Not the sort of news vaping needs right now ...

[Ryedan]

Take a vision spinner 1100 MaH battery, usb charger cord, & wall wart and toss them in a paper bag. Now throw in the exact same components from a fasttech knock-off. Give it a shake and then sort them out correctly. I just find it hard for the average Joe to say this wall wart goes to this battery or this usb cord goes with that wall wart.

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

The wall wart doesn't matter, it must simply supply the standard usb output of 5V and be able to handle the amp draw of the charger. I believe all usb ports make at least 500 mA. My eGo charge cable says 'Output 4.2V, 420 mA', so it converts the usb input to that. I suspect the charge shutdown intelligence is actually in the eGo battery, but I'm not sure, it could also be in the cable.

So, for any eGo battery 650mAh and up you can use the 420 mA charge cord and any usb plug. For any battery of around 400 mAh and less you need a charge cord with lower amp output of the battery will heat up. Not sure what the cutoff point is, but I suspect it is around 400 mAh.

There is a possibility the polarity might be reversed on some batteries, but it's been a long time since I've heard of this.

There really should be a standard in the ecig industry with charge plugs and batteries designed so no dangerous combination of batt and charger could be physically attached.

 

[Squigly]

The title is always for sensationalism. I do like BBC added WHAT caused the fire and I guess some education that using a charger not provided with your battery will/can cause explosions/fires.

BUT! That being said, WHY are people still being stupid!?

 

[Squigly]

The wall wart doesn't matter, it must simply supply the standard usb output of 5V and be able to handle the amp draw of the charger. I believe all usb ports make at least 500 mA. My eGo charge cable says 'Output 4.2V, 420 mA', so it converts the usb input to that. I suspect the charge shutdown intelligence is actually in the eGo battery, but I'm not sure, it could also be in the cable.

So, for any eGo battery 650mAh and up you can use the 420 mA charge cord and any usb plug. For any battery of around 400 mAh and less you need a charge cord with lower amp output of the battery will heat up. Not sure what the cutoff point is, but I suspect it is around 400 mAh.

There is a possibility the polarity might be reversed on some batteries, but it's been a long time since I've heard of this.

There really should be a standard in the ecig industry with charge plugs and batteries designed so no dangerous combination of batt and charger could be physically attached.

Yes. I do agree there needs to be a semi universal charger and threading. Too many variables which is causing troubles. I am waiting for confirmation from an electrician that you can use a 5V 2 AMP wall wart with the ego usb chargers. And I believe (not confirmed yet) that a wall wart voltage OUTPUT CANNOT exceed the voltage INPUT on the usb chargers!! As the wall wart and ego chargers have chips in them to convert DC to AC or vise versa or whatever. I am by no means educated enough in electricity so take what I am saying seriously and with a grain of salt until someone with experience can confirm.

 

[amolson]

BUT! That being said, WHY are people still being stupid!?

LOL! No, really, I laughed out loud at this.

Um, because they're people?

Best signs on this topic, "Caution, knives are sharp" (required in many kitchens) and to paraphrase my favorite of all time, "Caution, the lead used to contain radioactive isotopes may be hazardous to your reproductive health." (A sign seen in an isotope storage and testing facility.)

I'm waiting for, "Caution, excessive exposure to sunlight can cause cancer, heatstroke, and other ultraviolet and heat related conditions, up to an including death. Go outside at your own risk." and then banning all exposure to daylight for children under the age of 18.

 

[Tinkiegrrl]

This could have happened if he used an inappropriate charger to charge his cell phone or laptop as well. Batteries are batteries. Everyone needs to know and remember to use only the chargers that are sold with those batteries. I'm still going to say that charging a battery is still likely to be safer then lighting a cigarette while on an oxygen treatment.

 

[PixieSkull]

Someone being killed is tame news?

No, I mean in a sensationalism context. I'm used to "Why You are Going to Die Today" news instead of just reporting the facts without injecting all personal opinion. I'm a science person, a realist. I prefer hearing the well-researched facts as news instead of an anxiety-inducing personal opinion talk show.

 

[GolemGolem]

Wonder if it would have made the news if it had been his tea warmer that caught fire ... that caused his oxygen hose to catch fire.

That would of scared England straight to death...it would be in every tabloid and late night local news show you could think of just like our "Tonight at 11, is your espresso machine safe, what you don't know could burn you" stories.
I wonder how many drunken brits set themselves on fire smoking in bed after a night of drinking?...I've held my own with Bulgarians, Germans, Mexicans, Canadians, New Yorkers but dear god the English. . .

