CALLING OUT ALL MECH MOD MANUFACTURERS

[Baditude]

When it comes to advanced mass marketed systems like cell phones, laptops, and hybrid electric cars, the system designers of those products have taken appropriate steps to make them "safe" for uninformed end-user use. Purely mechanical unregulated ecig battery mods and uninformed end-users is a dicey proposition.

Most consumer battery operated devices are no where near the limit of the battery's operating limits. The high-end flashlights, RC toys, and mechanical mods come to mind as applications that really push the limits of a battery. With the RC toys the device is physically far removed from the person so a mishap is inconsequential. With ecigs a mishap is literally in the persons face.

Today's IMR/INR batteries are much "safer" than the protected ICR batteries being used when I began vaping five years ago. Yet despite this fact, there are more reported explosions today than ever before. Why is this?

Obviously more people are vaping today than five years ago. But the reported cases in the last year are causing more serious injuries than the ones reported a few years ago.

I believe that part of the reason is many users are uninformed in how to use their gear safely. They are using their batteries over the their recommended continuous discharge rate, using sub ohm builds in the 0.1 ohm range, or using incompatible gear (ie direct -battery "hybrid" mod and a juice attachment without an extended center pin). They are using a "rewrap" battery with inflated ratings -- don't believe the hype.

When bad things happen to a battery, one of two things is going to occur. Either the battery is going to "vent" gas, or it will explode in thermal runaway. I won't go into the details here to explain the difference. Educate yourself by visiting Mooch's battery blog who has a detailed description of each event.
Li-Ion Battery Chemistries - What are the differences in their safety?

Thermal runaway is pretty much a worst case scenario. Both your battery and mod are going to blow up. But a battery venting should be a relatively gentle and minor incident --- BUT ONLY IF OUR MODS WERE DESIGNED DIFFERENTLY!!

Fact One:
Batteries are designed with a pre-weakened area under the top cap, so if a battery becomes hot enough to vent, the gas has a way to escape and prevents a battery explosion. So, when batteries vent, they release gas from the top of the battery. Remember this point.



Fact Two:
Most mech mods have ventilation holes with the intention to allow the release of the gas coming from a battery. Otherwise the accumulation of gas and the increase in air pressure inside the mod creates essentually a pipe bomb.

Mech mod with a large vent hole in the fire button. Is this really adequate ventilation? Read on.

Fact Three:
So why do the majority of mech mods have their vent holes in the bottom of the tube? Inspect your mech mod with the battery inside. See how much room there is between the tube and the battery.

If there is little to no room between the battery and the tube, how is the gas supposed to get around the battery to the vent hole? With nowhere for the gas to escape, the escape route is "plugged". This mod will likely explode when the air pressure gets too high.

(Above) Not hardly any room at all for gas to get around the battery to a bottom vent hole. Keep in mind that when a battery is hot enough to vent, the shrink wrap layer of plastic around the battery will also deform and add blockage to prevent any gas from getting around the battery.

If you study pictures of mech mods which have exploded (Google Images), nearly all of them have blown their tops off. So why do most manufacturers locate their vent holes in the bottom of the tubes? I don't know, it doesn't make any sense to me.

This is not rocket science, its common sense. Mech mod manufacturers need to change their designs to use upper body vent holes. Maybe we "can't fix stupid" vapers, but we can make safer mods.

Mech Mods with top venting holes?

Some people may say, "Well I don't want hot gas spraying me in the face. Now come on. Put your mod to your mouth and imagine where two upper, side vent holes would be. The gas will be directed towards your chest (generally protected by clothing) or forward and away from your face. This is certainly a better alternative than having your atomizer becoming a missle projectile aimed at the roof of your mouth, with the force of 1/4 stick of dynamite.

Mech mod with upper vent holes. A much safer design in case a battery vents.

