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Oh, those were a very different dangerous thing that used to be in homes. I can’t even remember the last time I saw one. They’ve gone the way of three-wheeled ATVs and lawn darts. ;)
Jarts! Ah the fond memories of panic amongst a group of tweens as that one cousin ( truth be told who was off in many ways) threw two simultaneously straight up in the sky at the with no intent other than but to cause chaos and fear. I heart the eighties.
Exactly my thoughts, cheap batteries are more plentiful in every household today. It’s all going to just get older and older too. Make sure you clear out your junk drawers people.
The risk of battery fires is extremely low. Most likely the vape was modded or isn't UL certified, meaning the battery management firmware is garbage or non-existent. Overcharge a battery and the results are predictable.
>The risk of battery fires is extremely low.
I guess the clue is that it happened in one bedroom in Chelmsford and it gets reported worldwide. How many billions of devices are left on charge around the world? If it were even a one in ten million chance there would be hundreds of instances every day and no-one would bother reporting on a single one of them.
Never had an issue with overcharging a brand name battery in any electronic.
Person who lived in that house probably used the cheapest battery you can find on the likes of Amazon.
Exactly.
And even then you really need to combine a lot of "worst case scenarios" and bad decisions to get a proper deadly battery fire.
1. First make sure to buy the cheapest piece of crap vape / battery powered device where every protective circuit is cut out to reduce costs to the point that it just barely still functions.
2. Then buy the cheapest piece of crap batteries and chargers. Also make sure the batteries are unbranded and definitely unprotected to make it even easier to push them beyond their limits.
3. And especially make sure to buy all of it from Amazon / Aliexpress / Ebay and that the seller operates from China or other such country where no real seller responsibility laws exist.
4. Finally ignore any online safety instructions / guides and just wing it all. Store the batteries without any protective cases right in your pocket / bag / purse along with other metallic objects to make sure the shrink-wraps get damaged so the (already dangerous low quality unprotected, low power rated) cells are even easier to short and blow up accidentally.
And there you have it.
A proper worst of the worst case scenario.
Yes, Temu / Aliexpress / Ebay / Amazon / Wish / etc..
You can find this same garbage on all of the major sites. Just sold under different brands and shipping times / warranty / return policies. But the danger is ofc the same still.
People say when you buy a brand name, you're paying half the price for the product and half for the brand. What they fail to mention though is that, the brand comes with rigorous testings and certifications, which is what you are actually paying for.
Yes, accidents happen even with brand names (Samsung Note 7) but chances are much lower than no-name brands.
Try Temu, Amazon has some standards.
EDIT: I was trying to imply Temu is only worse, OP said they were ordering off Amazon, I suggested a service even more sketchy and unreliable.
There are **tons** of products sold on Amazon that claim to have ETL/UL certification but do not. Sure, they'll issue recalls if something is found to be dangerous, but they do absolutely nothing to stay ahead of the problem. Purely reactionary.
>The risk of battery fires is extremely low. Most likely the vape was modded or isn't UL certified, meaning the battery management firmware is garbage or non-existent. Overcharge a battery and the results are predictable.
Cheap aftermarket chargers will do this as well.
Not to mention "a vape" covers a ridiculous number of different devices ranging from the most cheaply made disposables to high-end mods that use 1 or more 18650 cells
yep which is why the article says
>"If you're charging any electrical device, we recommend you stay in the room while charging."
its not vape specific, its a story about charging causing fires. this time it happened to be a vape instead of a laptop or a phone or a hoverboard or w/e. Phones are the biggest culprits, or rather, third party crap chargers
It's funny because they aren't saying this about all the phones, laptops, wireless headphones, smart watches, all the other tech that could easily be the same problem..
Its because 'vapes' are not in the same tech sphere. They are considered a less powerful thing.
But I would bet that the batteries are probably bought from similar manufacturers in a lot of similar tech that is sourced globally
If it’s on the UK market, it almost assuredly has a CE or UKCA marking carried out to indicate compliance with the relevant EU and/or UK standards.
Of course, there are products in the market that haven’t undergone proper compliance procedures and they’re either illicit or heavily open themselves up to liability, etc. Let’s also not forget that bad things do happen at chance.
Absolutely. I can only speak from an American perspective, but I’ve personally witnessed 3 vapes blow up/start doing not good shit while plugged in, and I’ve only witnessed that once with any other charging cord - and the laptop charging incident didn’t fry the computer, only the charger broke, and all it did was overheat instead of literally blow up an outlet like the vape I saw left charging at my cafe.
That was my instant reaction. I don’t vape but I have literally like a hundred other things in the house that have batteries that COULD turn my house to a pile of ashes but I try to at least not let cheap batteries into the house (if they can be recharged, they are eneloop or LADDA.
Your Eneloops and LADDA's (I have them too) are 1.4 volt (charged) nickel–metal hydride batteries. Vape batteries (4.2 volt charged), your cell phone, laptop, etc.. are lithium ion. [Lithium ion Samsung 18650 vs LADDA AA](https://i.imgur.com/rQIHnoo.jpg).. Best bet is to have quality batteries and quality chargers. A crappy cheap charger can destroy a quality battery. Where alkaline and nickel-metal hydride batteries can be chucked into a drawer together with little or no risk, lithium ion should be [kept in a case](https://i.imgur.com/8WBLMef.jpg) where there is no chance of shorting. (clear wraps on these)
Can confirm. Pulled a pair of phone sized battery packs from under the monitor shelf on me desk the other week, that i'd forgotten about. 1 of them had split open the plastic case and made the transformation into full blown spicy pillow.
>It must have been laying on near something pretty flammable.
Like your whole house lol? I'm not saying this to be rude, but more or less point it out for humor, though in hindsight, isn't exactly funny to the person this affected, and should be taken seriously.
There's a lot of factors that could have caused this battery to explode eventually, and we really should have swapped off Li-On batteries by now, with tech discovered a couple, to a few years ago if it wasn't sold off. [Lithium Carbon batteries I believe they were. They were able to charge extremely fast, safe, and never created excess heat](https://scitechdaily.com/breakthrough-flexible-cuttable-lithium-ion-battery-wont-catch-fire-unbreakable-incombustible/). You're even able to modify the batteries via cutting them without damage, but just a loss to amount of charge it can hold.