 

[WaynesWorld]

Just here in the USA each year over 15,000 fires are attributed to cigarette smoking ... so though tragic, instructions are there for a reason.

 

[Squigly]

LOL! No, really, I laughed out loud at this.

Um, because they're people?

Best signs on this topic, "Caution, knives are sharp" (required in many kitchens) and to paraphrase my favorite of all time, "Caution, the lead used to contain radioactive isotopes may be hazardous to your reproductive health." (A sign seen in an isotope storage and testing facility.)

I'm waiting for, "Caution, excessive exposure to sunlight can cause cancer, heatstroke, and other ultraviolet and heat related conditions, up to an including death. Go outside at your own risk." and then banning all exposure to daylight for children under the age of 18.

Well, if enough people got cancer from prolonged sun exposure they'd learn...

Justifying "they're people" is saying the worlds population is a high percentile of those with no common sense or direction. Do we live in that kind of world? Maybe

 

[GolemGolem]

Well, if enough people got cancer from prolonged sun exposure they'd learn...

Justifying "they're people" is saying the worlds population is a high percentile of those with no common sense or direction. Do we live in that kind of world? Maybe

Well back in the 90s we had.

 

[wheelie]

Time to ban wheat beds?

Great gran killed in blaze after wheat bag bed warmer catches fire under her duvet as she slept | Mail Online

JESH! Now they will want to ban vaping in farmers fields as well. LOL

 

[rolygate]

This is an industry issue that needs solving (but cannot be solved): incompatible charging systems plus overall low-quality issues.

Some eGos charge on a 5 volt input that is reduced internally to 4.2 volts, and some take 4.2 volts only. If you connect one to the other you get an overcharge situation.

Some take a mini USB plug in a bottom end-cap port, others need to screw on to a 510 charger connector. Some take 4.2 volts in the USB connection, some take 5 volts.

When you mix and match, a situation is created where certain combinations will get an over-voltage, and then the battery melts. Or the el cheapo chargers just give up and overcharge the cell. You can buy an eGo and charger starter kit bubble pack for $8.99. That means it came out of the factory at $2.50 or something. Realistically, what sort of battery quality, battery protection circuit quality, and charger quality are you going to get for a total of $2.50?

The solution is to eliminate the el cheapo gear (never going to happen), and to have big markings on the ecig and charger with the model number and a warning they must be used as a matched pair (may never happen at all, and certainly never going to happen universally), and to standardise eGos so they can only be charged via USB by maybe having a diode in the top end so they can't be charged off a top-end connection and they can't get overcharged via the USB port (again, never going to happen).

Mid-size ecigs (eGo's) are always going to catch fire and/or explode on charge because, as you can see from the above, there are too many problems to fix. So perhaps every eGo should be sold with a Li-Po charging sack to contain the fire together with instructions that it must not be charged in the same room as an oxygen tank or where piped oxygen is being used. The eGo is a fire risk by its very nature and that's all there is to it.

Part of the problem is that it's sold to consumers who treat it like a fridge or anything else: plug it in and forget it. Lithium cells aren't in that category though, they are unstable by nature, and on top of that, eGos use the old-technology Li-ion 'protected battery' system. This is an accident waiting to happen, in modern terms: we are way past Li-ion protected cells now and they should be history. It is absolutely obvious that the protections don't work. Li-ion should be consigned to the junk bin of history.

Li-Mn and hybrid cells are where it's at now - only you can't get that out of the factory at $2.50 a shot for the whole kit. This is why Liverpool alone has seen nine eGo fires/explosions and now a death. Nobody is going to care that the guy died due to an oxygen fire and that ecigs shouldn't be charged in the same room as oxygen is in use. Nobody cares that the previous widely-reported ecig/oxygen fire was caused by a confused, elderly patient on oxygen trying to light their ecig with a cigarette lighter. It's just going to get blamed on 'dangerous ecigs'.

- eGos and chargers must be used as a matched set, and clearly marked as a pair
- cheap eGo kits give you an excellent chance to use intrinsically unstable obsolete battery technology with 2 cent charger components that all have a really good chance of heating up nicely right next to your oxygen supply
- eGos (and probably anything else) should never be charged in a room where oxygen is available - HOSPITALS PLEASE NOTE
- all eGo kits should come with a Li-Po charging sack, they get more fires than everything else put together and that figure multiplied by 10

 

[Ryedan]

When you mix and match, a situation is created where certain combinations will get an over-voltage, and then the battery melts. Or the el cheapo chargers just give up and overcharge the cell. You can buy an eGo and charger starter kit bubble pack for $8.99. That means it came out of the factory at $2.50 or something. Realistically, what sort of battery quality, battery protection circuit quality, and charger quality are you going to get for a total of $2.50?

