SMOK Stick 8 Blows Up While Charging (Video)

[Baditude]

Wait for it.......

Smok Stick X8 Blows Up Battery Mooch reaches out to help.

Another one: PSA about Smok koopor Primus and Wanted the Advice of the Reddit Community

I continue to remind folks here that smok has a history of quality control issues and mods that catch on fire. Use at your own risk.
Smoktech groove recall | E-Cigarette Forum

Video demonstrates why to never charge your batteries while away from home, or overnight while you are asleep in another room. This family was lucky to be in the same room and to have used a non-flamable surface. Apparently there was still some carpet damage.

I also remind folks not to charge their mods via USB if they can help it. Yes, I'm aware that the smok stick 8 uses an integrated internal battery that requires you to charge via USB. My point being is that some misinformed people often claim that an internal battery is more safe than external batteries for novice vapers. Wrong. No battery is "safe. Internal batteries are LiPo in chemistry, which is a volatile chemistry. External batteries are a hybrid IMR chemistry, a safer chemistry much less likely to be volatile.

When offered a choice, charge your external batteries with a separate Li-ion battery charger. The USB is primarily for updating the firmware; the USB charger should only be used for occassional use.

 

[Eskie]

Well that was rather dramatic. Glad no one was hurt. Also glad to see Mooch got involved. I'd love to know just what failed.

 

[bombastinator]

Well that was rather dramatic. Glad no one was hurt. Also glad to see Mooch got involved. I'd love to know just what failed.

Judging from how far the debris flew and how big the fire was I’d say there’s little left to do the forensics on

 

[ScottP]

I want to know why there were so many people sleeping in the living room. It was kind of like watching a zombie movie. You creep into a place that looks cluttered but empty. Then you make a noise and suddenly the room comes alive as all the zombies are disturbed and start popping up from everywhere.

 

[score69]

Bookmarking this so I can watch it every time I start to get comfortable with charging in my mod instead of putting them in an external charger.

 

[stols001]

Yikes!

Anna

 

[Letitia]

Saw this and figured it would make it's way here. Good reminder to respect our gear and our own safety.

 

[Bunnykiller]

and they make cars that can do that too... remember the Ford Pinto??

 

[90VG]

4 people sleeping on the couch. That's tight. Glad everyone is okay though.

 

[r77r7r]

Well, that's one. How many did they sell?

 

[ScottP]

Well, that's one. How many did they sell?

Do you care if you are one of the ones that bought one that comes with a free firework?

 

[stols001]

I just won one.

It looks like it's gonna be exciting.... Although I am torn between wanting to love it or hate it (am TRYING to remain opened minded) I am interested to get my sticky little hands on my very first Smok product.

Two bad I didn't win it in time for January 1st... There is always July 4th, though...

Anna

 

[r77r7r]

Do you care if you are one the ones that bought one that comes with a free firework?

You're too easy at times...

 

[OlderNDirt]

and they make cars that can do that too... remember the Ford Pinto??

I had actually considered at one time of compiling a list of manufacturers/products that had problems/failures that would put them on the "never buy from again" list and that was the first that came to mind. Never buy a Ford! Actually, given all the reported and documented "defects" in all makes, Never buy automotive products at all!

Next was Samsung with their exploding phone. Never buy Samsung products! Or would that be never buy cell phones? Or tablets? Laptops?

How about Apple intentionally slowing down phones? Not the same "danger", but clearly very poor company policy that should steer customers away from ever buying Apple products!

Seems there are plenty of house fires blamed on faulty wiring or breaker boxes. What's it like living without electricity?

But the realization off how long a list of "never buy from again" companies could/would be, I abandoned the idea. And does make me wonder what those that subscribe to the "never buy from again" belief use to get through their everyday lives?

 

[OlderNDirt]

Well, that's one. How many did they sell?

How many did they sell? That's a number unknown to all!

One only need to look at the 195 e-cigarette "explosions" reported from 2009-2016 (https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/electronic_cigarettes.pdf) to determine the number attributed to Smok products causing the explosion(s).

Oh! How about that! There are no such figures or numbers!



No question this is a disturbing video. One that, according to the user, happens to be a Smok product. Very few state a brand. No brand is immune. If one's intent is to eliminating e-cigarette "explosions", that's advocacy against vaping. If one's intent is to place blame on one manufacturer, that is but an individual bias against that one manufacturer. No more! No less!

 

[puffon]

and they make cars that can do that too... remember the Ford Pinto??

Never had anybody tailgating me tho....

 

[Ralph_K]

But you don't know how it was being charged. I've been told not to use any other usb cord except for what came with the Smok stick. If he was using a cell phone charger likely he was using too high of charge. I have a cell charger that charges at 2.5a but what is typical 2.0a? My Smok stick gets charged at 1.0a

 

[zoiDman]

...