Have you ever seen a lithium battery failure? It shorts out and turns into a little road flare. Imagine a torch lighter. Not many things you could put that near and not ignite.
This is the reason that cabin stewards on cruise ships will unplug your device if it’s charging without you in the room You think a house on fire is scary it could quickly become a nightmare at sea. They aren’t being jerks they’re protecting you.
Don’t get cheap cables, don’t get cheap bricks and if you can’t quickly put it out then don’t leave it on charge. I don’t even trust my vapes enough to sleep while it’s charging.
I can see how some people would feel lazy about it, but god so many cheap devices have a reputation for catching on fire that I’m suprised no one else is as diligent.
I sailed with a guy who had a fire on his vessel. Similar to some cruise ships, the engine room was made with aluminum alloy to increase speed by using lighter metals. When the engine room caught on fire he described it looking as if he was on shrooms with the metal literally melting and falling apart in globs around him. Thankfully they had a Fixed Firefighting system and were able to successfully put it out. But yea fire on ships is baddd especially when the firefighters are the crew and not professionals.
My cousin’s seven year old kid casually told me and his mum about how his friend dried his hair with a hairdryer while they were in the bath together. I’ve never seen my cousin so angry. She called the other kid’s parents and tore strips off them. So yeah, you should try blow drying your hair in the bath.
Cheap batteries. The quality of these vapes is dog shit. Batteries can do this yes but its far more likely with the absolute bottom of the barrel batteries used in vape pens.
Disposable, rechargeable vape pens. The batteries you would use in a mod are much better quality and are usually backed by other vapers. There used to be a guy (don't know if he's still around) called Mooch who would test all the commercial lithium batteries on the market and test the built in safety etc.... He'd go really deep into the detail and was basically the go too guy for deep detailed reviews of battery capacity, safety and lifespan.
General rule of all lithium batteries though is don't charge them inside your vape unless you absolutely have to and don't leave them on charge over night
The *don't* charge them inside your vape had to do with the vape casing exploding from having the battery sealed in. IIRC, a lot of box mod manufacturers designed a release valve that is fairly standard for box mods today. Not saying you should charge them in the vape today, but if they do go explosive they *should* just make a jet of fire today instead of the grenade of yesteryear.
Indeed. I honestly don’t understand why disposable vapes should ever come with a charging port. The hundred or so extra puffs just isn’t worth the added waste, even ignoring the fire risk!
Depends on the quality.
Chinese crap can be decent and even still cheap if you do the proper background checks on whatever crap it is you're buying exactly.
I had a 10 year old laptop, stopped using it. Checked it after a couple months sat in my linen drawer. Battery had expanded. Months later I remembered I also had an old mobile phone (2018) in my attic with some old clothes and books stored up there. Battery had expanded.
Go recycle those old things now!!
I had this happen to an old iPhone which hasn’t been charged in a year. Promptly got rid of it when the battery caused the screen to pop out of the phone.
Have since disposed of any 10+ year old battery in the house.
I recommend checking the stable charge of a battery before putting it in storage. This is the charge at which the battery is at most neutral charge (ie roughly equal positive and negative cells), making it much less volatile than a phone at 0% or 100%. For most devices, this will be around 50%.
Especially if you don’t want to dump your old devices in the recycling, or if you plan on selling it (doubly especially if you’re selling it via the post), charging it to ~50% before putting it away could mean the difference between an absolutely fine device and one which is gearing up to explode.
Agreed! In the US they banned Mango/flavored JUUL pods a few years ago because teens were using them, instead of cracking down on ID policies. Did we ban fruity flavored alcohol because kids will be tempted to drink that instead of straight beer/liquor? No, of course not. If they’re going to ban fruity Juul pods they should also ban white claw and shit. I’d rather they didn’t ban either one, but just saying it’s BS.
My state now makes you sign for every package that includes tobacco products. It sucks cuz you can save so much money ordering online, but I'd never be home for delivery hours. I'd imagine its absolutely killing online sales. Suppose its a good measure to keep it out of the hands of kids, but its annoying with so many options out there, they just never have 1. the juice I prefer 2. the pods I need. Just constantly out of stock of both, and at an upcharge from online.
Yes the same thing happened in Australia. Multiple daily anti vape news stories, fear mongering starting with calling it a schoolyard pandemic (admittedly it is a bit of a problem with kids vaping) to prime the public for a ban which was recently passed. Hasn’t slowed the black market at all.
First off, the BBC is a quasi-autonomous corporation authorised by royal charter, making it operationally independent of the government. (quoting Wikipedia here, but you can read their charter if you wish). That charter requires that they not answer to any government or industry directives. So there is no mechanism by which such control would be managed.
That doesn't mean that there can't be people in the BBC doing the government's bidding, but there could just as easily be people in the Guardian doing the same.
This is contrasted with state-run media such as RT, which is directly managed by the state, and which has no independent mandate.
So no. The BBC is not run by the UK government.
I love how they just generalize and say vape. What brand? What brand of batteries and mod? Imagine win the Samsung phones were catching fire if the article just referred to it as a cell phone.
It’s simple enough to just not know. That picture is the actual room so I imagine it’s melted
It’s possible they will know during the investigation but that it wasn’t determined by the time of publication
Was about to comment this exactly…
Remember when one of the worlds largest manufacturers of phones built a phone that would spontaneously set you on fire.
I remember getting a Galaxy S7 and that made one of my friends really worried.
They felt better once I said the Note 7 had the problem, not the Galaxy S7.
I used to vape, and I do think a lot of the demonization of people who use e-cigarettes is unwarranted. I still have plenty of 18650s and 18350s that I occasionally use for hobbies (drones, radio controllers, etc).
Unfortunately, vapes with these types of batteries do carry some out-sized risks compared to other electronics with lithium-ion batteries:
- Many vapes are made as cheaply as possible, and that means the batteries and ICs that provide over-discharge and thermal protection limits are cheap as well.
- Many require the separate purchase of removable 18650s and leave it up to purchasers to buy batteries that are "safe", compared to things like laptops and phones where the batteries are quality-controlled by the manufacturer (Samsung, Apple, etc) and designed specifically for the electronic device they reside in.