 

[crxess]

And Sadly the last one I reported Blew out the Bottom of the Battery. Mechanical Mods should be made of sufficiently Dense materials to with stand a High pressure release while providing adequate Ventilation at Both extremes to SAFELY release gasses in a Volatility Battery Failure.
My

 

[sofarsogood]

Mech's are inherently risky. For a lot of users, especially the younger ones, that might be part of the appeal. An orgainization like the Consumer Product Safety Comission could make some noise about the difference between mechs and regulated and it would get reported and make a difference. They decline to say anything about vaping hardware claiming that's for the fda. They want people to get hurt to strengthen their case.

 

[Two_Bears]

When it comes to advanced mass marketed systems like cell phones, laptops, and hybrid electric cars, the system designers of those products have taken appropriate steps to make them "safe" for uninformed end-user use. Purely mechanical unregulated ecig battery mods and uninformed end-users is a dicey proposition.

Most consumer battery operated devices are no where near the limit of the battery's operating limits. The high-end flashlights, RC toys, and mechanical mods come to mind as applications that really push the limits of a battery. With the RC toys the device is physically far removed from the person so a mishap is inconsequential. With ecigs a mishap is literally in the persons face.

Today's IMR/INR batteries are much "safer" than the protected ICR batteries being used when I began vaping five years ago. Yet despite this fact, there are more reported explosions today than ever before. Why is this?

Obviously more people are vaping today than five years ago. But the reported cases in the last year are causing more serious injuries than the ones reported a few years ago.

I believe that part of the reason is many users are uninformed in how to use their gear safely. They are using their batteries over the their recommended continuous discharge rate, using sub ohm builds in the 0.1 ohm range, or using incompatible gear (ie direct -battery "hybrid" mod and a juice attachment without an extended center pin). They are using a "rewrap" battery with inflated ratings -- don't believe the hype.

When bad things happen to a battery, one of two things is going to occur. Either the battery is going to "vent" gas, or it will explode in thermal runaway. I won't go into the details here to explain the difference. Education yourself by visiting Mooch's battery blog who has a detailed description of each event.
Li-Ion Battery Chemistries - What are the differences in their safety?

Thermal runaway is pretty much a worst case scenario. Both your battery and mod are going to blow up. But a battery venting should be a relatively gentle and minor incident --- BUT ONLY IF OUR MODS WERE DESIGNED DIFFERENTLY!!

Fact One:
Batteries are designed with a pre-weakened area under the top cap, so if a battery becomes hot enough to vent, the gas has a way to escape and prevents a battery explosion. So, when batteries vent, they release gas from the top of the battery. Remember this point.



Fact Two:
Most mech mods have ventilation holes with the intention to allow the release of the gas coming from a battery. Otherwise the accumulation of gas and the increase in air pressure inside the mod creates essentually a pipe bomb.

Mech mod with a large vent hole in the fire button. Is this really adequate ventilation? Read on.

Fact Three:
So why do the majority of mech mods have their vent holes in the bottom of the tube? Inspect your mech mod with the battery inside. See how much room there is between the tube and the battery.

If there is little to no room between the battery and the tube, how is the gas supposed to get around the battery to the vent hole? With nowhere for the gas to escape, this mod will likely explode when the air pressure gets too high.

(Above) Not hardly any room at all for gas to get around the battery to a bottom vent hole. Keep in mind that when a battery is hot enough to vent, the shrink wrap layer of plastic will also deform and add blockage to prevent any gas from getting around the battery.

If you study pictures of mech mods which have exploded (Google Images), nearly all of them have blown their tops off. So why do most manufacturers locate their vent holes in the bottom of the tubes? I don't know, it doesn't make any sense to me.

This is not rocket science, its common sense. Mech mod manufacturers need to change their designs to use upper body vent holes. Maybe we "can't fix stupid" vapers, but we can make safer mods.

Mech Mods with top venting holes?