Roly, how often do eGo chargers fail and overcharge? I'm not aware of this ever happening, but I certainly don't see all the data you do.

 

[crxess]

Why would someone on oxygen even be Vaping?
Why would someone report e-cig at fault and Cause of Death unknown in the same story?

Heck, Could have passed on and the e-cig was left to fin for itself.

 

[SaintDynamicz]

With vaping I've found you need to keep an eye on what your doing or something like this could happen. When I'm charging any battery, whether it be eGo or for a mod, I'll give it 2 hours. If its not charged in 2 hours, I'll check it every 30-45 minutes until it is charged.
At the same time, I am aware of my batteries amp limit and how many amps I'm producing at all times to ensure something doesn't seriously go wrong. It only takes 1 mistake to have something bad happen.

If you don't respect the fact that charging batteries can be harmful if done incorrectly then it won't respect you and will cause serious damage.

 

[SaintDynamicz]

Why would someone on oxygen even be Vaping?
Why would someone report e-cig at fault and Cause of Death unknown in the same story?

Heck, Could have passed on and the e-cig was left to fin for itself.

This also surprises me... If you're on oxygen, you'd think they wouldn't be vaping in the first place. Hell you already need more oxygen to live than everyone else, why are you breathing in vapor?

 

[mkbilbo]

Other issues aside (such as the points Rolygate raises), the "press" needs to get a grip.

For example, in the US, there are over 320 million activated cell phones. More than people living here. If Li-ions are dangerously unstable, we should lose a city to the cell phone explosions any day now.

Do you read about cell phone fires? You do not. Do they happen? Yes they do. They are extremely rare but do happen. And every, single phone has a Li-ion battery. All of them. Bar none.

So does the iPad I'm posting this message on. Where are the scary stories about iPads? Or iPods? Or laptop computers? Same battery tech.

What scary stories do you get? E-cigs and Teslas. Never you mind Li-ion is everywhere. Focus on the new stuff. And don't tell the "reporter" their laptop has the same battery type as an e-cig.

Oh, the most dangerous battery you own? It's in your car. That's a lead acid, high amp battery capable of stopping your heart. Not to mention causing amazing fires. "Jump starting" a car is stunningly dangerous. Smoking may be safer.

Better still, those overhead power lines? Low power, residential ones carry about 19,000 volts. Two miles from where I sit, one came down and the fire took out 1600 houses. If the winds had shifted, my house would have been one of them. In the end, it was the most costly wildfire in Texas history.

Is Li-ion perfectly safe? No, it isn't.

But 320 MILLION cell phones verses how many cell phone fires?

Myself, I'm more worried about how people drive around here. I swear, my state must require "recklessness" as a condition for getting a driver's license...

(In case I wasn't clear, I'm not dismissing Rolygate's points. We do have safer lithium tech now. We should use it. But for the sheer number of lithium batteries out there, the number of stories the press can scrape up is actually a tiny sliver of a fraction. No battery tech is perfectly safe. That's not possible. Any chemistry that produces power is inherently "unstable". If it were inert, it wouldn't produce power! As batteries go, lithium has proven to be one of the safer actually. I mean, cripes, 320 million cell phones? They out number us! But I don't see whole cities burning down in cell phone fires.)

 

[mkbilbo]

Why would someone on oxygen even be Vaping?
Why would someone report e-cig at fault and Cause of Death unknown in the same story?

Heck, Could have passed on and the e-cig was left to fin for itself.

Better yet was the guy here that was on oxygen and smoked. Set his own damn face on fire a couple of times.

Making things "fool proof" is hard. Fools are so creative...

 

[PixieSkull]

With vaping I've found you need to keep an eye on what your doing or something like this could happen. When I'm charging any battery, whether it be eGo or for a mod, I'll give it 2 hours. If its not charged in 2 hours, I'll check it every 30-45 minutes until it is charged.
At the same time, I am aware of my batteries amp limit and how many amps I'm producing at all times to ensure something doesn't seriously go wrong. It only takes 1 mistake to have something bad happen.

If you don't respect the fact that charging batteries can be harmful if done incorrectly then it won't respect you and will cause serious damage.

I'm paranoid, too. Cell battery swelling and wrong input charging stories have always frightened me.

 

[DavidOck]

Did someone say car battery?