Battery Safety - A Life-Or-Death Issue?

17 May 2018 | Daniel Hollyman

I woke this morning to find a BBC article forwarded by our MD, relaying the sad tale of a man from Florida who was killed by an exploding e-cigarette. This is of course a highly tragic story, and our condolences go to the loved ones he left behind.

In terms of the reporting, there was definitely a change in tone from usual media reports: the BBC openly acknowledged that the user had tampered with the device to allow it to put out more power, rather than demonising e-cigarettes as a whole. They made clear that it was user intervention, and not the device as originally sold, that lead to the unfortunate outcome.

This article is here to serve as an important reminder, to all users, how important it is to understand battery safety. But before jumping into it, a little context:

Facts and statistics

It is estimated that one in ten US citizens now vape. That’s around 33 million people, equivalent to half the population of the UK. Obviously, this is a number that has grown exponentially year-on-year, but [highly] conservatively, that must include over 100 million lithium-ion batteries currently in circulation (given users who have multiple devices, or mods that use multiple cells), let alone all the cells that have completed their life expectancy and ended safely recycled.

It is therefore quite telling that from all of those batteries, and all of those users, only 195 incidents involving exploding batteries and/or injured users were reported between 2008 and 2016 in the US. This is the very first death as a result of a battery failing. So, defective batteries is a problem encountered with 0.00000195% of the [conservative] number of batteries used in e-cigarette devices. The reality is that number is probably much smaller.

Reading the media reports from the incidents that made headlines, the common thread is users stressing batteries well past the maximum output amperages the cells were designed for.

Compare that against the fact that over 7,800 smoking related fires happen, in the USA, every single year. From those fires, on average, 360 people die as a direct consequence. When you add in the 480,000 premature deaths caused as a result of smoking that occur every single year, in the US alone, let alone the countless millions walking around suffering the consequences of smoking related diseases… it is abundantly clear the relative risk factors of smoking vs vaping.

Nobody worth listening to ever claimed that vaping was 100% safe; the consensus is that it is at least 95% safer than smoking.

All of that said, every needless injury adds to a statistic which none of us want to see. Don’t become a statistic… follow our advice below:

Know your battery safety

These days, many people use regulated devices, which have all sorts of safety features built in. However, if you use a low output cell in a high output mod, you’re practically begging for a problem.

We are also seeing a fresh resurgence in the use of mechanical mods. These mods have no circuits, no protection mechanisms – just a battery and a solid metal tube. If this is how you want to vape, you better learn your ohms law.

  • Never carry batteries loose in your pocket, especially if that pocket is shared with coins, keys, other batteries, or other metallic objects
  • If using a mech, always use an ohm reader, or a regulated device with an ohm reader, to determine the coil resistance
  • Using ohmslawcalculator.com, punch in the resistance of your coil, and the voltage output of your battery, and use these data points to work out the number of amps being drawn. If the amps drawn exceed the amp limits of the battery, you’re in dodgy territory
  • If your preferred coil resistance is unsafe with a single cell, buy a parallel dual battery mod. This spreads the amp load between the two cells, allowing you to achieve lower resistances/higher wattages
  • If you’re using a mod with metal internals (regulated or unregulated), ensure the battery wrap isn’t damaged, or perished, otherwise you could create a short circuit
  • If you’re using a multi battery device, don’t mix and match your batteries. Dedicate groups of two, three or four cells that you ALWAYS use together. Otherwise, over time, it is possible for one cell to over-discharge before the others have finished draining. Over-discharging a cell messes up the internal chemistry, leading to a higher potential for problems the next time the cell is charged
  • If you’re using a hybrid mod, ensure the 510 pin on your atty protrudes sufficiently from the outer assembly, otherwise you again run the risk of creating a short circuit
  • Finally, never… never alter a mod unless you know what you’re doing

We’re giving away 14 sets of highly prized Chubby Gorilla battery cases. If you would like one, follow MyVapery on Facebook and simply send us an IM with the words “Yes Please” and your address. There’s no ‘lucky winners’ – first come, first served.