Some people may say, "Well I don't want hot gas spraying me in the face. Now come on. Put your mod to your mouth and imagine where two upper, side vent holes would be. The gas will be directed towards your chest (generally protected by clothing) or forward and away from your face. This is certainly a better alternative than having your atomizer becoming a missle projectile aimed at the roof of your mouth, with the force of 1/4 stick of dynamite.

Mech mod with upper vent holes. A much safer design in case a battery vents.

Two reasons why there are so many explosions.

1. Many want the record for the lowest resistance of their coils.

2. People insist on using Sub Ohm tanks by Aspire on hybrid mechanical mods and have a dead short.

These newbies needs education on battery safety instead of a person wrappung a .08 coil for their atty

 

[mauricem00]

unfortunately we can not count on business to correct this problem. even now with the threat of regulations they continue with business as usual. the makers of mechanical mods and the vape shops that sell them with no concern for their customers safety are their own worst enemy.cloud chasing may seem cool to the immature but with that immaturity often come ignorance and recklessness.if the industry does not start acting a little more responsibly then government may regulate them out of business

 

[marc42]

Agree with your post Baditude
how accurate are these resistance measurements people quote?
i always thought instruments that measure milli-Ohms accurately were $$$!!?
think if i were going to make a mech that i intended to thrash the cell to edge of its limits with , i would make sure to give the cell plenty of breathing space with stand offs in a big tube allowing 2-3mm clearance around it with big vent holes top and bottom so in the event of catastrophic failure there was little chance of serious pressure build up.

 

[UnclePsyko]

I would also like to see collapsible "heat springs" used... try to prevent a catastrophe before it gets to that point. I understand there will be some that would replace the safety spring in order to use extreme low builds, but that's on them.

 

[defdock]

This just makes me wonder about all the people who bought mechs from this kiosk the other day at the mall. All mechs were on sale for 5$ and tax. Knowing better, I inspected every one I picked up... more then half had missing parts, parts put in backwards, ect.

How many of the "customers" were uneducated, and how many just assumed it was a good way to start vaping for 5$ and some change?


I seriously beleive these mech designers need to make more "simple" designs with less parts and as OP points out better saftey like top vent holes

 

[Baditude]

I would also like to see collapsible "heat springs" used... try to prevent a catastrophe before it gets to that point. I understand there will be some that would replace the safety spring in order to use extreme low builds, but that's on them.

Those are actually called "hot springs", and I speak about them in my A Beginner's Guide to Your First Mechanical Mod. I also speak about mod fuses and using a Kick.

I personally use an AltSmoke Silver Bullet mechanical mod. It uses a hot spring, and has an optional Kick battery extension sleeve available in case you want to use a Kick and 18650 battery. It also has a "pop out" recessed fire button (side located) designed to release gas from a venting battery.

AltSmoke Silver Bullet

 

[rice721]

what about regulated tube mods with vent holes on the bottom? If somehow the battery does vent will it result in an explosion? Or will the space above the battery where the chip is be ample enough so that the gases can travel down and out of the bottom vent hole?

 

[gin828]

But...But...But.....The clouds bro!!! but....but....the tasty clouds bro!!! I got this sweet sweet mod, charger, and 60amp batteries for $60. The guy behind the counter set me up with .002ohm coil and this thing rocks...........

This is the type of crap I hear all the time. It wont matter how many vent holes you have in a mod. People will still get hurt. I do see your point Baditude mod makers need to make safer products. People give me crap about using HoH mechs but I have not seen one blow up yet. To me it just seems that its the cheaper china junk thats exploding....not saying that any mod cant explode. Unless people refuse to buy it and shops refuse to sell cheap inferior mods and batteries people will still get hurt.

 

[puffon]

I feel safe with my REOs....but still cautious.

 

[UnclePsyko]

Those are actually called "hot springs", and I speak about them in my A Beginner's Guide to Your First Mechanical Mod. I also speak about mod fuses and using a Kick.