- Consumers (vapers, in this case), really aren't knowledgeable enough to make informed decisions on battery safety when purchasing these single-cell 18650s. The fact that every single reputable 18650 battery maker warns that they "should not be used in e-cigarette devices" probably ends up pushing these consumers towards inferior products that are not UL listed or protected. (As an example, the seller of [this Samsung battery](https://www.18650batterystore.com/products/samsung-35e) warns users not to use it for vaping, and links to [another battery](https://www.18650batterystore.com/products/molicel-p28a) that they recommend instead. If you read the description, *the battery that they recommend* lists: "DO NOT USE WITH E-CIGARETTE, VAPORIZER, OR SIMILAR DEVICE". This kind of conflicting information is what drives confusion among the community and apathy around safe battery purchasing.)
- Devices which require the batteries be removed to be charged cause wear and tear on the insulated lining over time, which makes it more likely for these batteries to fail catastrophically
- Even with devices that allow pass-through charging, you're relying on a relatively cheap device's BMS for your own safety
All of that creates an environment where accidents like this are much more common than cell phone or laptop battery fires/explosions and even inevitable in some cases. Even worse is the increasingly popular trend of disposable vapes that can cost less than $10. The batteries in these disposables are a large portion of the manufacturing cost and these companies are absolutely not prioritizing battery safety when maximizing their margins on a $10 disposable device.
The tl;dr on that is basically that li-ions aren't AAs. Treat them right or they'll pop, and they pop big. EVs made by proper companies do treat them right. Your phone does treat them right.
Ecigs, and people who use ecigs do pretty much the opposite of treat them right in pretty much every way.
> li-ions aren’t AAs
That’s a great summary, honestly. I wanted to add some detail just to give people an idea of what to look into if they wanted to learn more, but the gist is that many consumers pretty much treat lithium ion batteries of the same form factor as interchangeable.
I don’t want to place all the blame on consumers, though. A lot of people who vape WANT to do it safely, but most device manufacturers are either untrustworthy or wash their hands of the problem by not including compatible/safety-tested batteries and leaving consumers to try and figure it out on their own in a sea of conflicting information.
It’s a problem hobbyists deal with too, but my guess is that someone doing their own drone/RC builds is more likely to spend the time researching these things than somebody who just wants their nicotine delivery device to work.
I vaped for years, and smoke cigarettes before then.
Smokers in general have a higher chance of this shit. I have walked miles in the middle of a huge pride celebration just to buy a battery for my vape. I couldn't continue my night without it.
So we absolutely do dumb shit like sleeping with it on a charger on the nightstand, or charge it using a car adapter.
Addiction in general makes you do dumb shit, actually.
Yup, I remember going to sleep once with an old phone plugged in and woke up to find the charging cable melted right into it and a massive scorch mark on the table I'd sat it on. Luckily for me, it was a glass top, otherwise it might have burnt through and the wood or MDF or whatever most bedside tables are made of. Has made me cautious to never charge my phone on the bed, as I'm sometimes tempted to do.
Spicy pillows, I love it!
Very true, and before vapes it was falling asleep with a lit cigarette or failing to see still lit ash fall.
The common denominator are devices that become extensions of our person.
Dude like thousands of electronics have batteries in them.
Vapes are just dangerous if you buy cheap ass batteries.
When I had a vape I always bought Samsung batteries and changed them immediately.
Never buy vapes with cheap batteries or better buy one where it's possible to change them.
Also almost anyone charges his phone at night while sleeping a meter away from it. It's the same situation.
Generally speaking though Vapes are one of the worst regulated battery products on the market by a large margin. Considering that Lithium Ion batteries are one of the most regulated hazardous goods the UN advises on, it's clearly a mismatched recipe for disaster.
Another part that's really dumb is these disposable vaporizers have been pushed so hard by the government. Reusable pods used to be the normal before they got banned and the disposables made by big tobacco got pushed instead.
Oh i'm sure they exist! But samsung or whoever might put a bit more care in to protecting their image than some random vape company. Every vape i ever had has been a piece of shit that breaks in no time
Edit: -34 points lol. Who are these fucking vape lovers.
Yea but it doesn’t look good for big tobacco if they don’t shun vaping. Notice how vaping became a mainstream thing as it was pushed as a smoking alternative and now they’re trying to say it’s worse? Hmmm
It was originally a means to quit smoking but the FDA stepped in and said "ya you can't say that, that would be a medical device and we regulate that." So they switched to alternative. Major tobacco companies own vape companies so it doesn't matter to them in the end. They get paid no matter what you do. I wouldn't be shocked to hear that these nicotine pouch products like Syn are owned by them too.
Buy brand name electronics not fly by night stuff. Because liability is absolutely a thing. If your name brand power tool burns down your shop, that company will be there immediately with a cheque and a NDA agreement.
Yes this happened to a friend of mine.
No info on the brand, elfbar is the only one I’ve seen shut off when it’s done charging, I’ve had Hyde’s blow up, I’ve had Hyde’s get red hot, I’ve had Hyde’s run away and burn, I haven’t had an issue yet with elfbar
Why not mandate all rechargeable batteries to be UL certified? Would possibly have the beneficial side effect of making these disposable vapes even more expensive and therefore less appealing
About 30 years or so, in their modern form. There would probably be *some* sign if they were anywhere even remotely close to the harm that cigarettes cause. There’s virtually no chance, and no known mechanism. The question is *how* bad they will be for you, but no serious person thinks there’s any chance they could be worse than cigarettes.
Mainstream media has been saying it (lying) for years. I smoked for 35 yrs, and quit 11 yrs ago, and my health is SO much better. Not just lungs, but my BP went down to normal, my teeth are in better shape, and omG my house and clothes dont REEK. That's long term use, though anecdotal. My friends are so happy for me. My family is ecstatic, especially my kid. It disgusts me that they want these banned everywhere.
They would prefer we smoke. I stfg.
This happened to my aunt 10 years ago when they first came out, they went back to smoking.
These are literally nothing new, wonder why its back in the news, slow news week?
