Exploding e-cig, serious injury and fire

More bad Karma.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-man-ecigarette-explodes-santa-ana-20150309-story.html

Notice they said 'modified'? Some more on that here:
http://www.aol.com/article/2015/09/...r-e-cigarette-explodes-in-his-mouth/21233058/

I'm sure most folks won't stop to consider how many fires/deaths from normal cigarettes nor that the unit might have been modified, they'll just see 'e-cigs blow up'. Then again, so do cell phones and laptops.

OTOH I think there are some shoddy e-cigs out there, not all makers consider venting, risks are real. And there are millions and millions of e-cigs out there.

No matter, this is not good news.

OF

I'm confident that there will be many more 'reports' of like in the future.. positives don't sell news, and people don't/can't seem to isolate/disambiguate the instances in relation to the numbers in use out there.

It doesn't help that people, in general, don't take the 'power potential' in these cells seriously enough to simply take what they read on the interwebs as fact without research just because it worked for Joe Blow without incident.

A necessary evil until Govt intervenes/interferes in attempts to keep us safe ?? Naw.... I feel it just boils down to 'You Can't Fix Stupid' and the Darwin Theory

This just happened yesterday. Hope the guy pulls through.

http://news.blog.wftv.com/2015/10/28/florida-man-in-coma-after-e-cigarette-explodes/



Florida man in coma after e-cigarette explodes

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. – A southwest Florida man is in a medically induced coma after his electronic cigarette reportedly exploded..

According to WINK, 21-year-old Evan Spahlinger of Collier County was smoking the e-cigarette Monday when it blew up, burning his face and neck.

Spahlinger was taken to a Naples hospital, then transported to Miami.

“They said he has internal and external burns and damage to his lungs from the explosion itself,” Ema Richardson, Spahlinger’s sister, told WINK. “And possibly the mouthpiece went, when the cigarette exploded, it went down his throat and exploded again.”

Officials said the cigarette’s lithium battery is probably to blame for the incident.

Been Vapin said:

“And possibly the mouthpiece went, when the cigarette exploded, it went down his throat and exploded again."

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oh shit! watch out for exploding mouthpieces everyone!

dilvish said:

oh shit! watch out for exploding mouthpieces everyone!

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I've just thrown out all my drip tips so I'm safe. I hope they don't blow up the bin men. That would be embarrassing.

So when a box mod (edit: temp control device) list's the Ohms that it is capable of handling, say .1 to 1.0 ohms, is it best/safest to keep your build at the higher end of the ohms, rather than the lower end?

.1 ohms is closer to a short and seems less "safe" or should it not really matter as long as within the makers specs?

Been Vapin said:

Officials said the cigarette’s lithium battery is probably to blame for the incident.

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This angers me so much.

How much do you want to bet he was using one of those god awful mechanical ecigs?

I dont know a lot about ecigs but I am shocked there is even a market for mechanicals. Anyone who is willing to discharge a high power battery by physically shorting it out against some pieces of metal, that is completely beyond me, ESPECIALLY since battery safety technology is not only everywhere but really not expensive!

I don't ecig myself but shame on those who build sub ohm builds on mechanicals are really setting themselves up for this.

OF said:

More bad Karma.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-man-ecigarette-explodes-santa-ana-20150309-story.html

Notice they said 'modified'? Some more on that here:
http://www.aol.com/article/2015/09/...r-e-cigarette-explodes-in-his-mouth/21233058/

I'm sure most folks won't stop to consider how many fires/deaths from normal cigarettes nor that the unit might have been modified, they'll just see 'e-cigs blow up'. Then again, so do cell phones and laptops.

OTOH I think there are some shoddy e-cigs out there, not all makers consider venting, risks are real. And there are millions and millions of e-cigs out there.

No matter, this is not good news.

OF

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I'd be more wary of shitty companies and stores selling "extreme subohm 40 amp batteries" because anybody without the need for money knows you can't really get 35 amps, much less 40, out of 18650s. I've also had a hard short happen (my fault) with a mechanical ecig and it got uncomfortably fast quite quickly, so I'm wondering why they didn't think "hey this is getting extremely hot really fast I shouldn't put this next to my face" plus the battery wrapper (if it's the one he was actually using) doesn't look like any battery I'm familiar with, and def. doesn't look like the AW IMR batteries I remember (at least the wrapper). My bet is on being sold a shitty battery. Some of those 35-40a rated are really only 10 amps, maybe 15-20.

Joel W. said:

So when a box mod (edit: temp control device) list's the Ohms that it is capable of handling, say .1 to 1.0 ohms, is it best/safest to keep your build at the higher end of the ohms, rather than the lower end?

.1 ohms is closer to a short and seems less "safe" or should it not really matter as long as within the makers specs?

Click to expand...

ni200 and other temp controlled wires are often very low ohm anyway. and most boxes that do temp control simply wont allow a coil with too low of an ohm coil. I used to use an smpl hybrid mech mod cause there was no 510 pin it was a direct battery contact to the attys positive pin. I had shorted that ond time and like @Quetzalcoatl said the brass tube got uncomfortably hot and I just set it down and walked away for a while. came back and pulled that battery. it was fine. bht my buddy once had a melt down on a mech mod and the battery expanded and everything... basically on the verge of a full meltdown and vent.

stupid people make unsophisticated technology look like bombs.

someone once tried to convice me that because ecigs explode cigarettes were safer...

im like... cars blow up when used wrong too... doesn't that make walking in the middle of the road safer too?

fucking logic.