I personally use an AltSmoke Silver Bullet mechanical mod. It uses a hot spring, and has an optional Kick battery extension sleeve available in case you want to use a Kick and 18650 battery. It also has a "pop out" recessed fire button (side located) designed to release gas from a venting battery.

AltSmoke Silver Bullet

Nice!
I'm a die-hard Reo user, also using hot springs. Only had one collapse trying to check the voltage drop using a probe. Worked as advertised.

 

[Baditude]

what about regulated tube mods with vent holes on the bottom? If somehow the battery does vent will it result in an explosion? Or will the space above the battery where the chip is be ample enough so that the gases can travel down and out of the bottom vent hole?

I can't say that I recall of hearing of a regulated mod whose battery vented. I believe the protection circuitry prevents a hard short or reversed battery from hurting the processor and indirectly protects the battery, too.

I have heard of batteries catching fire in some regulated mods, but these used internal LiPo batteries (and not safer chemistry) and onboard USB chargers. I think the fires were caused by faulty onboard chargers or wiring. (ie iStick 50).
istick 50 watt exploded | E-Cigarette Forum

 

[rice721]

I can't say that I recall of hearing of a regulated mod whose battery vented. I believe the protection circuitry prevents a hard short or reversed battery from hurting the processor and indirectly protects the battery, too.

I have heard of batteries catching fire in some regulated mods, but these used internal LiPo batteries (and not safer chemistry) and onboard USB chargers. I think the fires were caused by faulty onboard chargers or wiring. (ie iStick 50).

I haven't either, I was just thinking like a dooms-day worse case scenario where for some reason the chip fails entirely and couldn't prevent a hard short and the battery vents. I was thinking since regulated tube mods have the chip up top and it probably isn't like a solid piece of metal without space/gaps that the gas would still be able to vent out safely without pressure build up which eventually leads to an explosion.

Its sad b/c I've always liked the stealthness of mech mods but just don't really want to try them due to that inherent risk.

 

[supertrunker]

The way to ensure safety is to buy batteries that are not crappy re-wraps that overstate their abilities and to build coils that don't overstress them.

Springs, fuses, whatever makes no difference if you have no idea of the operating parameters of the gear you are using.

As to regulated mods venting - i once bought a Groove from Madvapes and they were recalled because a simple drop on the floor would puncture the battery and it would catch fire.

I'm all for safety and knowledge, but a witch-hunt against mechanical mods i will not join.

T

 

[Baditude]

The way to ensure safety is to buy batteries that are not crappy re-wraps that overstate their abilities and to build coils that don't overstress them.

Springs, fuses, whatever makes no difference if you have no idea of the operating parameters of the gear you are using.

As to regulated mods venting - i once bought a Groove from Madvapes and they were recalled because a simple drop on the floor would puncture the battery and it would catch fire.

I'm all for safety and knowledge, but a witch-hunt against mechanical mods i will not join.

Safe high quality batteries should be your first priority in vape gear. Using cheap, "rewrap" batteries which almost always inflate their specs is a fast way to get into trouble. So is building coils that require more amps than you battery's continuous discharge rate.

Adding layers of safety to your mech can never hurt, whether its a Kick, a mod fuse, or a hot spring. Drilling upper vent holes to your mech is a good idea, too.

I remember those Grooves from Smoktech, I had forgotten their name. At least Smoktech did a recall, unlike eLeaf with their iStick 50 watt model.

I have never called for a witch hunt against mechanical mods. I do believe that they can be better designed. And I believe the end users should educate themselves to operate a mech safely.

 

[supertrunker]

i got a new battery holder today. It's a mech.



Yes it does. Yes.

T

 

[Baditude]

Squonk Porn!!

 

[defdock]

With the atto I feel perfectly safe. Even incase of a short and the protection chip fails, with the battery orientation and the vent hole I can see clearly thru a 6mm? Hole the top contact of the battery and the edge where normaly a battery would split durring venting or the worse.

I feel safe with my REOs....but still cautious.