Proper Battery Orientation

[J.D. Merchant]

This has been like beating a dead horse with a stick. I am hearing that in a tube mech positive side always faces towards the atty no matter if the vent holes are on the bottom or not. Now a friend pointed out to me a good point. A venting battery expands so if your vent holes are on the bottom and your positive side towards the atty you are creating a mini pipe bomb since the escaping gases have no way to vent. What in God's name is correct? Always have positive towards the atty or instead toward the venting holes. I need actually truth not personal opinion since this is a major safety concern and not a game. Thanks all and have a wonderful holiday.

 

[AzPlumber]

The concern is if a battery is put in positive down and the wrapper has ANY damage it will cause a dead short when you hit the button.

 

[Rossum]

Yep, with most bottom-switched tube mods, there really is no "correct solution".

Ideally, such a mod would be designed with vents at the top, or alternatively, a permanent, robust insulating sleeve inside the mod so that the battery could safely be installed positive side down. Unfortunately, neither of these were common design practices...

 

[zoiDman]

This has been like beating a dead horse with a stick. I am hearing that in a tube mech positive side always faces towards the atty no matter if the vent holes are on the bottom or not. Now a friend pointed out to me a good point. A venting battery expands so if your vent holes are on the bottom and your positive side towards the atty you are creating a mini pipe bomb since the escaping gases have no way to vent. What in God's name is correct? Always have positive towards the atty or instead toward the venting holes. I need actually truth not personal opinion since this is a major safety concern and not a game. Thanks all and have a wonderful holiday.

For a Bottom Firing Mech Mod, I would suggest putting the Battery in with the Positive End towards the Atomizer.

Vaping Biker short video on mech mod battery orientation

 

[AzPlumber]

Thanks @zoiDman I have not seen that video before, it explains it very well.

 

[sonicbomb]

The bottom line is if you are an educated and a 100% non-complacent user, the batteries will not vent and the vent holes are irrelevant. However in the real world this isn't going to happen, but it should be your goal rather than planning for a vent and playing risk level management.

The issue with positive down (as stated above) is that if you do get a short in the mod, when you hit the fire button your battery is dead shorted and goes bang. As opposed to a positive up orientation where you get an autofire.

Very well described here in a very similar thread
Battery Venting Question

"Imagine the case where your battery wrap has a tear in it and the metal can contacts the metal body of your mech mod. What happens? Well, the entire can is a negative pole on the battery. If it contacts inside the mod body, it will bypass the switch, and you will have an auto-fire situation on your hands. Seems bad, right? But it could be worse. Now imagine you still have a tear on the wrap, but now you install the battery upside down. What happens now? Well, the mod body and the 510 are both in contact with the negative battery pole, so nothing happens, immediately. But, as soon as you hit the switch, it connects the now positivebattery pole at the bottom, to the mod body which is already in contact with the negative pole, and you have a hard short. Gas venting. Flames. No explosion because the venting occurs at the bottom, but now you're holding something in your hand that's spewing fire and can reach temperatures approaching that of a welding torch. All because you thought it would be cute to go against conventional wisdom and put your battery in upside down, like no one had ever thought of that before...

Now, I know you're saying "but it's still better than all that and a violent explosion," and you'd be right, except remember that the venting only happened in the first place because you put the battery in upside down. Had you installed it correctly, there would have been no venting incident at all, and (presuming you built your coil within the battery's CDR limit) your mod simply would have auto-fired until the battery ran dry, or until you noticed the situation and pulled it apart.

Don't put your batteries in upside-down, kids! It may seem like a good idea at first, but there is an actual reason why everyone isn't doing it already."

 

[AzPlumber]

^^ another great post on the subject, thanks @sonicbomb I missed that one also.

 

[AzPlumber]

I think it needs to be pointed out that the battery's metal can doesn't have to make physical contact with the tube. DC voltage is prone to arcing and can easily arc across even if the wrapper only has a very small nick, cut, scratch, etc.

 

[J.D. Merchant]

OK thanks so much I see the points being made and understand the best bet is point the battery towards the atty. Just to be safe though I'll make sure any mechs in the future that I buy or recommend will have venting at the top of the tube mech and not the bottom since venting is important or otherwise it wouldn't be there in mods. Appreciate the advice everyone thanks much.

 

[DaveP]

I bypassed mechs and went from Joye 510 and EGO directly to a tube mod Provari V2 back in 2010. If I had used a mech I think I'd have found a plastic tube sleeve to install in the metal tube to insulate and isolate the battery terminals and wrap tears from causing issues.

That still wouldn't prevent a negative spring from contacting the positive and the negative if the battery was installed backwards. You'd need a disc fuse for safety either way.

 

[sonicbomb]

If you want to be really safe you can drill a series of 2mm(ish) holes in the tube top bottom and middle. This covers you in the eventuality that the battery swell and block the path of gases from one end to the other.
Again the trick is to use your equipment well enough that a vent never happens.

 

[Baditude]

I think we have come to a conclusion that batteries should be oriented with the + towards the atomizer. However, a small number of manufacturers have designed their mech so that the + should be oriented to the bottom of the mod; in these situations read the manufacturer's instructions first and practice what is recommended by them. Know your gear.

Just to be safe though I'll make sure any mechs in the future that I buy or recommend will have venting at the top of the tube mech and not the bottom since venting is important or otherwise it wouldn't be there in mods.

I agree whole heartedly. But good luck finding a tube mech with venting at the top of the mod. Probably 95% of tube mechs have vent holes (if they have any at all) at the bottom of the tube. Off course, vent holes in the bottom are better than no holes at all. Probably....maybe?

Mech Mods with top venting holes?​

If you want to be really safe you can drill a series of 2mm(ish) holes in the tube top bottom and middle. This covers you in the eventuality that the battery swell and block the path of gases from one end to the other.

Ever try drilling through a metal tube with a hand drill? Better find someone who has a drill press instead. But I do agree with the recommendation to add vent holes in the proper position if they don't exist.

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To help novice mech users understand why top vent holes are important, just look at pics of metal tube mechs that have exploded. Nearly all of them exploded at the top of the tube.

Batteries have an intentional weak spot in the top pole of the battery which is designed to allow a damaged battery to release its gas at that spot -- this is what theoretically will prevent the battery itself from exploding. However, if the mech's metal tube has no place for the rapidly expanding gas to escape with vent holes, it is an enclosed metal tube -- it literally has become a pipe bomb.

Above is a shot of a mech that has a single vent hole in the bottom-firing fire button. Notice how there is no space for escaping gas to get past the battery down to the bottom of the mod. This mech is destined to explode if a battery should vent.

 

[puffon]

 

[1/2 fast]

View attachment 707357

Agree with the funny ratings but.........for some reason it appeals to me Call me crazy I guess. As a diehard tootle puffer any excess voltage drop probably wouldn’t bother me at all. Battery color would suddenly become important though