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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Exploding Vape Battery Kills Man

Joined
Jan 29, 2014
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Ouch.... Probably a very cheap Li-ion battery.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/florida-tv-producer-dies-being-232458630.html

An autopsy has confirmed that a vape pen was to blame in the tragic death of a Florida man on May 5. This incident marks the first confirmed case in which an e-cigarette explosion resulted in a fatality. The 38-year-old was killed when his vape pen exploded, which sent projectiles into his head, and started a small fire in his home in St. Petersburg, Florida.

According a report from the Tampa Bay Times, Tallmadge D’Elia was found on May 5 in bedroom of his family’s home. The autopsy lists cause of death as “projectile wound of head” — when the pen exploded, at least two pieces of shrapnel struck him in there. Moreover, the victim suffered burns on about 80 percent of his body.

While there have been at least 195 incidents in which a vape pen or e-cigarette exploded or caught fire between 2009 and 2016, no deaths were reported in that time period. However, those incidents did result in 133 injuries, 38 of which were severe, the U.S. Fire Administration reports. The explosions generally are sudden, “and are accompanied by loud noise, a flash of light, smoke, flames, and often vigorous ejection of the battery and other parts.” A majority of the incidents also started fires in or on nearby objects.

As with other exploding pieces of technology (namely smartphones and hoverboards), it would appear that the problem is linked to lithium-ion batteries.

“No other consumer product places a battery with a known explosion hazard such as this in such close proximity to the human body,” the Fire Administration’s report notes. “It is this intimate contact between the body and the battery that is most responsible for the severity of the injuries that have been seen. While the failure rate of the lithium-ion batteries is very small, the consequences of a failure, as we have seen, can be severe and life-altering for the consumer.”

In the aftermath of the Florida tragedy, there may finally be some regulations placed around the batteries of e-cigarettes. As it stands, none exist, though the Food and Drug Administration is said to be considering them already. In the meantime, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a few safety recommendations with regard to e-cigarettes and vape pens. The agency cautions users from carrying e-cig batteries loose in their pockets, “especially where they might come into contact with coins, keys or other metal objects which can cause the battery to short out.”

You should also avoid using your phone or tablet charger to recharge your device. Only use the charger that was intended for the e-cigarette. Furthermore, you shouldn’t charge your vape while sleeping or leave it unattended, and should always charge it on a flat surface away from anything flammable. If batteries are damaged or get wet, replace them, and don’t mix and match different battery brands or old and new power sources. Finally, avoid altering the device, and do not leave it in extreme temperatures, such as in direct sunlight or in a freezing car overnight.
 

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Gazen

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A good example of why you should practice safe habits with Li-ion batteries.

I think I’m going to stop carrying my 18650 with me...
 

GSS

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Always thinking of starting to help kick the cigg habit, understanding that vaping itself isn't all safe.
This isn't helping but the 195 reported incident's is of how many vapors?
If it's strictly battery related for the most part, then i'm willing to try and if most "bug's" are fixed. Stinks the consumers are the ginnea pig's or crash test dummy's.
Wouldn't also want some China trash products.
Really need to do some research before anything else..
 
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hi,
Moral of the stories dont buy cheap batteries spend the extra cash on a well know brand . regardless if your using a pointer or a Vape .

Rich:)
 
Joined
Sep 20, 2013
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Cell phones use Li-ion batteries. I wonder why we haven't heard of these exploding too? Maybe it is related to the amount of current drawn from the battery. I'll just stick to my current 2 to 3 cigarettes a day. If I were to take up vaping, I think I would use a power supply instead of Li-ion batteries and that is way too close to your head.
 
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Now that you mentioned it, I do remember reading about the Samsung battery problems with their galaxy phones. Considering the phone is likely pulling the most current while you are talking on it, I'm surprised there weren't more people injured by phone batteries.
 
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Benm

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Yeah, i even remember signs at airport that the samsung note 7 was not allowed on the plain - not in your checked luggage nor as carry on. Not that those things usually explode with fatal schrapnel shooting off, but you don't want a cabin or cargo hold fire either way.

The problem with vape pens, i think, is a bit different: They draw a LOT of current from the battery when you use them, and at that exact moment they are also right in your face.

So chances are that -if- it explodes it will be very close to you and the chance of injury is very large.

When you are charging things you're usually not very close to them, so there is little chance of direct injury. It can surely set your house on fire and kill you that way, but even if my phone battery exploded on the charger a meter or so away from me i doubt that could directly kill me by impact.

With these vaping devices i guess it also depends on what kind. You have the ones where you can only add liquid and charge the battery, but also the more elaborate type where you can put in lower resistance coils to increase vapour production and such.

With the latter type you could put in a coil that has a resistance that is so low it will exceed the rated discharge current of the battery and cause it to explode that way - essentially nearly short-circuiting it.

And i guess it could be similar with laser pointers too when you exceed battery maximum discharge rate, though those would blow up in your hand rather than in your face, and usually the host is pretty sturdy metal at such power levels.
 
Joined
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There were 19 injuries per year with millions of devices. You're more likely to be injured crossing the street. I'd bet most of the injuries are from stacked crap batteries in unregulated mods. The joke in the mech mod days was 'they're called ultrafire because they burn the hottest'.
 
Joined
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Technically the only time you're smoking with an ecig is after it explodes.

There were 19 injuries per year with millions of devices. You're more likely to be injured crossing the street. I'd bet most of the injuries are from stacked crap batteries in unregulated mods. The joke in the mech mod days was 'they're called ultrafire because they burn the hottest'.

I know that you are still new here....

Double posting on the Forum is frowned
upon by the community...

It is easy to Combine and Edit your Posts
by using the [EDIT] button at the bottom
right of each of your Posts...:beer:


Jerry
 

Benm

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I think in western countries the reporting rates are pretty high, provided that the incident causes enough injury for someone to visit the ER where the cause of the trauma is usually documented. In case of a fatality it would almost certainly be reported as i'd imagine it'd be a pretty obvious cause of death upon examining the body.

The again i would assume the number of cases reported where the outcome is only minor injury or small material damage is negligible: if the material damage is say, a burn mark on a 10 year old $100 table you would not claim that with insurance, and if you only needed a band aid to cover a small would from shrapnel you probably would not report that either.

And yeah, things do explode once in a while and kill some people. Think of those defective airbags resulting in a few dozen fatalities and hundreds of injuries. Those probably (seriously) hurt more people than all exploding e-cigs combined.
 
Joined
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While any death is tragic and unfortunate, we need to keep it in perspective. The chances of this happening to you are basically zero. Think of all the people in the world that don't know how to properly handle lithium cells - who just don't know better. Think of all the abuse that billions of lithium cells have taken over the years. One confirmed death.

Meanwhile, 6000 people in the US die every year from literally falling in their own house. Are you therefore going to be 6000 times more careful with wet floors than with lithium cells?

Being overweight is the number one killer in the modern world. I know laying off the pizza and going for a walk once in a while is hard, but that will do you far more good than handling your 18650s with a bomb suit.
 




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