Video demonstrates why to never charge your batteries while away from home, or overnight while you are asleep in another room. ...

...
When offered a choice, charge your external batteries with a separate Li-ion battery charger. The USB is primarily for updating the firmware; the USB charger should only be used for occassional use.

 

[Baditude]

If one's intent is to eliminating e-cigarette "explosions", that's advocacy against vaping. If one's intent is to place blame on one manufacturer, that is but an individual bias against that one manufacturer. No more! No less!

I'll agree to disagree with both of your statements. A little bit about my personal vaping history:

I began vaping nearly 6 years ago. Back then, all that was available were cigalikes and the first mechanical mods. Battery choices for mods were extremely limited. I believe the Trustfire ICR batteries were recommended by my mod's manufacturer. In hindsight, years later, those were some of the worse batteries ever, but like I said the choices back then were very limited.

Well, only a couple months in, I had the unfortunate experience of having a battery explode in my mod. I was naturally rather upset by this. I was pretty naive about batteries, and began a rather intense research into the subject to educate myself.

I learned a lot about battery chemistry and battery safety. AW was just beginning to introduce the first IMR batteries, but the vaping guru's at the time were telling vapers to not use them because they were not "protected". Well, from my research I learned that IMR batteries were a "safer chemistry" which didn't need protection circuitry like ICR batteries had built into them. They were much less likely to flame or explode.

Rolygate (ECF manager and administrator) and myself wrote blogs promoting the use of IMR batteries instead of protected ICR batteries. I like to believe that both of us had something to do with making vaping a little safer by educating the community about battery choices. Today, using ICR batteries is considered to be obsolete.

Warning: Batteries for APV's
Battery Basics for Mods: IMR or protected ICR? (title has since been revised)
​

I sort of became an advocate of battery and vaping safety over the years. I worked in a vape shop in 2014, and got to experience a lot of which gear had the most returns because of poor quality control issues. SMOK was one of the worse brands...no, it WAS the worse brand; we could expect up to 1/3 of SMOK mods to be returned for any number of issues. The francise general manager eventually refused to deal with SMOK and stopped stocking them.

I casually view the topics on ECF, and I can't help but observe a higher frequency of SMOK issues related to quality control. Usually at least a couple a week. I'm amazed that no one else has picked up on this.

Yes, I am biased against SMOK products. That bias is based upon MY experience and my being an advocate for vaping safety.

"If one's intent is to eliminating e-cigarette "explosions", that's advocacy against vaping."

Really? That's about the most statement I've ever read.

 

[stols001]

I do have to agree that eliminating e-cigarette explosions would probably mean needing to AVOID some advocacy, as (thankfully) right now the focus is on the wrong thing-- flavors, nicotine, and da chilluns. I mean, really, if you think about it, the most terrifying and potentially MOST catastrophic vaping incidents are when one "blows up."

However, it is also true that a) you cannot fix every instance of idiocy, uninformed and etc., and the majority of them could be avoided, possibly. But, we do run into the problem of progress and innovation vs. safety. For example, I don't even want to THINK about what a 27 series battery could do in an explosion (so much bigger) and I have to say, a couple that I won were among some of the most janky, rickety pieces of.... mess that I have come across. They had to be flimsy plastic due to the weight and etc., and I did not keep those vapes as ME and those vapes would be a bad idea (although maybe for others they would be fine.) However, knowing one's own limitations takes time and effort.

And with that said, if we require vaping to be so entirely "safe" and without innovation, we also halt vaping progress.

I don't know what the right balance is, but I don't think we will have seen our first OR last battery explosion, but I will say, battery makers are getting increasingly fraught with their warnings and concerns about vaping, and being sued, and I don't blame them.

I really think the best thing we can do overall is request that new vapers be taught safe practices, required to sign that they understand those best practices, and waive their right to sue if they avoid best practices .

I mean, would you sue a phone manufacturer that had phone blow up because someone microwaved it for example? I imagine some lawyer, somewhere, might try, but I'd feel the case against the phone maker would be hazy at best.

I realize this adds an added layer of complexity, but I'm going to be frank. While I feel deep sympathy for someone whose kids get killed in the back of a truck on the highway (not actually against the law, I'm unsure, in Tucson) I also think.... You are a grown human being and if you do that, you bring it on yourself.

There NEEDS to be a structure set up that allows a vaper to claim personal responsibility for proper use, and if after THAT, something blows up (regardless of manufacturer) well, after that you should have a case.

I don't think this will happen in the US, or anytime soon, but I hope, as devices grow ever more powerful and complex, we don't find ourselves limited/prohibited from buying batteries/mods we want, due to human error and etc.

Because, people NEED to know what is dangerous for them and their devices. BEFORE the sale, not after.

JMO as always....

Anna