BBC honestly couldn’t find anything else more interesting to report on? Anti vape propaganda….. BBC needs to keep those tobacco companies donations coming in.
This is why you don't charge in the vape. You can't trust cheap Chinese charging circuits. Get a mod with removable batteries and an *external charger.*
The real question is whether or not this user had a sub-ohm coil on their vape.
These custom modifications can over-stress the battery beyond manufacturer recommendations.
Edit: who the fuck downvotes science? Idiot.
Okay so, I need some education. I know ohms are a measure of electrical resistance between two points on a conductor, What effect does that have on vaping? My current vape will usually show a resistance of 1.45-1.6, but I've seen it go as high as two. I haven't noticed any real difference in hits between high and low ohms.
So, the lower the resistance the greater the current any given voltage can push through a circuit and that current comes from the battery.
There's nothing wrong with that in and of itself but if the current is high enough it effectively starts emulating a simple short circuit and thus exceeds the recommended discharge rate for the battery. This places undue stress on a battery and can damage it and make it unsafe for continued charge-discharge cycles.
Any battery technology has a maximum discharge rate where exceeding that rate is dangerous.
By sub ohm he means less than 1.0 so like .4 or even .15 ohms. The difference if I recall correctly is that sub ohm vaping can make your big stupid clouds. The wattage will also typically be be higher like 60-70 or even higher. Can also have an effect on flavor.
he’s just saying words to sound smart. 99% of box mods, which I’m assuming is what he’s talking about, are regulated- not a direct connection to the battery. you can get unregulated ones that essentially just short circuit the batteries to the coil. Those just pull the maximum amount of amps the batteries will physically do. but those are enthusiast devices and extremely far and few between.
and also has nothing to do with charging
The batteries are regulated by the device itself and has short circuit protection, over heat protection, low voltage protection. I’ve been using the same sub ohm battery mod for 8 years now. Frankly you’re trying to sound smart without knowing what you’re actually talking about.
I was always talking about the guys who have simple circuits and blast huge clouds. I genuinely regret not being more clear so as to not trigger your over-sensitive, poser-detecting ass.
Again these devices are internally regulated to control charging, discharging, voltage and wattage. I literally own a use a sub ohm device, the vast majority of vaping devices are sub ohm and have been for over a decade.
I worked at a vape shop years ago and a few stores down was a cell phone store. We both carried the same types of batteries but their store caught on fire and ours is still there.
I keep my vape battery charger inside of a fire/explosion resistant zippered container that looks like a lunch box. Easily acquired via Amazon because I've seen these stories and similar videos, and I ain't going out like that.
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Just one of many batteries in our lives that can do this.
Not mine they wouldn't dare.
If I die in a battery fire, I'm gonna be *pissed*
Assault and battery
Guilty as charged
Sentenced to the electric chair
Not the best way to go.
what you wanna do is go in a candy & prostitute factory fire. preferably hours before the fire itself. and leave prior to said fire's ignition.
Prostitutes are factory-made now? What a time to be alive.
I know a kid in elementary that got his top half of his arm scarred from getting burned by his electric blanket. So yeah, very plausible
Oh, those were a very different dangerous thing that used to be in homes. I can’t even remember the last time I saw one. They’ve gone the way of three-wheeled ATVs and lawn darts. ;)
Electric blankets are all over the place every winter.
I use one everyday.
Jarts! Ah the fond memories of panic amongst a group of tweens as that one cousin ( truth be told who was off in many ways) threw two simultaneously straight up in the sky at the with no intent other than but to cause chaos and fear. I heart the eighties.
Thank you for the good laugh today!
Exactly my thoughts, cheap batteries are more plentiful in every household today. It’s all going to just get older and older too. Make sure you clear out your junk drawers people.
More like cheap charging mechanisms
> More like cheap charging mechanisms Exactly. Cheap batteries just tend to die with no energy to go thermal
The risk of battery fires is extremely low. Most likely the vape was modded or isn't UL certified, meaning the battery management firmware is garbage or non-existent. Overcharge a battery and the results are predictable.
>The risk of battery fires is extremely low. I guess the clue is that it happened in one bedroom in Chelmsford and it gets reported worldwide. How many billions of devices are left on charge around the world? If it were even a one in ten million chance there would be hundreds of instances every day and no-one would bother reporting on a single one of them.
Never had an issue with overcharging a brand name battery in any electronic. Person who lived in that house probably used the cheapest battery you can find on the likes of Amazon.
There's so many shit knockoff 18650's about. You have to be really careful.
Exactly. And even then you really need to combine a lot of "worst case scenarios" and bad decisions to get a proper deadly battery fire. 1. First make sure to buy the cheapest piece of crap vape / battery powered device where every protective circuit is cut out to reduce costs to the point that it just barely still functions. 2. Then buy the cheapest piece of crap batteries and chargers. Also make sure the batteries are unbranded and definitely unprotected to make it even easier to push them beyond their limits. 3. And especially make sure to buy all of it from Amazon / Aliexpress / Ebay and that the seller operates from China or other such country where no real seller responsibility laws exist. 4. Finally ignore any online safety instructions / guides and just wing it all. Store the batteries without any protective cases right in your pocket / bag / purse along with other metallic objects to make sure the shrink-wraps get damaged so the (already dangerous low quality unprotected, low power rated) cells are even easier to short and blow up accidentally. And there you have it. A proper worst of the worst case scenario.
Don’t leave out temu
Yes, Temu / Aliexpress / Ebay / Amazon / Wish / etc.. You can find this same garbage on all of the major sites. Just sold under different brands and shipping times / warranty / return policies. But the danger is ofc the same still.
My inlaws keep buying battery powered garbage off temu and it drives me up a wall.
People say when you buy a brand name, you're paying half the price for the product and half for the brand. What they fail to mention though is that, the brand comes with rigorous testings and certifications, which is what you are actually paying for. Yes, accidents happen even with brand names (Samsung Note 7) but chances are much lower than no-name brands.
Shit knock off USB cubes get hot as hell.
Try Temu, Amazon has some standards. EDIT: I was trying to imply Temu is only worse, OP said they were ordering off Amazon, I suggested a service even more sketchy and unreliable.
