Safe metal tube APVs

The first APVs (advanced personal vaporizers or 'mods') to comply with the new EMSS (ECF Metal tubemods Safety Specification) are now on sale.

The APVs below, provided that they are used with safer-chemistry or protected batteries, are believed by ECF to be safe [1]; and if 2-battery devices, to be as safe as single-battery unitss [2]; and if single-battery devices, to be safe+ [4]. No electronic-control APVs have been involved in a documented explosive event, to our knowledge. If listed below, a product can be described as 'EMSS Compliant' [5].


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Notcigs : Buzz Pro (slots in either straight or 'lightning' format)
Akston Hughes : Akston SL



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To be believed safe by ECF [3] the APV as sold must fully comply with EMSS:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/announcements-rules/271739-ecf-safety-specification-metal-tubemods.html
It can then be described as EMSS compliant [5].


Battery safety
APV users need to apply due diligence to battery selection and charging procedures.

All APV owners should own a multimeter and check their batteries when they come off the charger, since chargers can become faulty and cause damage to batteries by overcharging them.
- A fully-charged 3.7v battery measures from 4.15v to 4.2v freshly charged (the full charge voltage depends on the charger, some models such as Pila and Xtar charge to 4.15v, which is less than the maximum of 4.2v)
- A fully-charged 3.0v battery measures 3.6v to 3.7v freshly charged.

A battery that measures higher than 4.21v when freshly charged indicates a faulty charger and possible damage to the battery.
Batteries left for 24 - 48 hours and then checked with a multimeter and found to have dropped more than 0.2 volts are damaged and should be discarded.
Example: two batteries are charged and come off the charger at 4.2 volts. The next day one measures 4.19 volts, and this battery is OK. The other measures 3.9 volts - it is faulty and should be discarded.
Batteries with no protection circuit must not be discharged below a certain level or they will be damaged. A 3.7 volt battery should not be discharged below 3.2 volts.

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Notes

[1] APVs that can only accept a single battery are not implicated in any kind of explosive failure event at this time. Statistically they are safe, no matter their level of safety features or lack of them.

[2] No APV of any kind is ultimately safe because lithium batteries are used and these will occasionally suffer failure. Lithium ion batteries are not themselves safe and have a well-known history of energetic failure. We regard lithium ion cells as not intrinsically safe. However, ECF believes that lithium cell-powered APVs that comply with EMSS are very unlikely to be involved in an incident where serious injury occurs, and are therefore acceptably safe.

[3] Whether or not any APV is 'safe' is a matter of opinion. The opinion of ECF is that a metal tubemod that can accept two batteries would need to comply with EMSS before we would regard it as safe or be prepared to list it as a safe choice. Other opinions may differ. There is no scientific basis for any opinions at this time.

[4] Because no single-battery APV has been reported as involved in any explosive failure event, statistically these units must be regarded as safe. If they also have sufficient safety features to comply with EMSS, it is not unreasonable to consider them as having a higher safety level than other APVs: safe+.

[5] If listed above as compliant, an APV may be described in advertising or promotion in the following terms.
Allowed:
EMSS Compliant
ECF Compliant
ECF EMSS Compliant
Complies With EMSS
Complies With ECF EMSS
Listed As Complying With EMSS

Not Allowed:
ECF Approved
EMSS Approved
ECF Tested

...or similar. This is because we have not inspected, tested and approved it. ECF cannot test and 'approve' any product, it is not a testing authority. We will list it as complying with EMSS.

NO ECIG OR APV IS 'APPROVED' BY ECF.