WarHawk-AVG]

Explain how they are the same thing.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/the_li_polymer_battery_substance_or_hype

 

[nicetucu]

I have the said charger 4 slots v2 version and purchased from Fasttech. Never a problem, but I always have it plugged into a surge protector just in case for extra measure. Also the batteries never get hot either.

I get how the original poster could have rubbed people the wrong way. He is probably quite young and a bit upset. Perhaps sensationalized this thread to garner more attention. Dirty power could also be the culprit.

 

[WarHawk-AVG]

Well there is a 12vdc port...I wonder if a 12vdc regulated AC wall wart would be able to provide cleaner power? I still want to try a 12vdc cig lighter adapter in my truck to see if all these multi-powered chargers can in fact use dual charging ability.

 

[Baditude]

You would be hard pressed to find posts anywhere on ecig forums or otherwise, of PILA chargers having problems. I recommend PILA or Xtar.

The Pila was my very first charger for rechargeable batteries. I purchased it because it had the reputation for the last few years as being the top charger available for mod batteries. It was my sole workhorse charger for well over a year. At one point one of the charging bays stopped working. My reasoning was this charger may no longer be safe and needed to be replaced. I obviously needed more than one working charging bay regardless. So, like any piece of electrical equipment, even a Pila can break down. I still consider a Pila to be one of the top chargers available to us as vapers.

I purchased an Xtar WP6 II, a six-bay charger, since at this time I had two people in my home that needed to charge mod batteries and I had accumulated many batteries that might need charging at one time. I needed more than just two charging bays. The WP6 II charger recharges 18490 and 18650 batteries just fine. But because of the spacers and the springs it uses it will not contain the 18350 batteries without them popping out of the bays on their own ... requiring something with weight to keep them in place. This made me uncomfortable, because I have to recharge multiple 18350 batteries on a daily basis. I have designated this charger as a backup charger only for this reason. In hindsight, due to the application for what I needed, this turned out to be a poor choice of charger.

I then purchased the Nitecore Intellicharger i4 mainly because of its four bays, and the fact that it uses the adjustable slider bars to contain the 18350 batteries easily. Another option for a four bay charger with sliders would have been the Xtar XP4.

All three of the above chargers are extremely high-quality chargers as far as I can tell and I recommend either model. I consider both batteries and chargers to be the most important items you can purchase for your vaping setups. I believe this is not an area where you should skimp by purchasing cheap batteries or a charger. I recommend only well-known, name-brand, IMR batteries and chargers from trusted vendors that sell only e-cigarette products. I purchase all of my batteries and chargers from RTD Vapor.

BATTERY BASICS FOR MODS: IMR OR PROTECTED ICR?

 

[SirSteve]

So true. Even checking them for heat means very little in the long run unless they're obviously too hot. It's not much of a fuse, but my chargers always go through a decent quality, grounded outlet strip. Generally they have 10-15 amp fuses which could still blow a mod battery, but it's better than nothing in my world of possible brown outs and somewhat questionable electrical current. Those little Ego chargers and the Ego batteries themselves freak me out... no telling if they're Li-Po, unprotected Li-Ion, or Li-Mn (doubtful). This has little or nothing to do with the Nitecore chargers, but in terms of QC and percentage of failure it's all a gamble... albeit very slim odds.

I believe that was in reference to the charging bags alone. In that case, they ARE all the same. Sorry to bicker, but this is way off track from the OP.

Schnarph!, long time no see, I see Myrany is still around too. Hope to be back full force soon, until then Hello to the both of you.

As for the Nitecore, I have the Jetbeam i4 Pro version, been flawless for over 6 months now. Jetbeam and Sysmax have went their separate ways, both produce a version of the Nitecore from my understanding.

 

[Jazzi Mike]

This exact thing happened to me like a week after I bought it. I just contacted the vendor and they sent out a new one. It is definitely not something I would plug back into the wall though.

 

[NicoHolic]

I'll just say this... if you depend on a charger to keep you off tobacco, have a backup, and a backup for the backup. At least one of them should've been used for a couple of months on 120VAC, verified to charge off the 12 volt outlet in your vehicle for power outages, and then disconnected from power and packed back up as a spare. A backup that's plugged in can be taken out with the primary in the event of a power line surge such as from a lightning strike. I have three of the i2, one at work, one at home, and one at home packed up as a spare. Even if my house burns down, I have the one at work.

 

[SissySpike]

Explain how they are the same thing.

I think the poster meant the bag works for both types of batteries.