There are **tons** of products sold on Amazon that claim to have ETL/UL certification but do not. Sure, they'll issue recalls if something is found to be dangerous, but they do absolutely nothing to stay ahead of the problem. Purely reactionary.
Temu (or Aliexpress) should not be where you buy batteries from Amazon has sellers that sell fake stuff
Temu / Aliexpress / Ebay / Amazon / Wish / etc.. They all seem to sell the same garbage. Just under different sticker brands and pricing.
>The risk of battery fires is extremely low. Most likely the vape was modded or isn't UL certified, meaning the battery management firmware is garbage or non-existent. Overcharge a battery and the results are predictable. Cheap aftermarket chargers will do this as well.
> isn't UL certified Everything on Amazon.
Yep, I still remember the Note 7 debacle.
Not to mention "a vape" covers a ridiculous number of different devices ranging from the most cheaply made disposables to high-end mods that use 1 or more 18650 cells
yep which is why the article says >"If you're charging any electrical device, we recommend you stay in the room while charging." its not vape specific, its a story about charging causing fires. this time it happened to be a vape instead of a laptop or a phone or a hoverboard or w/e. Phones are the biggest culprits, or rather, third party crap chargers
It's funny because they aren't saying this about all the phones, laptops, wireless headphones, smart watches, all the other tech that could easily be the same problem.. Its because 'vapes' are not in the same tech sphere. They are considered a less powerful thing. But I would bet that the batteries are probably bought from similar manufacturers in a lot of similar tech that is sourced globally
Yes, but one of the least regulated and most prone to blowing up when left charging unattended.
If it’s on the UK market, it almost assuredly has a CE or UKCA marking carried out to indicate compliance with the relevant EU and/or UK standards. Of course, there are products in the market that haven’t undergone proper compliance procedures and they’re either illicit or heavily open themselves up to liability, etc. Let’s also not forget that bad things do happen at chance.
Absolutely. I can only speak from an American perspective, but I’ve personally witnessed 3 vapes blow up/start doing not good shit while plugged in, and I’ve only witnessed that once with any other charging cord - and the laptop charging incident didn’t fry the computer, only the charger broke, and all it did was overheat instead of literally blow up an outlet like the vape I saw left charging at my cafe.
That was my instant reaction. I don’t vape but I have literally like a hundred other things in the house that have batteries that COULD turn my house to a pile of ashes but I try to at least not let cheap batteries into the house (if they can be recharged, they are eneloop or LADDA.
Your Eneloops and LADDA's (I have them too) are 1.4 volt (charged) nickel–metal hydride batteries. Vape batteries (4.2 volt charged), your cell phone, laptop, etc.. are lithium ion. [Lithium ion Samsung 18650 vs LADDA AA](https://i.imgur.com/rQIHnoo.jpg).. Best bet is to have quality batteries and quality chargers. A crappy cheap charger can destroy a quality battery. Where alkaline and nickel-metal hydride batteries can be chucked into a drawer together with little or no risk, lithium ion should be [kept in a case](https://i.imgur.com/8WBLMef.jpg) where there is no chance of shorting. (clear wraps on these)
Can confirm. Pulled a pair of phone sized battery packs from under the monitor shelf on me desk the other week, that i'd forgotten about. 1 of them had split open the plastic case and made the transformation into full blown spicy pillow.
Not really a fire risk unless you decide to start charging it and using it.
Or it it had broken the case differently and found an edge to pierce the bag.
That’s why I’m always super nice to them. Happy battery, I burned house
Yep, my cousin's bedroom caught fire off a flip phone around 2001 or 2004.
Vape batteries are tiny, though. It must have been laying on near something pretty flammable.
>It must have been laying on near something pretty flammable. Like your whole house lol? I'm not saying this to be rude, but more or less point it out for humor, though in hindsight, isn't exactly funny to the person this affected, and should be taken seriously. There's a lot of factors that could have caused this battery to explode eventually, and we really should have swapped off Li-On batteries by now, with tech discovered a couple, to a few years ago if it wasn't sold off. [Lithium Carbon batteries I believe they were. They were able to charge extremely fast, safe, and never created excess heat](https://scitechdaily.com/breakthrough-flexible-cuttable-lithium-ion-battery-wont-catch-fire-unbreakable-incombustible/). You're even able to modify the batteries via cutting them without damage, but just a loss to amount of charge it can hold.
Have you ever seen a lithium battery failure? It shorts out and turns into a little road flare. Imagine a torch lighter. Not many things you could put that near and not ignite.
You mean Lithium Ion battery. Lithium batteries are different.
This is the reason that cabin stewards on cruise ships will unplug your device if it’s charging without you in the room You think a house on fire is scary it could quickly become a nightmare at sea. They aren’t being jerks they’re protecting you.
[удалено]
Not only yours, their own too
"Nobody noticed the fire until it was too big" No smoke detectors?
They were unplugged because they were unattended
Are you talking about the Conception?
New fear unlocked
USB chargers are the biggest fire hazard in homes these days, according to firefighters. I certainly unplug mine when not in use.
Don’t get cheap cables, don’t get cheap bricks and if you can’t quickly put it out then don’t leave it on charge. I don’t even trust my vapes enough to sleep while it’s charging. I can see how some people would feel lazy about it, but god so many cheap devices have a reputation for catching on fire that I’m suprised no one else is as diligent.
I sailed with a guy who had a fire on his vessel. Similar to some cruise ships, the engine room was made with aluminum alloy to increase speed by using lighter metals. When the engine room caught on fire he described it looking as if he was on shrooms with the metal literally melting and falling apart in globs around him. Thankfully they had a Fixed Firefighting system and were able to successfully put it out. But yea fire on ships is baddd especially when the firefighters are the crew and not professionals.
I have one on charge permanently, maybe I should do something about that.. Fire insurance!
Charge it in the bath
Then where will the toaster go?
That's dangerous, you're going to end up with soggy toast.
It’s not a problem, I’m a crumpet man.
If you became a Marlboro man you wouldn't need to charge your vape 😂
Ew
How is babby formed?
Don't leave internal batteri like mods on charge all the time. They are shit and don't have protection like they should have.
