Pocket fire fun

[SuperLamer]

So I'm sitting at my desk at work when I start to smell wick... How many times has this happened to you?

I guess the safety ring is there for a reason. When I reached into my jacket pocket I found a little metal brand smoking away in there. I neglected to set the safety on my 18350 mod and my sub-ohm dual coils were melting my pocket. I had to use a bundle of paper (meeting notes) to get the mod out of my pocket it was so hot. I'm pooping pellets, waiting to hear the battery explode, hoping I don't FEEL the battery explode. At that point I wasn't convinced it would stop heating.

Turns out the mod is okay. No melted springs. My wick is burnt up. It looks like a coat hanger wrapped around a tootsie roll. I admit I tasted it and I like to puke, it tasted horrible. Thankfully, ten minutes of Radiator Pluid on my back-up cleaned out my sniffer.

The take-away: Use the safety, carry a backup.

 

[WindyCityJoe]

Wow that was a close call, good thing you were in the office when that happened.

 

[MoralFibre]

So I'm sitting at my desk...
<snip>
Thankfully, ten minutes of Radiator Pluid on my back-up cleaned out my sniffer.

Radiator Fluid? How does that work? Here's me thinking isopropyl alcohol (alchohol evaporates quickly, is water, PG, VG soluble, is good on rubber and plastic - that's why it's used to clean electronic circuitry etc).

Anyways... just wondering

 

[happydave]

Radiator Fluid? How does that work? Here's me thinking isopropyl alcohol (alchohol evaporates quickly, is water, PG, VG soluble, is good on rubber and plastic - that's why it's used to clean electronic circuitry etc).

Anyways... just wondering

Radiator Pluid from Mad Murdock people say it cracks plastic so use glass or metal for all the parts that come into contact with the juice.

 

[generic mutant]

Radiator Pluid is an e-liquid.

Reputably blooming hard to get hold of in the US. Probably no chance for either of us...

 

[Robino1]

Radiator Fluid? How does that work? Here's me thinking isopropyl alcohol (alchohol evaporates quickly, is water, PG, VG soluble, is good on rubber and plastic - that's why it's used to clean electronic circuitry etc).

Anyways... just wondering

Radiator Pluid (Note the capital P in Pluid) is the name of an eliquid It tastes like black licorice and very well known on ECF. It can be hard to purchase at times (to put it very mildly).

 

[Robino1]

So many of us posting the answer at the same time!

 

[MoralFibre]

Ok, ok, ok, I got it

 

[tharper2202]

How low sub ohm are we talking? I don't know of a 18350 battery that will handle subohm coils safely below .8Ω

 

[AttyPops]

Thinking about it. I wonder if this could happen. Pure conjecture, but:

What's nastier is:
1) What you did happens
2) Then a coil wire melts
3) Then a 1 in 100 chance happens and the coil wire shorts to itself making a low ohm wire a pretty much-zero ohm wire.
4) The other coil melts due to even lower net resistance now.
5) The other shorted coil, on an already heated battery, manages to stay alive/connected long enough before it melts again to REALLY stress the battery

Poof.

Basically, IDK what ohms you had, but it stayed intact and didn't short out. That saved your bacon. It may have just fried and died too, breaking the circuit. But any lower ohms and the battery would have heated more. So who knows? Either one of the coils melting/breaking would have halved the ohms too.

Well-vented mods rock for this reason. A fuse may not have saved it in this situation either...still within amp range. But if it shorted a fuse may have saved the day too.

Glad you're OK. Thanks for sharing this story. Good advice about the locking button.

EDIT:

I should note that the other coil melting...isn't likely due to increased ohms or being bypassed by the short, as 4star60 points out in a later post. However, it's not because I don't understand the theory (do a search for about 100 of my posts that have the proper theory and explain it) but rather because I get tired around 8:30 pm. :/ The point of the thing isn't item #4 but rather that wires can short when they break, and then persist for a while even before they melt again due to the new low-ohm connection they make. Happens with single coils too. A LOT more often than you'd think. Was a common claim for dead eGo batteries for a while too. Anyway, a short is a short and it makes batteries vent.

Hey, we're all human. I'm human A LOT. But the short thing is the concern when you fry an RBA. Because it's 26 or 28 ga wire, and they doesn't melt instantly when shorted.

 

[vicflo]

good reason my mods get the locking ring "flick" before ever entering the depths of my pockets... ever. good thing you didnt get a burn on your thigh right there. i had a nasty burn from a muffler one time while leaning over my 4 wheeler after a long day in the gravel pit. makes changing your pants a fun event.

 

[SuperLamer]

How low sub ohm are we talking? I don't know of a 18350 battery that will handle subohm coils safely below .8Ω

.84 seems to be my sweet spot. Purely subjective but it feels safe (usually - lol).

Battery lasts but a few hours, alas.

 

[SuperLamer]

Thinking about it. I wonder if this could happen. Pure conjecture, but:

What's nastier is:
1) What you did happens
2) Then a coil wire melts
3) Then a 1 in 100 chance happens and the coil wire shorts to itself making a low ohm wire a pretty much-zero ohm wire.
4) The other coil melts due to even lower net resistance now.
5) The other coil, on an already heated battery, manages to stay alive/connected long enough before it melts again to REALLY stress the battery

Poof.

Basically, IDK what ohms you had, but it stayed intact and didn't short out. That saved your bacon. It may have just fried and died too, breaking the circuit. But any lower ohms and the battery would have heated more. So who knows? Either one of the coils melting/breaking would have halved the ohms too.

Well-vented mods rock for this reason. A fuse may not have saved it in this situation either...still within amp range. But if it shorted a fuse may have saved the day too.

Glad you're OK. Thanks for sharing this story. Good advice about the locking button.

It was a universally stoopid move. I got lucky, and learned this lesson.

 

[SuperLamer]

Radiator Pluid is an e-liquid.

Reputably blooming hard to get hold of in the US. Probably no chance for either of us...

I ordered from Liberty Flight UK. Expensive but worth it. Thanks, ECF!

 

[generic mutant]

Expensive? Ha!

You should try living here...

Thanks for the tip! I wanted to try Maha Ras as well, so going to order a bit of a selection... Dripping only at those prices

 

[riseabovethestorm]

I'm gonna start answering the phone at work thusly:

"Thank you for calling K-Mart, this is automotive. Are you looking for radiator pluid?"

 

[flossinon24s]

Back a few years ago I had a rc123a battery go into meltdown in my pocket. Definitely not a good feeling. Luckily I noticed it heating up and could get it away from me before injuring myself.

 

[sawlight]

Glad it wasn't any worse! Take care not to do it again!

FYI: vaping watch has all the MM flavors in stock in 30ml bottles right now, I just checked!

 

[4star60]

Something alot of people playing with dual coils with out really understanding theory. The resistance of a single coil say 1.8ohms will be cut in half when connected in parallel with another coil of 1.8ohms resistance giving you a .9ohm coil. If one coil burnt and lost connection, the battery would see 1.8ohms.

So before you go trying to build a sub ohm coil... you need to do a bit of research.

Not trying to be a wise-...... just hope no one gets hurt.

 

[hairball]

Up your ohm's just a smudge. Those little 18350 batteries weren't designed for subohm'ing. We just don't want you to get hurt...nuf said.

I did the same thing only with an ego battery. Slid it down inside a wrist splint and forgot to turn it off. Ouch.