Hot Dog Day 187 said:

This angers me so much.

How much do you want to bet he was using one of those god awful mechanical ecigs?

I dont know a lot about ecigs but I am shocked there is even a market for mechanicals. Anyone who is willing to discharge a high power battery by physically shorting it out against some pieces of metal, that is completely beyond me, ESPECIALLY since battery safety technology is not only everywhere but really not expensive!

I don't ecig myself but shame on those who build sub ohm builds on mechanicals are really setting themselves up for this.

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mechs are perfectly safe when you know what you're doing. i built subohm on mechs for a long time, never a problem. you just have to do a little bit of math and use common sense. not to mention, if it is going to explode, the battery has to reach over 300°f first, which means the mod will be Way too fucking hot to hold before ever exploding, and then the operator has not only to choose to continue holding it and burning his hand, but to keep using it before it explodes.

dilvish said:

mechs are perfectly safe when you know what you're doing. i built subohm on mechs for a long time, never a problem. you just have to do a little bit of math and use common sense. not to mention, if it is going to explode, the battery has to reach over 300°f first, which means the mod will be Way too fucking hot to hold before ever exploding, and then the operator has not only to choose to continue holding it and burning his hand, but to keep using it before it explodes.

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"god awful mechanical ecigs" lmao

Mechanicals were the only choice for a lot of us vapers once we grew tired of dumb cartos and cigalikes and 10-15 different thread variants. Mechanicals... which were made in much shoddier conditions back when they were first starting out... modding flashlights to work with atomizers... and now they're godawful...

"I don't ecig myself but shame on those who build sub ohm builds on mechanicals are really setting themselves up for this."

Please. Shame on me for knowing my ohm's laws and doing big boy subohms (under .20 even ) and mathing things out and caring enough to research batteries like any good consumer would when getting into mechanicals.

Quetzalcoatl said:

"I don't ecig myself but shame on those who build sub ohm builds on mechanicals are really setting themselves up for this."

Please. Shame on me for knowing my ohm's laws and doing big boy subohms (under .20 even ) and mathing things out and caring enough to research batteries like any good consumer would when getting into mechanicals.

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Please don't get me wrong. I think you are in the minority of people who decide to use mechs. I seriously doubt 4% at most actally understand ohm's law and few % more can figure it out with some Ohms Law calculator on google but not understand the numbers they're putting in.

How many people who just want to have a giant baton-looking mechanical and destroy their builds/ecigs/faces in preventable accidents like this know what Ohm's law means? I'm not passing judgement on people like the poor guy in the first post, but would you be surprised if he was trying to sub ohm on a mechanical with a cheap piece of shit battery you shouldn't even be comfortable using in a flashlight? I have a feeling if you asked him before the incident what resistance means in electrical terms he'd not give you a satisfactory answer! or if he knew the safe discharge rate of his battery!

If you actually understand the science behind it go ahead and if you're safe that's great but to me it's like being a F1 driver so you drive 110mph without a seatbelt on during your daily commutes. I know it's a silly comparison but it's how i feel.

I don't know if they've gotten any better since the modded flashlight days, but to me it's still a needlessly dangerous way of discharging a battery.

I have a question, some of my 18650 batteries, the plastic is starting to peel away at the top. Battery is still intact, just somewhat frayed at the top....should I worry about it exploding? I only use regulated.

I kind of agree with both parties above. I assumed without even reading the articles that the people who exploded their e cigarettes were using mechanical mods/subohming. And, while I personally don't have a problem with mechanical mods, I personally don't use them, and I think more information should be available at vape shops to ensure kids understand exactly what is happening.

When I first wanted an Ecigarette, the guy sold me a mech mod/drip tip. He made me my coil. I understood resistances, but not very well. I also don't have an ohm meter. When that coil fried, I just went back to the shop and asked for another prebuilt coil, because I have no way of knowing my resistance if I were to build my own.

So, if you have all the information, and understand what's happening via the battery discharging and resistance and all that, mechs can be pretty safe. Unfortunately, I didn't really have a great grasp on all that so I opted not to deal with them. And I don't think vape shops accurately acknowledge the amount of knowledge to safely build your own coils. I know I certainly wasn't warned about safety really.

That being said, I still do use a drip tip occasionally. And I'll get prebuilt wires still (fat fingers, hard to wrap my own) but I do use a regulated mod. I actually find that I get better taste dripping at 1, 1.2 and pumping more power into it.

Funny though, I actually moved to regulated mods not in an effort to protect myself, but because I needed a steady stream of X watts to power my higher resistance coils. The mechanical mod would take forever to heat up and fire, that was my issue. I imagine if you're building your coil too low, you would just discharge that energy and it wouldn't have any resistance, it would fry ya up?

most of the people on the road today dont know 90% of what makes a car go vroom vroom yet people get licenses to operate them every day.

who do you blame when they get stupid and forget how the damn thing works?



you take your own life in your OWN hands regardless of the safety of a device...

worried about battery safety... dont buy shoddy batteries.

murphy say... if you are stupid... darwin comes calling.

darwin wins always.