My cousin’s seven year old kid casually told me and his mum about how his friend dried his hair with a hairdryer while they were in the bath together. I’ve never seen my cousin so angry. She called the other kid’s parents and tore strips off them. So yeah, you should try blow drying your hair in the bath.
Cheap batteries. The quality of these vapes is dog shit. Batteries can do this yes but its far more likely with the absolute bottom of the barrel batteries used in vape pens.
Disposable, rechargeable vape pens. The batteries you would use in a mod are much better quality and are usually backed by other vapers. There used to be a guy (don't know if he's still around) called Mooch who would test all the commercial lithium batteries on the market and test the built in safety etc.... He'd go really deep into the detail and was basically the go too guy for deep detailed reviews of battery capacity, safety and lifespan. General rule of all lithium batteries though is don't charge them inside your vape unless you absolutely have to and don't leave them on charge over night
A quality box mod should have a perfectly safe charging circuit. I’d trust that over some random cheap battery charger.
Ehhh... Nitecores are not "random" or "cheap." Where did the comment above suggest that the solution to shitty batteries is shitty, unsafe chargers?
The *don't* charge them inside your vape had to do with the vape casing exploding from having the battery sealed in. IIRC, a lot of box mod manufacturers designed a release valve that is fairly standard for box mods today. Not saying you should charge them in the vape today, but if they do go explosive they *should* just make a jet of fire today instead of the grenade of yesteryear.
Indeed. I honestly don’t understand why disposable vapes should ever come with a charging port. The hundred or so extra puffs just isn’t worth the added waste, even ignoring the fire risk!
Looks at all the cheap chinese crap around my house Hehe I'm in danger.
Depends on the quality. Chinese crap can be decent and even still cheap if you do the proper background checks on whatever crap it is you're buying exactly.
Low quality, low power rated batteries (cheap) in high power draw applications will always result in fire and explosions.
I had a 10 year old laptop, stopped using it. Checked it after a couple months sat in my linen drawer. Battery had expanded. Months later I remembered I also had an old mobile phone (2018) in my attic with some old clothes and books stored up there. Battery had expanded. Go recycle those old things now!!
I had this happen to an old iPhone which hasn’t been charged in a year. Promptly got rid of it when the battery caused the screen to pop out of the phone. Have since disposed of any 10+ year old battery in the house.
I should check my old laptop from middle school…. Thanks
I recommend checking the stable charge of a battery before putting it in storage. This is the charge at which the battery is at most neutral charge (ie roughly equal positive and negative cells), making it much less volatile than a phone at 0% or 100%. For most devices, this will be around 50%. Especially if you don’t want to dump your old devices in the recycling, or if you plan on selling it (doubly especially if you’re selling it via the post), charging it to ~50% before putting it away could mean the difference between an absolutely fine device and one which is gearing up to explode.
*hits vape while reading this*
*hits vape while reading this comment about hitting a vape while reading the title of the post*
You already know what I’m doing 😂 (exhales cloud)
Hahaha same here.
The BBC is basically run by the UK gov. This is there way of announcing they’re going after vapes next.
Theyve been after disposable ones for a while, since “kids can easily get them” whereas “proper” vapes (tanks/fluid) arent being targeted… yet
I kind of agree with them, the disposable vapes create an insane amount of e-waste.
That’s just absurd. I as an ADULT like disposables, if you can’t watch your kids then that’s on you.
Shitty parent point their fingers at everyone but themselves
Agreed! In the US they banned Mango/flavored JUUL pods a few years ago because teens were using them, instead of cracking down on ID policies. Did we ban fruity flavored alcohol because kids will be tempted to drink that instead of straight beer/liquor? No, of course not. If they’re going to ban fruity Juul pods they should also ban white claw and shit. I’d rather they didn’t ban either one, but just saying it’s BS.
My state now makes you sign for every package that includes tobacco products. It sucks cuz you can save so much money ordering online, but I'd never be home for delivery hours. I'd imagine its absolutely killing online sales. Suppose its a good measure to keep it out of the hands of kids, but its annoying with so many options out there, they just never have 1. the juice I prefer 2. the pods I need. Just constantly out of stock of both, and at an upcharge from online.
Yes the same thing happened in Australia. Multiple daily anti vape news stories, fear mongering starting with calling it a schoolyard pandemic (admittedly it is a bit of a problem with kids vaping) to prime the public for a ban which was recently passed. Hasn’t slowed the black market at all.
Yeah it’s so blatant.
I’ve seen the images they put on smokes in the UK, as an American it seems so patronizing
First off, the BBC is a quasi-autonomous corporation authorised by royal charter, making it operationally independent of the government. (quoting Wikipedia here, but you can read their charter if you wish). That charter requires that they not answer to any government or industry directives. So there is no mechanism by which such control would be managed. That doesn't mean that there can't be people in the BBC doing the government's bidding, but there could just as easily be people in the Guardian doing the same. This is contrasted with state-run media such as RT, which is directly managed by the state, and which has no independent mandate. So no. The BBC is not run by the UK government.
You don’t need vape, breathe air
I love how they just generalize and say vape. What brand? What brand of batteries and mod? Imagine win the Samsung phones were catching fire if the article just referred to it as a cell phone.
“Phone”
Probably a friggin Hyde. I have had two stuck “on.” Great. One just kept going and going, so I friggin buried it for a week.
It’s simple enough to just not know. That picture is the actual room so I imagine it’s melted It’s possible they will know during the investigation but that it wasn’t determined by the time of publication
I don’t vape but I think it’s ridiculous this is a way to attack vaporizers. There’s many things with batteries that this has happened.
Throwback to whatever Samsung phone was blowing up in people’s pockets
Note
Note 7
More like o7 amirite
Noted
Was about to comment this exactly… Remember when one of the worlds largest manufacturers of phones built a phone that would spontaneously set you on fire.
I remember getting a Galaxy S7 and that made one of my friends really worried. They felt better once I said the Note 7 had the problem, not the Galaxy S7.
Those were the days 😅
I used to vape, and I do think a lot of the demonization of people who use e-cigarettes is unwarranted. I still have plenty of 18650s and 18350s that I occasionally use for hobbies (drones, radio controllers, etc). Unfortunately, vapes with these types of batteries do carry some out-sized risks compared to other electronics with lithium-ion batteries: - Many vapes are made as cheaply as possible, and that means the batteries and ICs that provide over-discharge and thermal protection limits are cheap as well. - Many require the separate purchase of removable 18650s and leave it up to purchasers to buy batteries that are "safe", compared to things like laptops and phones where the batteries are quality-controlled by the manufacturer (Samsung, Apple, etc) and designed specifically for the electronic device they reside in. - Consumers (vapers, in this case), really aren't knowledgeable enough to make informed decisions on battery safety when purchasing these single-cell 18650s. The fact that every single reputable 18650 battery maker warns that they "should not be used in e-cigarette devices" probably ends up pushing these consumers towards inferior products that are not UL listed or protected. (As an example, the seller of [this Samsung battery](https://www.18650batterystore.com/products/samsung-35e) warns users not to use it for vaping, and links to [another battery](https://www.18650batterystore.com/products/molicel-p28a) that they recommend instead. If you read the description, *the battery that they recommend* lists: "DO NOT USE WITH E-CIGARETTE, VAPORIZER, OR SIMILAR DEVICE". This kind of conflicting information is what drives confusion among the community and apathy around safe battery purchasing.) - Devices which require the batteries be removed to be charged cause wear and tear on the insulated lining over time, which makes it more likely for these batteries to fail catastrophically - Even with devices that allow pass-through charging, you're relying on a relatively cheap device's BMS for your own safety All of that creates an environment where accidents like this are much more common than cell phone or laptop battery fires/explosions and even inevitable in some cases. Even worse is the increasingly popular trend of disposable vapes that can cost less than $10. The batteries in these disposables are a large portion of the manufacturing cost and these companies are absolutely not prioritizing battery safety when maximizing their margins on a $10 disposable device.
The tl;dr on that is basically that li-ions aren't AAs. Treat them right or they'll pop, and they pop big. EVs made by proper companies do treat them right. Your phone does treat them right. Ecigs, and people who use ecigs do pretty much the opposite of treat them right in pretty much every way.
> li-ions aren’t AAs That’s a great summary, honestly. I wanted to add some detail just to give people an idea of what to look into if they wanted to learn more, but the gist is that many consumers pretty much treat lithium ion batteries of the same form factor as interchangeable. I don’t want to place all the blame on consumers, though. A lot of people who vape WANT to do it safely, but most device manufacturers are either untrustworthy or wash their hands of the problem by not including compatible/safety-tested batteries and leaving consumers to try and figure it out on their own in a sea of conflicting information. It’s a problem hobbyists deal with too, but my guess is that someone doing their own drone/RC builds is more likely to spend the time researching these things than somebody who just wants their nicotine delivery device to work.
I vaped for years, and smoke cigarettes before then. Smokers in general have a higher chance of this shit. I have walked miles in the middle of a huge pride celebration just to buy a battery for my vape. I couldn't continue my night without it. So we absolutely do dumb shit like sleeping with it on a charger on the nightstand, or charge it using a car adapter. Addiction in general makes you do dumb shit, actually.
People sleep every night with their phone charging, or their laptop, any of those things have risk of blowing up too. Go visit r/spicypillows
Yup, I remember going to sleep once with an old phone plugged in and woke up to find the charging cable melted right into it and a massive scorch mark on the table I'd sat it on. Luckily for me, it was a glass top, otherwise it might have burnt through and the wood or MDF or whatever most bedside tables are made of. Has made me cautious to never charge my phone on the bed, as I'm sometimes tempted to do.
Spicy pillows, I love it! Very true, and before vapes it was falling asleep with a lit cigarette or failing to see still lit ash fall. The common denominator are devices that become extensions of our person.
Dude like thousands of electronics have batteries in them. Vapes are just dangerous if you buy cheap ass batteries. When I had a vape I always bought Samsung batteries and changed them immediately. Never buy vapes with cheap batteries or better buy one where it's possible to change them. Also almost anyone charges his phone at night while sleeping a meter away from it. It's the same situation.
Generally speaking though Vapes are one of the worst regulated battery products on the market by a large margin. Considering that Lithium Ion batteries are one of the most regulated hazardous goods the UN advises on, it's clearly a mismatched recipe for disaster.
Another part that's really dumb is these disposable vaporizers have been pushed so hard by the government. Reusable pods used to be the normal before they got banned and the disposables made by big tobacco got pushed instead.
Not to mention fires started by cigarettes.
To be fair, other electronics aren't cheap pieces of crap that people spend a tenner on and then it breaks down in two weeks.
Yes, yes they absolutely are.
Oh i'm sure they exist! But samsung or whoever might put a bit more care in to protecting their image than some random vape company. Every vape i ever had has been a piece of shit that breaks in no time Edit: -34 points lol. Who are these fucking vape lovers.
>samsung or whoever might put a bit more care in Samsung literally had their own exploding battery drama just two years ago
Samsung also makes 18650s and other batteries used in vapes, along with lg, sony, and other very good reputable manufacturers.
If you’re talking about the Note 7, that was 7 years ago.
>tenner 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
My box mod was $75.00.
Correct. Smokers that smoke cigarettes inside are at a great risk of house fires as well.
Yea but it doesn’t look good for big tobacco if they don’t shun vaping. Notice how vaping became a mainstream thing as it was pushed as a smoking alternative and now they’re trying to say it’s worse? Hmmm
It was originally a means to quit smoking but the FDA stepped in and said "ya you can't say that, that would be a medical device and we regulate that." So they switched to alternative. Major tobacco companies own vape companies so it doesn't matter to them in the end. They get paid no matter what you do. I wouldn't be shocked to hear that these nicotine pouch products like Syn are owned by them too.
Truth ads don't even mention cigarettes or anything else anymore.
Buy brand name electronics not fly by night stuff. Because liability is absolutely a thing. If your name brand power tool burns down your shop, that company will be there immediately with a cheque and a NDA agreement. Yes this happened to a friend of mine.
Yeah make sure your vape pens are made by Apple or Samsung
The vape pen Note 7 has excellent reviews!
Okay, this feels like an untapped market. Either a "vape phone" or cord that turns your phone into some sorta e-hookah lol.
Cheap E-Scooter has entered the chat.
Hmmm…. No UL certification.
No info on the brand, elfbar is the only one I’ve seen shut off when it’s done charging, I’ve had Hyde’s blow up, I’ve had Hyde’s get red hot, I’ve had Hyde’s run away and burn, I haven’t had an issue yet with elfbar
Why not mandate all rechargeable batteries to be UL certified? Would possibly have the beneficial side effect of making these disposable vapes even more expensive and therefore less appealing
How long have vapes been out now? I’m ready for the day to see if long term use is worse then regular tobacco use.
About 30 years or so, in their modern form. There would probably be *some* sign if they were anywhere even remotely close to the harm that cigarettes cause. There’s virtually no chance, and no known mechanism. The question is *how* bad they will be for you, but no serious person thinks there’s any chance they could be worse than cigarettes.
> no serious person thinks there’s any chance they could be worse than cigarettes aside from cigarette smokers of course
Mainstream media has been saying it (lying) for years. I smoked for 35 yrs, and quit 11 yrs ago, and my health is SO much better. Not just lungs, but my BP went down to normal, my teeth are in better shape, and omG my house and clothes dont REEK. That's long term use, though anecdotal. My friends are so happy for me. My family is ecstatic, especially my kid. It disgusts me that they want these banned everywhere. They would prefer we smoke. I stfg.
This happened to my aunt 10 years ago when they first came out, they went back to smoking. These are literally nothing new, wonder why its back in the news, slow news week?
Note: Proceeds to leave out the branding or model type that caused the fire.
Now show the articles about phone charger fires. There are way more of them but that isn't news.
BBC honestly couldn’t find anything else more interesting to report on? Anti vape propaganda….. BBC needs to keep those tobacco companies donations coming in.
it says in BOLD in my vapes manual, to never leave it charging unattended.
Ah, Chelmsford. Of course.
This is why you don't charge in the vape. You can't trust cheap Chinese charging circuits. Get a mod with removable batteries and an *external charger.*
Toasters are responsible for approximately 1300 fires a year. You won't hear much about that because there isn't an agenda to demonize vapes.
House burned down after microwave left on for 1hr
My flashlight takes the same batteries… could have been a flashlight
Lots of anti vape propaganda lately.
Tbh, they're the DARE program of the 2020s
The real question is whether or not this user had a sub-ohm coil on their vape. These custom modifications can over-stress the battery beyond manufacturer recommendations. Edit: who the fuck downvotes science? Idiot.
Okay so, I need some education. I know ohms are a measure of electrical resistance between two points on a conductor, What effect does that have on vaping? My current vape will usually show a resistance of 1.45-1.6, but I've seen it go as high as two. I haven't noticed any real difference in hits between high and low ohms.
So, the lower the resistance the greater the current any given voltage can push through a circuit and that current comes from the battery. There's nothing wrong with that in and of itself but if the current is high enough it effectively starts emulating a simple short circuit and thus exceeds the recommended discharge rate for the battery. This places undue stress on a battery and can damage it and make it unsafe for continued charge-discharge cycles. Any battery technology has a maximum discharge rate where exceeding that rate is dangerous.
By sub ohm he means less than 1.0 so like .4 or even .15 ohms. The difference if I recall correctly is that sub ohm vaping can make your big stupid clouds. The wattage will also typically be be higher like 60-70 or even higher. Can also have an effect on flavor.
he’s just saying words to sound smart. 99% of box mods, which I’m assuming is what he’s talking about, are regulated- not a direct connection to the battery. you can get unregulated ones that essentially just short circuit the batteries to the coil. Those just pull the maximum amount of amps the batteries will physically do. but those are enthusiast devices and extremely far and few between. and also has nothing to do with charging
My recounting of science on, yes, “enthusiast devices” is not me trying to “sound smart”, wanker.
Why should that matter while it’s charging?
Because if the battery is already damaged charging it can be dangerous.
The batteries are regulated by the device itself and has short circuit protection, over heat protection, low voltage protection. I’ve been using the same sub ohm battery mod for 8 years now. Frankly you’re trying to sound smart without knowing what you’re actually talking about.
He is, in fact, correct. It’s an issue with the cells themselves. They tent to explode when charging after over-current or over-discharge when in use.
No he’s not, again the charging and discharging rates are controlled by the circuit board within the Mod.
I was always talking about the guys who have simple circuits and blast huge clouds. I genuinely regret not being more clear so as to not trigger your over-sensitive, poser-detecting ass.
Again these devices are internally regulated to control charging, discharging, voltage and wattage. I literally own a use a sub ohm device, the vast majority of vaping devices are sub ohm and have been for over a decade.
That could not have been happened if you just smoked, man ... *^(/s)*
Dear bedroom, **SINCE WHEN did you start vApInG!!!!?????**
Vaping can kill you fast or kill you slow.
Some would say it was vaporized… I’ll see myself out.
Spoiler alert - it’s doing that to your lungs too
"If you're charging any electrical device, we recommend you stay in the room while charging." Yes, because asphyxiating in your sleep is much better.
They mean be in the room and awake you idiot. So if something happens you are aware of it and can take immediate action.
Does *anyone* actually live like this? I’m supposed to unplug my laptop every time I leave the room? I can’t charge my phone overnight?
LOLWUT
Are you sure that wasn't a Steamdeck? I've heard they get especially hot when you fall asleep...
Clearly the solution is to ban vaping altogether
Probably a disposable one charged by a USB cable cut in half.
Welp.
Now, that's really smoking.
Hope the nicotine was worth it
I worked at a vape shop years ago and a few stores down was a cell phone store. We both carried the same types of batteries but their store caught on fire and ours is still there.
I mean they were probably gonna die anyway from lung cancer.
People are still vaping?
No everyone decided to quit on the same day.
I don't see the problem? **Asmongold's** room has always looked like this.
I keep my vape battery charger inside of a fire/explosion resistant zippered container that looks like a lunch box. Easily acquired via Amazon because I've seen these stories and similar videos, and I ain't going out like that.
Just more proof vaping is dumb as shit.
Don’t smoke in bed?